Sex talk and sexual stereotyping is creeping into the local media with increasing luridness. And I’m wondering if this is professional.

Nation FM’s Morning Drive presenters Munene, Teddy and Ngatia startled me out of my sleep last Monday morning. They were talking sex on radio. In the guise of telling listeners what the horoscopes said about their favourite colours, they delved into some pretty erotic stuff.

Women whose favourite colour is red, they said, are passionate lovers. The green girls, on the other hand, behave like virgins; they kill mosquitoes as they make love.

Folks, I’m telling you the printable stuff those guys said on air. There is plenty they said that I can’t let this paper print under my name. Add this to Oyunga Pala’s sex talk on Capital FM’s late-night show and Kiss FM’s regular carefree on-air jokes, and a couple of questions become pertinent even to the less prudish. How much sex may we talk on radio? Are reporters and commentators aware of how much sexism they splash into print and broadcast journalism?

The Kenyan code of journalistic ethics stipulates that decency must be a trademark of the profession and journalistic language squarely falls under this tenet. It is the same reason media people the world over may neither write nor speak offensive words in the media, irrespective of how far they are pushed. When a New York-based MSNBC radio presenter recently got a crank call from a homosexual, the presenter, thinking he was already off air, unleashed a torrent of epithets on the caller. Listeners promptly jammed the broadcaster’s phone lines to complain that they were grossly offended. The next day, the presenter didn’t have a job.

Graphic sexual language, too, is almost certain to offend some listeners – the reason it is kept off the airwaves and mainstream media.

But Nation FM’s Morning Drive and Pala’s late-night shows fall under journalism with a light touch, otherwise called infotainment. For this reason, we can’t come down on presenters in this domain with a hammer, provided they keep a constant check on their tongues.

The trouble begins when unchecked language starts to flow outside banter into traditional reporting, as it is beginning to show in the local media. It is still subtle, but euphemisms and sexual stereotyping is creeping into hard news reporting. This phenomenon is beginning to show in language bias and a tendency to use sexually suggestive diction.

"The President’s wife is said to have clashed with Keriri while they were in Mombasa," said Nation TV’s 9 pm news anchor on Tuesday. But the 8 am news update got it right the following morning. The newscaster appropriately referred to the First Lady as Mrs Kibaki; not Kibaki’s wife, as this paper referred to a source in a story last Sunday.

In a back-page story "Man shot dead in full view of his family," the Sunday Standard wrote: "They kicked his lifeless body and said they had accomplished their mission but could as well kill me and our three children if they wanted to," Matoke’s wife Mackline said.

The point is that Mackline Matoke and Lucy Kibaki or any other married women have an identity of their own. It is wrong for journalism to perpetuate the chauvinism that women’s identity is hinged on their husbands or that of their men.

Journalism societies the world over condemn sexism in print or on air. "The journalist shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based on, among other things, sex (…)", says a declaration of the International Federation of Journalists. "They shall not place unnecessary emphasis on gender, race, sexual preference (…)," according to the American Journalists Association Code of Ethics. And the Society of Professional Journalists adds: "Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, sexual orientation (...)."

Subscribing to these journalistic guidelines means, also, that reporters may not assume the liberty of being cozy with references in their reporting.

It is presumptuous to refer to President Kibaki’s said daughter, Winnie Mwai, simply as Winnie (East African Standard, January 8). Yes, the common reference of Cabinet Minister Raila Odinga simply as "Raila" may be permitted to avoid confusion with the other prominent Odingas – Dr Oburu Odinga and the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. But there is no excuse to continuously refer to Foreign Affairs minister Kalonzo Musyoka by his first name. The scenario is worsened when this habit is applied to women; it is easily read as sexism.

Reporters going down this road are likely to land on the tawdriness that Melvin Mencher warned against in his renowned 2003 revised book, News Reporting and Writing. Calling sexism journalists’ persistent stereotype on women, Mencher humorously draws a list of telling commentary depicting a businessman from a businesswoman.

"A businessman is aggressive; a businesswoman is pushy. He is careful about details; she’s picky. He loses his tempter because he’s so involved in his job; she’s bitchy. He’s depressed or nursing a hangover, so everyone tiptoes past his office; she’s moody, so it must be her time of the month. He follows through; she doesn’t know when to quit. He’s firm; she’s stubborn. He makes wise judgements; she reveals her prejudices. He is a man of the world; she’s been around. He isn’t afraid to say what he thinks; she’s opinionated. He exercises authority; she’s bossy. He’s discreet; she’s secretive. He’s a stern taskmaster; she’s difficult to work for."

Journalism has no business perpetuating such marketplace stereotypes.

• Kodi Barth teaches journalism at United States International University-Nairobi.

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