The role of Media and Civil society in democracy in Kenya: A media roundtable discussion Media Focus on Africa and

its partners held the monthly public Media Roundtable on 30th August 2011, on the topic The role of Media and Civil society in democracy in Kenya at Alliance Francaise, Nairobi. The roundtable was moderated by Kwamchetsi Makokha, a Media Consultant. The forum brought together a panel composed of academics, policy makers and practitioners to reflect on the role that the media and civil society has played in the democratization process, examine their current relationship and question the relevance of each to each other as well as get to hear the views of the public on these issues. Panelists included Dr. Joyce Nyairo, the acting Representative of Ford Foundation in East Africa and also a Media and Civil Society Program Officer, Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, Advisor on Constitutional, Parliamentary and Youth Affairs matters at the Office of the President, Andy Kaigwa, Senior Production Editor of the Standard newspaper, Weekend Editions and Wilson Ugangu a Lecturer of Media and Communications Studies at Multimedia University. The audience included academics, students, representatives from NGOs, journalists and other members of the public. During the presentations, Prof. Kivutha provided key insights on the historical relationship between the media and civil society in the fight for the second liberation as well as the process leading to the passing of the new constitution. Prof. Kivutha highlighted the role of the media as the fourth arm of the government, how media helped create and strengthened civil society but also questioned how media has failed to interrogate civil society. Dr. Joyce Nyairo called for a more inclusive definition of civil society and highlighted marginalized groupings that tend to be ignored by media. Dr. Nyairo also raised critical questions

on how civil society engages the public through media, highlighting the lack of creativity and innovation by both media and civil society in engaging with the public. Andy Kagwa reflected on his experiences as an editor, commenting on medias obsession with Nairobi based civil society at the expense of grassroots and rural organizations and how civil society slackened off after helping overcome Mois regime during the 2002 election. Wilson Ugangu focused on what he considered the key roles of the media and offered his analysis on how the media has performed on these. The presentations by the four speakers were followed by a vibrant question and answer session. The discussion continued well after the debate had ended as panel participants and audience members mingled outside the auditorium. The full transcripts and videos of the roundtable will be posted and uploaded here over the next few days.