Kenya Media Houses Accuses Government of Gagging Them

Executives at two of Kenya’s largest media houses are considering legal challenges to what they believe is a politically-charged move to centralize government advertising. The executives at Nation Media Group (NMG) and Mediamax fear the move by President William Ruto’s administration could starve them of much-needed revenues and boost a more sympathetic rivals. Late last year, the Ruto administration awarded a two-year contract for the printing and distribution of MyGov, a pullout magazine containing government advertisements, to The Star, which is Kenya’s fourth most-read newspaper with only 3% of the market in 2022, behind The Nation, Standard, and Kiswahili language publication Taifa Leo. The Star had the lowest bid for the tender, at $55,000 per weekly edition.

SOURCE: SEMAFOR