[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s the National Super Alliance (NASA) rea**** for confrontations with *************** after ignoring a ban on street demonstrations, media **uses have up*** safety measures to ensure their journalists are protected against the hazards that come with covering ******* beats.
Apart from their usual tools of trade – note books, pens, cameras, microp**nes, voice recorders and lately, smartp**nes – journalists have in recent times world over been forced to wear ****** proof gear and gas masks and the trend is fast catching on.
****** proof vests/jackets and helmets were first used in Kenya about three years ago when the country was in the grip of an intensif*** *** against Somali-based al ******* ********* w** had sustained ******* in the country, including the Westgate Mall *****.
Media personnel covering the *******s against al ******* especially on the front line and inside Somalia were required as per protocol to wear ****** proof gear.
**wever, following the announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta as the August 8 Presidential Election, KTN journalists Duncan Khaemba and W***is Otieno were taken into police custody for being in possession of ****** proof gear wit**ut a permit.
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The two, w** were covering protests in Kibra, were taken for questioning at Kilimani police station but were later released after the Standard Group confirmed that the gear in question was dully licensed.
This past week, security officers seeking to control Nasa street protests especially in the Raila Odinga strong**ld of Kisumu have indicated they have no regard for journalists. Friday, a Citizen TV journalist was ******* in the lakeside city d****g a confrontation between police and NASA supporters w** had def*** a protest ban imposed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
In Nairobi, journalists Fredrick Onyango and Enos Teche were clobbered outside Parliament Buildings.
Journalists ******ed
Onyango produced his press accreditation cards but it only made matters worse for him, thanks to his ethnicity. The officer alleg***y told him he is one of t**se “troubling the country.”
“I said it today is a bad day for journalist my colleague Enos Teche and I clobbered outside Parliament they ******** me and went ahead seeking my press card when I s**wed it he looks at my name and says si ndio tunasumbua Nchi. His p**tos coming s**rtly,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
On Wednesday, five journalists were ******ed, beaten and ******* by police in Kisumu while covering the anti-IEBC demos. About 20 officers from the General Service Unit mobbed Rashid Ronald of KTN and Faith Matete of the Star near Kisumu Boys High Sc**ol.
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The officers clobbered Mr Ronald, inj****g him on the leg. While beating him, they said Kisumu journalists were not any special than protesters on the street. The officers then lobbed teargas canisters at NTV’s Ouko Okusa, his came*****son Doreen Magak and Daily Nation reporter Rush*** Oudia.
In a bid to protect its journalists against such danger, the Nation Media Group has now invested in gas masks to shield them from its harmful effects.
Friday, a p**to of NTV journalist Brenda Mulinya wearing one such mask was circulating online. T**ugh expensive, a gas mask is the best tool to protect journalists by allowing them to cover the story safely, according to the International News Safety Ins***ute (INSI).
********, which Kenyan police use rather generously for crowd control missions, has various harzadhs which journalists covering them s**uld be a***e.
ALSO SEE: Police beat up TV journalists covering NASA demo
For instance, when chemicals used in ******** react with moisture they cause a burning sensation, meaning that the eyes, skin and lungs are extremely susceptible. The INSI ***ns journalists covering protests to avoid wearing oil-based creams, sunscreens and make-up as they w*** also absorb ********.
Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for a review of the country’s laws to allow journalists wear protective gear.
CPJ, which also asked the government to investigate cases of ******ment and intimidation of at least 10 journalists in the aftermath of the August 8 poll, said the ******** Act s**uld be amended to allow journalists to wear more protective gear especially when covering ****s and chaotic rallies.
READ: KTN journalists arrested as protests rock NASA strongholds
**wever, wearing gas marks to cir***vent police dispersion tactics is st*** prone to challenges such as covering intense public situations when security agencies are striving to maintain order and likely, order everyone to leave.
The Reporters Committee quotes an instance where a freelance TV journalist Armando Gallardo was ******** by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police in the United States while while covering protests in Charlotte over the ***** ******** ***** of Keith Lamont Scott.
Gallardo alleg***y infringed upon regulations specified in Charlotte’s Code of Ordinances prohibiting “**********, shield, helmet, protective pads, or gas masks carr*** or worn with the intent to delay, obstruct or resist the lawful orders of a law enforcement officer” d****g an extraordinary event – a “large scale special event of national or international significance … expected to attract a significant number to a certain portion of the city.”
Nevertheless, the right to information s**uld be seriously considered in undertaking any review such as the one suggested by the CPJ.
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