The recent restructuring at Nation Media Group that saw a number of senior editors leave is stimulating a fresh round of realignment in the leading media houses in Kenya. In what has become a tradition, when one media house closes the door on journalists others are often too willing to open theirs for those seen to be good talent.
For some, tears of retrenchment are soon replaced with smiles when rival companies open their arms for them. The tricky part, however, is that their salary/position negotiation is weakened, giving media houses a chance to get top talent at a bargain.
In the latest realignment, Peter Leftie and Wanyonyi Wambilianga, who were pushed from the Nation newspaper newsdesk have found a new home at the People Daily, which is owned by Mediamax Network Ltd. Others have already been rehired by NMG on contracts to offer various editorial services such as writing and editing.
Meanwhile, after pushing out its newsdesk managers, Nation was forced to raid Standard newspaper to strengthen its team, making away with Standard newspaper news editor Alex Ndegwa who takes over the mantle as news editor at Daily Nation.
Interestingly, his colleagues at Standard held a farewell party for him on 11th August, his last day at the I&M newsroom. His photo during the party was even used in the Standard newspaper but cleverly worded not to reveal his new station, more of a face-saving gimmick than a show of support for his exit.
Others who have got soft landing include Felix Odiwuor aka Jalang’o, who was sacked from Milele FM but landed at Radio Africa in a few days. Former K24 TV anchor and Managing Editor in charge of Kiswahili Franklin Wambugu has finally found a job 10 months after being sacked from the television station. He is now the Communications and Public Relations Officer at the Kiambu County Government.
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Former Nation Media Group Chief Librarian Evans Sasaka, who was among senior employees who lost their jobs in the NMG restructuring, has been appointed the assistant director for records management at the Kakamega County.
Former K24 sport anchor Tony Kwalanda joined Red Cross owned station, Switch TV, days after being fired as did his colleague at K24 on the news side Nancy Onyancha.
Yet it’s not been easy sailing for some top anchors, such as Betty Kyalo, who is yet to find space in the highly competitive media industry.
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