Former Nation Special Projects Editor Dennis Galava returns to Standard as Managing Editor for Weekend editions
Dennis Galava is back in circulation! The controversial journalist who was sensationally sacked by Nation Media Group early this year returns to Standard Group, where he honed his skills as a writer and editor, this time in a more prestigious position.
Mr Galava has been appointed Managing Editor of the Standard Weekend editions. He replaces Enoch Wambua, who is leaving to contest the Kitui County Senate seat. Mr Wambua had expressed interest in politics and Standard, heeding to a call by Media Council of Kenya to let go off journalists interested in politics, is said to have asked the editor to leave.
BusinessToday has authoritatively established that Galava will start working at Standard Centre next week. This development is expected to shock the media industry, barely a year after the high-profile sacking from NMG, where he worked as special projects managing editor, for writing a scathing editorial against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Jubilee Government.
The editorial, published in the Saturday Nation edition of New Year, critically analysed Uhuru’s scorecard, giving the government low grades on economic growth, job creation and fighting corruption. This miffed highly placed people at State House, who piled pressure on Nation to get rid of the editor. The media house accused him of circumventing the editorial process.
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Galava has sued Nation Media Group and is seeking over Ksh400 million in compensation on three counts: wrongful dismissal, infringing on his economic right to earn a living and a constitutional petition for denying him his right of freedom of expression through, among others, censorship. Separately, he has sued NMG CEO Joe Muganda for defamation. The case is likely to take much longer to resolve, a source says.
His return to journalism, and more so The Standard, was expected. Standard Group Editorial Director Joseph Odindo “likes the guy,” according to a Nation journalist who worked closely with the two. “He trusts his journalistic instincts and boldness.”
This is Mr Odindo’s biggest hire since he took over last year.
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Mr Odindo had also approached former Sunday Nation editor Mutiga Murithi for the same job, but the talks did not reach a deal. Mutiga left Sunday Nation and now writes for international newspapers, including the Guardian of London and is also the local representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The Standard Weekend editions need some propping up, with reports that circulation for its flagship Sunday Standard has fallen to below 50,000, far off comparison with its rival Sunday Nation which circulates just over 200,000 copies in a week.
The main challenge that faces Galava is lifting the numbers in a market where newspaper readership is shrinking as more young readers opt for digital platforms. At Nation he is credited with growing the readership of the Saturday Nation while its managing editor by introducing more human interest stories and the now popular Seeds of Gold agribusiness magazine. Standard’s answer to it, Smart Harvest, has yet to get traction in the market.
To work well, he is likely to reorganise the weekend team and possibly return to his estranged employer for some talent. But coming in just a year after Standard Group retrenched a good number of journalists, he may find it hard to bring in new journalists from outside, especially if they come at a premium price.
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