Classic FM’s Maina Kageni Morning Show Signfies Death of Radio In Kenya

I’ve taken time to think about it,yes, to contemplate about the whole thing about radio.For instance let’s go back to the 80’s and 90’s and see how radio stations in Kenya were in terms of content and programme. Content is something that was vital as it was a matter of life and death for the existence of the station.The radio audience looked forward for quality news and programmes.
Radio journalists were highly placed and revered in the society as they were considered societal pacesetters.
What of today’s radio stations? Things have drastically changed. All one needs to have is the voice and the gush to ‘vomit’ all the stuff he/she feels like or wants to tell the audience who care to listen. There are no more mannerisms and professionalism and the air is stuffed with all forms of nonsense and what I would call ‘idle talk’ emanating from these so called presenters.
Nowadays, not even the state-funded Communication Commission of Kenya or the media council can regulate the content. The regulators are dared to ‘gag’ the media and face public booing. They say ‘this is what the people want to listen to’. It sounds convincing? It is not.

Look at it this way. A woman calls Maina and King’ang’i on a Monday morning on Classic FM  and complains of how her husband has starved her by denying her sex. As a result she explains how she has resorted to ‘mpango wa kando’.
Other women in the same situation call the station and explain how they have resulted to the same and the discussion goes on with all forms of stuff being spilled on air.
On Tuesday morning Maina and King’ang’i ask, “Will you men accept to be played by your wives who claim that you have starved them sexually?”
Again men call the station and give their stuff that makes the Wednesday discussion, on and on up to Friday.
Is this what you call convincing?
This is either mediocrity or lack of content or both. The era when people tuned to the stations to be educated and informed is far gone. In fact it is the other way round. Presenters go on air blank and seek their programme’s content from their listeners which they turn to a form of discussion. Listening to some shows you will tell that the pupil is more enlightened than the teacher.

Radio hosts no longer research on their programmes and you can tell how often they are caught off-guard by their listeners who may sometimes need clarifications or answers on  issues under discussion.Their off-air time is for meeting their ‘mafans’, binge drinking which they have christened as ‘raving’ and bisecting young ladies(for men). What these radio personalities care to keep is their celebrity status. That’s why if you can ‘puke’ on air and manage to bring a substantial number of audience, good enough for your employer to attract enough revenue then the wheel can keep on rolling .Our radio shows have been turned to street talks where ethics and professionalism comes last. Everything has been blown out of proportion by the new generation radio personalities as they have failed completely to understand their audience. The old creativity that manned ones’ ability to host a show has been thrown out of the window.
Sex topics are discussed openly in the breakfast shows to no one’s alarm. All vulgarity and obscenity is let on the loose when the little children are in the buses
travelling to school.
What they remember hearing at the end of the day is how their parents had called the stations in the morning and accused each other of under-performance in the bedroom. Just to put it straightforwardly, everything has gone to the dogs, we have thrown the baby together with the bath water.
You have it now! Imagine, with all these taking place in our airwaves, our radio guys want to take all the credit of being the societal pacesetters. I’m therefore forced to ask, Which pace and for whom are they setting it for?
Editor’s Note: Gathua graduated from KIMC in 2011. He submitted his article in line with Jackal News policy of offering everybody a chance to write and ventilate the society. Please send you articles to jackalnews@gmail.com