Tough new rules for Standard weekend reporters

Barely a month after being appointed as Editorial Director at Standard Group, Mr Joseph Odindo is beginning to make his presence felt in the newsroom. He has started tightening loose screws in the newspaper section, which drives the group’s revenues.

His first stop is the weekend edition, where he has moved to improve content by issuing tough new operating rules for reporters. The new conditions include strict reporting and leaving times which come with a 10-hour working schedule between 8:30am and 6:30pm.

Reporters will also be required to update their bosses on their whereabouts during working hours, to crackdown on truancy very common among reporters who often spend more time in private business than searching for stories.

Besides, reporters will be required to generate original story ideas and not rely on the news agenda or docket in a bid to diverse the weekend content. The weekend editions have been hardest hit  by a drop in circulation over the past few years and Mr Odindo is keen on shoring up the numbers. Circulation figures are key as they determine the volume of adverts – the lifeblood of any commercial media company – a newsapaper attracts.

The tough conditions are expected to help the Group Editorial Director to cull laggards from the team as he will be receiving weekly performance reports.

Also see: Kipkoech Tanui appointed Standard Group deputy editorial director

These new order was captured in a memo by weekend news editor Biketi Kikechi, which we reproduce below:

Following today’s communication from the Editorial Director Mr Joe Odindo to all section editors and a subsequent meeting convened by the Managing Editor, Weekends, Mr Enoch Wambua with weekend editions editors, I later held a meeting with reporters to explain the following.

1. All reporters are from now supposed to report to work by 8.30am.
2. They should depart from work not earlier than 6.30pm
3. The news desk must at all times be informed of your whereabouts through email and copied to both the ME and DME when you are out on assignment.
4. Any unexplained absence from work will not be condoned.
5. From now on all reporters are expected to generate story ideas on diverse issues to generate variety of content in both the Saturday and Sunday papers. That will include topical special reports (new developments) on politics, crime, entertainment, health, education, courts, religion, environment, culture and arts among other areas that generate news.
6. From next week, each reporter will indicate at our Tuesday meeting which stories will be filed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. No story assigned at our planning meetings will be filed after Thursday.
7. Please note that there will be consequences for deviating from of the above listed directions.

Biketi Kikechi
News Editor,
Weekend Editions

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