The Saitoti Helicopter Crash

Print Media coverage of the police helicopter crash

Report for MCK by Joe Kadhi, Lecturer, Journalism,

United Sates International University,

June 2012.

 

 

Introduction

 

This paper examines the coverage of the police helicopter crash that killed six people including the Minister for Internal Security George Saitoti and his assistant, Joshua Ojode on June 10^th 2012.  It looks as the professional challenges of the coverage of the sad event by diving the incident into five distinct occasions that had to be covered following the crash namely: the crash itself; followed by the day of speculation; and then the coverage of various activities when the mourning intensified; followed by the coverage of the burial of Saitoti and lastly the coverage of the burial of Ojode.

 

In normal circumstance the coverage of accidents and tragedies, which this crash can be classified as, come under what professionals describe as spot news stories as opposed to general beat stories or exposés. To appreciate what Kenyan journalists went through it is imperative to compare the characteristics of the three types of stories. The general beat stories happen so often and with such regularity that reporters covering them have become specialists in different fields where they occur. These include court reporting parliamentary reporting and to a certain extent crime reporting. Journalists covering events in these fields grow to become specialists with time.

 

In this day and age specialisation in journalism is nurtured by creating a basic foundation based on the field of study in the first university degree held by a reporter seeking specialisation in a particular field. A journalist with a first degree in economics, for example, would end up being a very valuable specialist in business, economic and may be even financial journalism. In many countries where journalism is taught in graduate schools first degrees could be in virtually any field.

Exposés, on the other hand, are done by writers who have mastered the art of investigative journalists. They could or could not be specialists in a particular subject. Unlike general beat stories whose deadlines are determined by the contemporaneous nature of the publication or news bulletins of broadcast house concerned, exposés normally require more time. They could be done within a long period of research depending on availability of information sought.

Between the two types of stories the pressure to meet the deadlines in the general beat stories is slightly greater than that in the exposés which normally takes a long time to be accomplished. Due to their exclusivity, which is a necessary ingredient of all exposés, editors have a lot of time to check their authenticity and adherence to both the law and ethical principles.

Totally different from the two types of stories discussed above, spot news stories happen with no notice at all. They take place abruptly, very often catching journalist totally unaware. Spot news stories are therefore more challenging to journalists all over the world. They require quick thinking, ability to make important decisions fast and accurately, fairly and within the requirements of all ethical principles as well as the law. In fulfilling these goals quick thinking is needed to determine the news peg of the story as well as the angle to follow and emphasize.

While all this is happening within fractions of seconds the journalists covering spot news stories have also got to have the mastery of the nuts and bolts of writing ability in order to get that  punch and also update the story as the new facts continue to emerge. As the events continue to take new shapes spot news journalists are expected to adherence to ethical principles that require them to be fair, accurate and remember the other ethical principles fast as the relevant media law remains on their fingertips.

Important ethical principles in covering tragedies

Whereas all ethical principles are important in covering every story including stories on tragedies, the coverage of disasters and calamities require the mastery of FOUR important ethical principles. These are: Intrusion into grief and shock; Use of Pictures and Names; Accuracy and fairness and Obscenity, taste and tone in reporting.

Needless to say, it is most important that all stories are fair and accurate. Stories of tragedy can be unfair when facts are wrong and therefore journalists should always remember that accuracy may need balance and even comments to be fair.  The use of pictures of a tragedy can be challenging so journalists need to remember that the most dramatic and newsworthy picture may be unethical. Even more important for them to remember is the fat that pictures received from unknown sources could be, and very often are, dangerous.

Intrusion into grief and shock is tempting to all journalists but they must also remember when people are grieving they should be left alone and when they are in shock they need no publicity. The ethical principle says (a) In cases involving personal grief or shock, inquiries should be made with sensitivity and discretion.(b) In hospitals, journalists should identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.

The ethical principles on the use of pictures says as a general rule, the media should apply caution in the use of pictures and names and should avoid publication when there is a possibility of harming the persons concerned. It suggests that manipulation of pictures in a manner that distorts reality should be avoided. It also says pictures of grief, disaster and those that embarrass and promote sexism should be discouraged.

The ethical principle of accuracy and fairness says that the fundamental objective of a journalist is to write a fair, accurate and an unbiased story on matters of public interest. It clearly explains that all sides of the story shall be reported, wherever possible and suggests that comments should be obtained from anyone who is mentioned in an unfavourable context.

 Secondly the ethical principle says whenever it is recognized that an inaccurate, misleading or distorted story has been published or broadcast, it should be corrected promptly. Corrections should present the correct information and should not restate the error except when clarity demands. Thirdly it instructs that an apology shall be published or broadcast whenever appropriate in such manner as the Council may specify. And lastly it says when stories fall short on accuracy and fairness, they should not be published. May be the most fundamental aspect of this ethical principle is its suggestion that journalists, while free to be partisan, should distinguish clearly in their reports between comment, conjecture and fact.

The ethical principle of Obscenity , Taste and Tone says in general, journalists should avoid publishing obscene, vulgar or offensive material unless such material contains a news value which is necessary in the public interest. It also says that in the same vein, publication of photographs showing mutilated bodies, bloody incidents and abhorrent scenes should be avoided unless the publication or broadcast of such photographs will serve the public interest.

When the tragedy struck

On that fateful day the electronic media were guided by Timeliness as the news value and by and large they did a splendid job while engaging in cutthroat competition. When journalists got the sad news survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence took its Darwinian nature and everyone competed in being the first with the news. A number of ethical principles were violated but since this is a report on the print media these will be examined by other specialists.

The next day on June 11th the Daily Nation had a shocking picture of the wreckage and a straightforward reportorial story they called “Flight of disaster”. A clever inset of a recent picture of the victims (Saitoti and Ojode) together brought in the human interest angle into the fore. The use of file pictures made the journalists and the paper appear to be more professional than those in one electronic media which showed pictures of burning bodies of the victims.

On that same day The Standard talked of “Friendship to Death”. This clever usage of words gave the story a human angle that was emotionally very moving but not overdone to change the pathos into bathos. In an excellent highlighting of the human interest angle the paper talked of Saitoti and Ojode’s friendship to death. The picture used by the paper of the wreckage was horrifying but it obeyed the ethical principle of accuracy. The blown-up cut-outs of Saitoti and Ojode played the trick of avoiding showing the horrific pictures of burning bodies.

The People chose the mourning angle. Though the paper chose the sad angle of country mourning  with a headline saying “Country Mourns” ,it also boldly suggested that poor maintenance of the helicopter by the Police could have caused the accident. In a strap-line that was obviously obtained from a journalist who understood the importance of attribution as it is stipulated in the ethical principle of Unnamed Sources, the paper said: “Amid shock and grief, Police Air wing Officers speculate poor maintenance of aircraft could have led to crash that killed Saitoti, Ojodeh, 4 others”.  This suggestion was a bold journalistic adventure that could lead to further investigations. 

The Star chose the angle of Ministers’ death in horror crash. In a splash headline that said “Ministers Die In Horror Crash” the paper claimed in a speculative story that bad weather, pilot error or even mechanical problems could have caused the accident but it was an inset picture of the chopper “moments before the crash” that shocked everyone. The picture suggested to many readers that an explosion, possibly a bomb, blasted the helicopter before crashing. The controversial picture obviously suggested foul play.

Naturally The Star picture caused serious official complaints. Playing the story big on top of page seven The People said the State had lodged a complaint against The Star newspaper and that the complaint had been received by MCK chairman Levy Obonyo and the Executive Director Haron Mwangi. The paper quoted Obonyo saying the Council would put the complaint through the natural process by referring it to the Complaints Commission to take the necessary action.

This kind of criticism reported by one paper against the misdeed of another newspaper is a healthy professional intra media self-criticism that needs to be developed in Kenyan journalism. Superficially it may appear cannibalistic but in reality it is a process of holding mirrors on the faces of each other and exhibiting the ugliness of unprofessionalism that desperately needs to be exposed in this country.

Either because media houses are not too keen to wash their dirty linen in public , or because they would rather their sins were swept under the carpet, such open criticism against each other are very often discouraged. Hence no paper, apart from, paradoxically, The Star newspaper, which publishes the  Expression Today and an occasional article from its own public editor, print a regular column of media criticism.

It so happens that The Star reacted very professionally. The paper promptly published an apology on the next day’s paper which said: Yesterday The Star was duped into using the Internet photo of a helicopter crashing in its story “Ministers Die in Horror Crash”. A reader called and said he had taken the photo of a chopper emitting smoke as he returned from Namanga. The photo was in fact of a Robinson R44 helicopter in Europe and not the AS350 Eurocopter used by the people in Kenya. We apologise for the error to all concerned. Though stuck at the bottom of an inside page, it was still a correction. Ability for any newspaper to boldly admit to its readers when it is wrong is a sign of well-developed sense of professionalism. The quality of that professionalism however depends of the methodology of publishing a correction and the manner in which it follows the instructions of the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya.

Despite the intensity of criticism against the paper for the publication of the offensive picture the paper took an even more professional step. On June 13th it published a comment by its public editor Karen Rothmyer in which she explained in details how the error was made. Her article was obviously the result of internal inquiry of self-examination and criticism which should be emulated by all media houses. The article by Rothmyer explaining in details how the error occurred and what ethical principles were ignored amounted to a masterpiece of internal investigation leading to the exposure of the truth to the public which enhances professionalism.

Unfortunately The Star was not the only paper that had goofed by distorting facts through the dramatization of a burning helicopter while still in air. Though The Star was the only paper that published the fake picture of the burning helicopters, all other national dailies had in their stories published on June 11th suggesting that the helicopter caught fire in mid-air and not when it crashed! The Nation said on the front page that witnesses saw a ball of smoke and fire falling from the skies before explosion.  The Standard published a story on page seven saying unconfirmed report indicated that the aircraft caught fire before it crashed into the forest and The People published on page  four a story claiming  that  the chopper was  flying low and emitting smoke.

An even more shocking lack of professionalism was shown by the Weekly Citizen which wondered whether the two leaders were assassinated. The paper had the impudence of recalling the period when Saitoti was poisoned and connecting the story to the assassination of Dr. Robert Ouko. Seeming to break every professional rule of handling such a story, the paper came up with all sorts conspiracy theories that led to Saitoti and Ojode’s deaths. All that notwithstanding the paper’s right to exist is indeed protected by the Constitution and, arguably, its role as the alternative media is also very vital to the country.  But when all is said and done the fundamental question still remains: How should the professional fraternity deal with this kind of journalism?

Then followed the day of speculations

After the tragedy, followed the day of journalistic speculation which is typically characterised by lack of official sources of information. Despite the cutthroat competition caused by the news values of a running story the Daily Nation resisted the temptation to overdramatize the latest development of the story by straightforwardly remaining professional on June 12th when it said on the front page that investigation into a five minute flight will reveal the cause of the helicopter crash as President Kibaki had ordered a thorough investigation into how the plane “lost direction”. In my view that was the safest way of treating the story by simply sticking to the facts.

The Star took a step further by revealing to its readers that one of the pilots did not want to fly. The story head “Pilot Didn’t Want to Fly On Sunday” said one of the killed pilots, Sup. Nancy Gituanja, was worried about the mechanical condition of tǂ_' cueI a e˨k 8 2 said Gituanja did not want to fly on Sunday because she was scheduled to attend a family get together at her Kandara home. In my view this story created suspicion that all was not well with the helicopter. But the important professional question is: Was the story based on facts?  If the ethical principle of “Unnamed Sources”, which demystifies the attribution aspect of the story, was properly utilised in a manner that revealed more facts, then that ambiguity would have been put to a decisive end.

On the same day The People talked of hard queries. It predicted that senior police officers who procured the helicopter were likely to face hard questions after the crash as the President had ordered a thorough probe which would look at whether the accident was caused by poor maintenance of the helicopter. The paper was expressing confidence in the probe as The Standard was wondering whether the accident was caused by sabotage. The paper highlighted the fact that the State was saying the weather was fine, pilot competent and helicopter good but it said something still didn’t add up. This was bold journalism of posing relevant question after all that is the watchdog role of the Fourth Estate and in my opinion it was in fact one of the boldest treatment of the entire story !

And when MPs also started speculating the Daily Nation splashed the story quoting MPs questioning the account of the accident and demanding that the official inquiry be professional, impartial and open to public. This was the right professional treatment of the story given the fact that past inquiries concerning such accident bore no fruitful results. Obviously when MPs make such serious allegations journalists can simply not ignore them. Indeed the paper let the MPs have their say by giving MPs Gideon Konchella, Ephraim Maina, Nkoidila ole Lankas and Raphael Letimalo publicity as they were probably speaking for many Kenyans when they said there were more questions about the accident than there were answers. MPs said there was no point in having an inquiry that did not reveal the “truth”.

On the same day The Star splashed a similar story and quoted the MPs saying this was not an ordinary accident and revealed that they were planning to set up a select committee to conduct parallel investigations because previous inquiries of similar incidents were “shoddy”. Ignoring MPs’ concern would not have been professionally correct as all the five major news values were there. But The Standard went a step further. It said Saitoti always lived “in fear” and went ahead and said he lived on the edge “as if agents of death were staling him”. Was this the correct way to handle the story? What kind of possible causes of the accident were conjured in readers’ minds? The paper talked of “potential killer” walking in Saitoti’s shadow!

Yet the paper went big on that angle and said he was once poisoned and had extended his fears to the food he ate and how he travelled and even whose hand he shook. Whereas the exposure of Saitoti’s paranoia was of great human interest news value, was the timing of taking that angle professionally appropriate ethically? What mental picture does this approach create in the minds of the readers?

The papers also looked at political implication of Saitoti’s departure. Naturally journalists could not ignore this angle as their work was simplified by politicians who talked of Saitoti’s leadership. Top on that list was the retired President Daniel arap Moi who revealed that he was part of the strategy in Saitoti’s presidential ambition. The People splashed the story with a questioning headline saying “Was Moi Driver Of Satoti Power Bid?”. That headline alone showed the doubt in the Editor’s mind.

The paper didn’t let the matter end there .It went ahead and ridiculed Moi by revealing that the former President’s sentiments about Saitoti when he was dead was in sharp contrast to the manner in which the former VP when he worked under him. The paper said Moi “rudely shoved Saitoti aside in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred successor”. Though of great human interest news value was this angle called for at the time of mourning? The question many of Moi supporters must have asked was: Couldn’t the media let the old man mourn in peace?

And when the President appointed a probe team the Daily Nation stuck to the facts and named appeal judge Kalpana Rawal as the head of the team which would look at possible causes of the accident including weather, human error, mechanical failure and sabotage. Obviously the paper resisted the temptation to speculate on the causes of the accident. The Standard was also professionally accurate .It talked of the President’s order for a detailed investigation as Amos Kimunya talked of a public inquiry while the Prime Minister called on Kenyans to maintain peace and VP Kalonzo Musyoka called for unity. But the paper also revealed the MPs displeasure with Kibaki for arriving at the meeting two hours late! Was this human interest angle appropriate at the time?

This time The Star  took a straightforward reportorial angle and said the President assured Kenyans of full investigation into the crash promising to release the findings of the probe and appealed to the people to remain calm ; but is this straightforward  conveyor- belt form of reporting what Kenyan readers expect from the Fourth Estate? Whatever the answer to that question is The People did exactly the same thing but in a more explanatory manner, showing a more professional form of interpretative reporting. The paper reported the President’s orders with interpretation which said that senior Government and police officers charged with procurement and maintenance of the Police Air-wing faced hard questions. The paper had also an angle about poor maintenance obtained from the police sources.

Two days later The Star had a different angle. It revealed that MPs were not quite satisfied with the probe team as the manner in which it was formulated violated the doctrine of separation of powers by appointing Rawal to head the team without Consulting CJ Willy Mutunga. The paper showed it believed that even in solemn occasions the law must be obeyed.  From the beginning of the coverage of this sad event The People suspected something. As early as 11th June the paper suspected poor maintenance to have caused the accident and Talked of “simmering anger” among members of Kenya Police Air-Wing over alleged poor maintenance condition of the aircraft. Investigative journalism that leads to exposés is always superior to general beat and spot news stories. 

On the very first day of the accident The Nation gave information about the chopper. In its first edition after the accident the paper took the trouble to tell its readers that the crashed chopper was new and powerful and that the Kenya Police Air-Wing was the first in Africa to purchase the model. The paper took the trouble to interview experts about the crashed helicopter – a professionally commendable way of demystifying the hidden “W”s as The Standard came out with the first exposé. On the second day of the crash the paper quoted Strategic Intelligence News (SIN) urging Kenya to look inward for answers claiming that by elimination of internationally recognized forensic audit, fingers pointed at lapse in security policing. But the big question remained: Does probing by journalists help or obstruct Rawal’s   efforts?

On the first publication after the accident The Nation had a graphic of the way the helicopter flew showing the route the ill-fated helicopter was taking before it crashed. Though the graphic was published by the paper the very next day a number of professional questions could be asked about the drawing:  Was it showing the exact route in which the helicopter flew? How authentic was the drawing?  And what value did it add to the investigations? If the illustration was by an aviation expert then it was a masterpiece of journalism. But if it wasn’t then it just added more cobwebs to harmful rumours and dangerous speculations.

On June 14th the Daily Nation dropped a bombshell! Not only did the paper reveal that the families of the two dead ministers wanted to be represented in the probe team but it also exposed the fact that the chopper was not insured. The implications of this sad fact could be quite devastating. The most natural follow-up of such an exposé   is a proper investigative assignment on uninsured government aircrafts and vehicles.

And when the mourning intensified

Photojournalists rightly had a field day and sub editors correctly used the pictures big. The Daily Nation had many dramatic pictures which were used big and, in my opinion, professionally in the right manner. The Star did more or less the same thing and made a very dramatic usage of pictures which it published in a professional manner. The People did the same thing by showing pictures of flags at half-mast and other pictures of ladies who were mourning together with the Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta who despite being the paper’s proprietor was given the same treatment as other mourners. The paper published a picture a lady it correctly identified as  Halima Montet a member of Kajiado CDF Committee.

 The Standard also did a good professional job but then it goofed ! Ms Motet was described as Margaret Saitoti, wife of the late Minister George Saitoti. And the correction was stuck at the bottom of page 6 three days later .Professional ethics demand that whenever it is recognized that an inaccurate, misleading or distorted story has been published or broadcast, it should be corrected promptly. It also says corrections should present the correct information and should not restate the error except when clarity demands. It further states that an apology shall be published or broadcast whenever appropriate in such manner as the Council may specify.

The fact that a correction was published at all was professionally commendable. But what did the correction say? It said: On Monday we erroneously referred to Mama Halima Montet (right) as the Internal Security Minister George Saitoti’s widow due to mix-up of photos . We have since established that  Mrs. Margaret Saitoti (left) is the wife of the late Minister. We regret the embarrassment  we may have caused Saitoti’s family and that of Montet. Long after the publication of that correction the question still remains: Was this published according to the Council’s specification?

And when Saitoti was buried

The Sunday Nation had a straightforward splash headline saying “Goodbye Professor” and in a fitting editorial the paper said the two men (Ojode and Saitoti) had special qualities and attributes which was a good a lesson for coalition Government. Needless to say this was a professionally correct way of handling such a story. The People talked of time to rest which was also professionally appropriate for the occasion in which the paper said leaders eulogised fallen Internal Security Minister as a true patriot, tribeless and humble Kenyan. It called for peaceful poll as fitting tribute which was an equally professional way of handling a funeral story.

The Standard too was appropriately punchy. It used a single common Kiswahili word “Kwaheri” .The paper penetrated many hearts in a journalistically punchy way of headline writing. “Kweheri”  was headline that was emotionally punchy.

And when Ojode was buried

The Daily Nation took an angle of calling for unity because Ojode stood above the usual party and ethnic divide in the Coalition Government. It said leaders had turned “Sirkal” burial into a campaign for national unity. With a headline saying “Call for Unity as Ojodeh Laied to Rest”  the paper exhibited its ability to combining the burial act with newsworthy utterances of leaders which is a superior  professional  headline writing  skill.

The People concentrated on the numbers of people at the funeral. Though the paper splashed the number of MPs at the event, it is the only paper that reported Mrs Mary Ojode’s scathing criticism of the media. She said her son Andrew, who studies in the UK, knew of his father’s death through the media. Was Mrs Ojode’s criticism fair or was she hitting below the belt?  Reporting Ojode’s funeral The Standard goofed yet again! In an otherwise good front page that described Ojode as a man who played the role of more than just a junior minister, the paper inserted a close-up picture of President Kibaki which was disrespectful and therefore professionally unethical. The controversial picture was, in fact, quite unnecessary.

The offensive picture showed the Head of State with a running nose as a result of shedding tears at the funeral. The picture certainly went against the ethical principle of Obscenity, taste and tone. It was in extremely bad taste. The next day the paper said it was sorry. In an apology stuck on at the bottom of page nine the paper explained that the picture was not meant to embarrass the President but only aimed at “showing the overwhelming emotion of a grieving nation”. At least the paper was bold enough to apologize

 

Conclusion

This exercise was an eye opener to me personally as a journalism lecturer. Its findings shows beyond any reasonable doubt that Kenyan journalists tend to overlook some vital professional ethical principles while covering spot news. This, needless to say, calls for an even more intensified approach to the training of journalists on specific ethical principles that must be strictly observed while covering spot news ranging from accidents, assassinations, natural catastrophes and other disasters and disasters.

In the coverage of the helicopter crash the ethical principle of Intrusion into Grief and Shock was particularly difficult to observe as culturally Africans normally mourn together. In situations where communities gather to express sympathy to the bereaved journalists find it extremely easy to get very close to the families of the departed people. Very often they just take pictures of the wailing people who have just learnt of the death of close members of the family.

That must have been what happened with the photographer of The Standard ended up with an extremely dramatic picture of a woman in tears at Saitoti’s home – a picture which ended up with an apology from the paper as the photographer took it for granted that the woman was Mrs Saitoti when in fact it was the picture of a close friend, Mama Halima Montet. Under normal circumstances photographers will always take pictures at events of mourning and grieving people. All professional journalists are required to do is to take pictures “with sensitivity and discretion” as required by ethical principle.

The other ethical principle which was violated during the coverage of the helicopter crash was even more serious as it constitutes the backbone of the entire journalistic profession. This was the ethical principle of Accuracy and Fairness. In journalism when a story is inaccurate, the mistake is taken so seriously that very often heads role. It is as serious a professional mistake is negligence is to doctors and stealing clients’ money is to lawyers. Unfortunately in the coverage of the helicopter crash The Star newspaper made that mistake by inaccurately describing a file picture of a burning helicopter as the fateful one.

As it were the paper was quick to apologize and explain to the readers how the mistake was done. But the manner in which the apology was published was not in conformity with the provisions of the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya.

The other challenging ethical principle to the journalists when they were covering the helicopter crash was Obscenity, Taste and Tone. The example could be found in The Standard which published a picture of President Mwai Kibaki with a running nose on the front page during Ojode’s funeral. Though the paper claimed it wanted to show how sad everyone was including the President of Kenya, it later realised that the picture was in extremely bad taste and apologised.

The manner in which the apology was published was also not in conformity with the requirements of the ethical principles, which goes to prove that the need for an intensified training on ethical principles for the practitioners now working as journalists is indeed very urgent. The matter is made worse by an apparent inability of Kenyan journalists to work under pressure while adhering to the vital ethical principles in their profession.