Daily Nation has become the latest v****m of talent exit, with three writers and a photographer leaving the region’s biggest newspaper. The business desk, which has lost three reporters in the past few months, is the hardest hit.
Two of the writers left to join emerging online news site, tuko.co.ke. First to bolt out was Ramenya Gibendi three months ago, while Joshua Masinde followed last month. Mwaniki Wahome is understood to be serving his notice and will be out first week of October.
It is a b**w to the business desk, which had just stabilised after the 2011 exodus that saw then business editor leave with three reporters. Ramenya, Masinde and Wahome were correspondents who earned a retainer and topped up with contributions to news pages and magazines. Tuko.coke is said to have offered the two better pay package and a more flexible working environment.
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Tuko also poached Carole Kimutai to head its Kenyan operation from the Management magazine run by the Kenya Institute of Management and has hired a number of journalists from other media houses. The website is owned by Genesis Tech Partners, which has headquarters in K**v, Ukraine.
Wahome, who had specialised on agriculture and insurance, had worked as a correspondent on the business desk for close to a decade. His exit into private business is being seen as a protest to the management which kept him as a correspondent for all the 10 years.
But the most interesting trend is where start-ups and small players in the media space have become so daring as to poach staff from Nation Media Group and other big media. Star has snatched a number of journalists from Nation including its former managing editor Catherine Gicheru, writer Oliver Mathenge among others.
Meanwhile photographer Bill Mutai, one of the best at Nation newspapers, left earlier to pursue personal interests after clearing his masters at the University of Nairobi. He is said to have decided to shift gears and pursue a career away from the camera.
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