{"id":19160,"date":"2020-12-14T21:25:25","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T21:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=19160"},"modified":"2020-12-14T21:25:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T21:25:25","slug":"media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional","title":{"rendered":"Media Council of Kenya \u2013 FKF attempt to gag media is illegal and unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has weighed in on Football Kenya Federation\u2019s (FKF) move barring some accredited journalists from covering FKF matches.<\/p>\n

Kenyan press recently settled on having a blackout of FKF top-tier league matches, following reports the Federation has stationed policemen at entrances with specific instructions to bar certain journalists and reporters from accessing the venues.<\/p>\n

In a statement dated Tuesday, December 14, MCK insisted FKF\u2019s move is illegal and unconstitutional, arguing complaints against media houses or journalists should be reported through the Media Complaints Commission.<\/p>\n

MCK also slammed Kenya police for \u2018enforcing illegal orders\u2019, saying Media Freedom is disturbed once a journalist is stopped from covering matches.<\/p>\n

MCK also supported the move by the media to suspend FKF coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFKF being a public body will always be scrutinized by the media even if they are uncomfortable,\u201d said part of the statement.<\/p>\n

Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday December 13, the Standard Group PLC stopped coverage of all\u00a0FKF Premier League matches\u00a0until the local FA stopped muzzling the media as the boycott of the league entered a second day.<\/p>\n

FKF started by refusing to accredit Standard Group print division reporters and photographers, locking them out of all FKF Premier League matches, Harambee Stars Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and international friendlies.<\/p>\n

During Harambee Stars matches, FKF declined to let into the stadium Standard Sports team citing COVID-19 protocols. On November 28 during the AFC Leopards versus Tusker clash, a Standard Sports photographer was ejected from the Kasarani Stadium and had to contend with taking photos from the perimeter fence.<\/p>\n

FKF, however, said yesterday that the accreditation process for Standard Group reporters had started and they will receive their cards next week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

On Saturday, December 12, a section of journalists were barred from covering the match between champions Gor Mahia and military side Ulinzi Stars.<\/p>\n

Both clubs have declined to endorse a broadcast deal the FKF signed with StarTimes, which they say is flawed. FKF has also suspended two other clubs, Zoo FC and Mathare United for refusing to endorse the deal they say was not negotiated without them being consulted.<\/p>\n

The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) President Gianni Merlo said the global sportswriters\u2019 organisation will defend the independence of journalists especially during this period of Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to fight against these otherwise such officials will use the same system to offer accreditation only to journalists that they like and lockout those critical to these officials,\u201d Merlo told Nation Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is necessary to fight for our rights because if we accept the officials\u2019 logic, then they will continue to harass journalists. We have to take every action to defend our profession,\u201d Merlo said.<\/p>\n

Melo said that Covid-19 pandemic had given\u00a0sports officials \u201can excellent opportunity\u201d\u00a0to deny journalists access to competitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is more important now than ever to have journalists in the stadiums to cover matches where spectators are not allowed. It is important to be on location rather than watch the match on TV and report,\u201d Merlo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has weighed in on Football Kenya Federation\u2019s (FKF) move barring some accredited journalists from covering FKF matches. Kenyan press recently settled on having a blackout of FKF top-tier league matches, following reports the Federation has stationed policemen at entrances with specific instructions to bar certain journalists and reporters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[828,2433],"class_list":["post-19160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-fkf","tag-mck"],"yoast_head":"\nMedia Council of Kenya \u2013 FKF attempt to gag media is illegal and unconstitutional - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has weighed in on Football Kenya Federation\u2019s (FKF) move barring some accredited journalists from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Media Council of Kenya \u2013 FKF attempt to gag media is illegal and unconstitutional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has weighed in on Football Kenya Federation\u2019s (FKF) move barring some accredited journalists from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-14T21:25:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/12\/fkf_attempt_to_gag_m5fd759d10e291.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"962\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"523\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Media Council of Kenya \u2013 FKF attempt to gag media is illegal and unconstitutional\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-14T21:25:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\"},\"wordCount\":514,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/12\/fkf_attempt_to_gag_m5fd759d10e291.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"FKF\",\"MCK\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/media-council-of-kenya-fkf-attempt-to-gag-media-is-illegal-and-unconstitutional\",\"name\":\"Media Council of Kenya \u2013 FKF attempt to gag media is illegal and unconstitutional - 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