By Chrysanthus Ikeh
Kenyan TV host Julie Gichuru has written an open letter criticising Sunday Nation Lifestyle Magazine for misinterpreting her during a recent interview.
According to the TV host, the magazine omitted some facts from the interview and claimed she said she had quit law school to pursue journalism, something Gichuru says is a misquote.
Read the open letter below:
An open letter on Media Accuracy:
Ref: Sunday Nation Lifestyle Magazine, July 20th, pg 5
‘I appreciate that the Sunday Nation Lifestyle Magazine decided to do a piece on me however I am concerned at the distortion of the first question in the article. Thankfully, due to my experience with print media, I always opt to conduct interviews on email to avoid any inaccuracies. My caution was certainly in order as illustrated by this incident.
Truth be told, it would have been a lovely piece if the writer had avoided the temptation to omit critical facts and to distort and falsify the first question, coming up with the narrative that I quit law school to study journalism. Two small problems: I did not quit law school and I did not study journalism.
I highlight this because it is a frightening example of what can go wrong so easily with media. The answers were all there. But somehow it wasn’t exciting enough and the narrative was changed.
I am lucky that I have a voice that is amplified due to my presence in the media, but what happens to so many who don’t? Frightening stuff.’
Julie Gichuru is a Kenyan journalist and News anchor currently working for Royal Media Services as Group Digital Business Manager and Talk Show Host
