NAIROBI—The Star and Nation newspapers have been critisiced for their coverage of Wednesday’s IED attack on a minibus between Takaba and Mandera town. Three people died in the attack, several others were injured. In their reportage, both Nation and The Star were called-out for “trying to push the local and non-locals narrative.”
“Among the dead is a non-local while another who escaped from the scene was rescued by the residents…” Nation reported without mentioning the identity of other victims who either died or sustained injuries, while the Star stated that: “The terrorist was targeting a non-local who was on-board…”
The Nothern Kenya Media Practitioners (NKMP) slammed the outlets, saying the attack “was indiscriminatory” as security teams stated.
“This type of reporting misleads and advances the militant’s agenda. It doesn’t promote the transformative engagements aimed at bridging the inter-faith cohesion. It also defeats the collective spirit of local communities in the fight against insurgency in the region,” NKMP statement said in part.
