Role of Journalists in Development

Abstract

The Kenyan media is marked by an unpredictable and changing political, social, cultural, economic, and technological environment that has heavily influenced the professionalism of journalists. The journalistic work is being threatened by the political influences, the emergence of online journalism, and citizen journalism, which the journalists have no control over. The big dilemma is the seemingly declining professionalism of journalism. Given these contextual trends coupled with the structural changes in journalism as a practice, this chapter explores the professional autonomy of Kenyan journalists based on a study carried out in Nairobi County.