By Kodi Barth

This country wouldn’t mind paying for a good lawyer, not a sycophant, to advise State House. The aim would be twofold: one, so the highest office in the land is not exposed to excessive media prying; two, so the country is not exposed to international ridicule.

This particularly came to light this week, when a protest letter signed PPS — Presidential Press Service — arrived in newsrooms, and word spread that the country’s press freedom rating had taken a dunk to a terrifying 30 per cent.

The letter, which the Nation published on Thursday, was an 11-page complaint against coverage of the First Family following the Makhtar Diop incident.

Last week, the media widely reported how the First Lady ‘gate-crashed’ the former World Bank country director’s night party, her alleged demand for Diop’s arrest, and her night storming of the Nation Media Centre. There, she reportedly froze normal operations half the night, slapped a photojournalist and attempted to confiscate an assortment of equipment — on Press Freedom Day!

Now, this is not about who was right and who was wrong. But, this column must point out issues that threaten press freedom. Equally important, where professional media conduct was left on the backseat, it must be said.

"There is clearly nothing wrong with the First Lady making a physical appearance at the newsroom to demand accurate coverage," said the letter. "As a Kenyan, Lucy Kibaki has a reputation to protect…" No one can argue with that. But, the First Lady is not a private citizen. Besides, Kenyans shouldn’t be forced to pay for her private battles — cars to take her to the Nation and top police officers to be by her side. The press had a duty to point this out.

The letter further complained that the mainstream papers devoted over two pages to last weekend’s story. "This compares [unfavorably] to a few paragraphs for the President’s function on HIV/Aids, which was perhaps of greater national concern."

There may be a point there, but with all due respect, does State House wish to tell the media how to do its job? News values, it must be said, are determined in the newsroom, not at State House.

Then, the letter took a swipe at Sunday Nation Managing Editor Macharia Gaitho and The Standard Deputy Managing Editor Kipkoech arap Tanui. These two, the letter said, had shown bias and hostility towards the Presidency. And it wasn’t clear why the Presidency was being dragged into this. On the one hand, the letter appeared anxious to demand respect for the First Lady’s rights as a citizen. On the other hand, it sought to align her every action to the Presidency. That is a murky situation. It is hard to have it both ways. That said, the letter offered no evidence that the two editors have, with premeditation and malice, sought to hurt the First Family.

Then came a rather startling paragraph.

"As for TV cameraman Clifford Derrick, who works for KTN, since when has Nation Media Group become so ecumenical in its news gathering that it shares exclusive Breaking News material with its fiercest competitors?" Even BBC was allowed into the Nation Centre, the letter complained, reading mischief.

But, really, no one who storms a snake’s lair has the right to complain that neighbouring snakes have come in counterattack. Whether or not the Nation tipped off other newsrooms is not the issue. And PPS should know this. In the news business, journalists simply follow the scent for news; and it didn’t matter if news of this magnitude was breaking up-street at a rival’s offices. As it turns out, Derrick is now the only man in the world to be slapped on national television by a president’s wife, with the police as witnesses!

It all boils down to this: First Family members are not private citizens per se. They gave that up on December 31, 2002. President Kibaki went around this country begging for a job. The people went to the ballot, hired him and put him in State House. There, the people continue to pay the entire boarding and lodging bill for his entire household. So, the people have every right to know that the goings on there do not compromise the job for which they hired the President. And it is the duty of the press to check that out. That is how it works in a democracy.

On the other hand, the media is not entirely without blame.

This columnist is charged with teaching responsible journalism at the highest institution of learning. He’ll be the first to point out breach of professionalism. For example, it now emerges that the infamous "Mimi kama rais" and "serikali yangu" statements recently attributed to the First Lady were a fraud. Stations selectively edited clips for News-shot and Bull’s-eye, both satirical pieces. And the country took this for factual news. Mrs Kibaki has every right to complain, particularly if it turns out the media carelessly set out to mislead.

But the country would not be in this situation if the media upheld the hallmarks of professional journalism. Separate news from opinion and analysis. Furnish plenty of quotes. Attribute every potentially contentious statement. Avoid anonymous sources like the plague. And seek multiple views to a story.

Right now, an all-round apology would be nice.