The Complaints Commission has urged actors and the public to embrace filing complaints against the media to the Commission to promote media freedom and professionalism.
According to the Commission, defamation suits filed against the media can result in threats against media freedom.
The Commission's Chair Mr Wiliam Oketch urged advocates to engage the Commission on matters regarding media disputes to create free and professional media in the country.
“The costs of defamation suits are a real threat to media freedom that may lead to shut down of some media enterprises. If such disputes are channelled through the Complaints Commission, they will be managed at that level preventing the media from incurring huge defamation costs which threaten media freedom”, said Oketch while speaking at the Law Society of Kenya Annual Conference 2023.
Mr Oketch asked the advocates to focus on mitigating climate change actions, emphasising the media’s critical role in amplifying environmental conservation and climate change issues.
“As the conference theme rightly affirms, climate change is the ominous human challenge that we face. The role of the media interfaces with the need for free, independent, and professional media to prioritize climate change issues in mainstream discourse. That action must inevitably involve media prioritizing counties and climate change interventions”, said Oketch.
Speaking at the sidelines of the conference, the Vice Chair Ms Esther Aduma advised the media to uphold professionalism in their reporting and called upon editors to ensure adherence of the same noting the nature of complaints received.
She highlighted the need to review the Access to Information Act 2016 in order to address the gaps in the timelines mentioned to grant access to information.