Review of the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya; Second Schedule of the Media Act 2007

The purpose of this study was to review the code of conduct for practice of journalism in Kenya. The paper gives background information of the code of conduct for the practice of journalism in Kenya; second schedule of the Media Act 2007. The paper summarizes the main points in the code of conduct, make an evaluation and lastly make conclusions. In the review, the paper will give accurate, analytical and personal response and reactions on whether the code achieved it is purpose to the target audience. The code of conduct for the practice of journalism in Kenya was published by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK). The code is a 7 page document that contains 25 codes governing ethical and responsible journalism in Kenya. The main target audiences are journalists in media houses in Kenya. Background The MCK was established through the Media Act No. 3, 2007. The main reason was for the media to regulate itself and discipline journalists. The Act endeavors to promote freedom and high professional standards/ethics among journalists and media houses in Kenya. Media Owners Association (MOA) was instrumental in setting up the MCK and therefore it wields a lot of influence upon it (Oriare, Okello & Ugangu, 2010). Kenyan media have been operating in an unpredictable and swiftly changing political, social, cultural, economic and technological environment that has influenced their development (Oriare, Okello & Ugangu, 2010). Therefore, there was a need to come up with regulatory framework to give ethical guidance for the practice of journalism in Kenya. However, the government has a negative attitude towards the media. It sees it as a necessary evil as manifested in the various government acts and policies. Policies such as Information and communication Master plan 2008, the media Act, 2007 among others have laid down draconian laws to muzzle the media (Obonyo &amp