Am I expecting too much?

This is a rant. It does not deal with the broadcast policy of this country or any legislation for that matter.

I use public transport to and from work since it allows me some little time to read. In most of the buses, they have entertainment systems, some too loud some not very, this I have no problem with. In the morning on my way to work, nearly all buses I have boarded tune in to one particular radio station Classic 105. I will for the rest of this post call it a radio station for the stupid.

I find most people to be really stupid or insane. As you may know by now, on Monday 4^th March we will have a national plebiscite to elect to office the president, vice president and all other legislators as set out in the relevant clauses of the constitution. This morning on my way to work, several people called in to the radio station to say the only reason they are voting for a particular candidate is his looks. If this is not insane, tell me what is! This same idiot later on will complain that we have bad leaders. Who is responsible, the idiot who voted him/her in because of a photoshopped poster that makes a drunken look sober?

In the many cases that have been unlucky enough to have to listen to it for up to 30 minutes and this times are many, I have no recollection whatsoever of when they did broadcast anything that uplifts the human intellect. I could go as far as to say that the employment policy for the said company especially for the morning broadcasters requires one to be a clown, stupid and talkative. I don’t know but this is what I think, I could be wrong. I don’t know the company’s broadcast policy, but I don’t think to educate is top of its priorities.

I can’t begrudge those who find the station amusing and educative (educative I doubt very much) the station has no educational grounds whatsoever but then again, each bird to its tune!

The media houses in this country are to me our biggest flop. They claim to be independent while all evidence portray a different picture. Most if not all [I grant the national broadcaster KBC credit for airing educative programmes on its English and Kiswahili radio channels] broadcast what it is their paymasters want us to know or hear, there is little creativity, little educative content and it is for this reason particularly that yours truly does not miss TV.  The question one is wont to ask is whether privatisation was a good idea and whether freedom of speech and expression means all stupid things can go on air because they are covered under that right?

They play the tunes of their benefactors who I think are mainly the political class. In the last two weeks they have tried to outdo each other in spreading a message for peace after spending years airing inciting statements from politicians. They have contributed to lighting the fires, now they want to redeem their image by appearing to advocate for peace. I think their efforts have come in a little too late. They keep people glued on TV and radio by airing hateful speeches from politicians now their conscience is calling on them to avoid a situation like we saw 5 years ago, we just don’t seem to learn a thing!

I look forward to a day when we will have independent and brave journalists, when our entertainment boxes will be rich in content that elevates the human spirit, which will free the mind. I look forward for the day when these good men and women will be free to express their opinion whether it agrees with that of the paymaster or not. To that day, I say let liberty live, let freedom soar and let every man be his priest and his king, let all men think for themselves and if should they be wrong, they should only say upon conviction that they were wrong.