Kenya Editors’ Guild (KEG) has appealed to the national government to return to direct advertising through media houses to help them sail through the adverse effects of Covid-19 pandemic. 

The top media bosses urged the government to consider doing away with the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) or reduce using it.

State agencies in the President Uhuru Kenyatta administration have been using the controversy-ridden GAA to advertise in local media.


Editors during the KEG convention in Kisumu. PHOTO/KEG 

The Guild also appealed to the state to settle all advertising debts running into billions of shillings that have been outstanding for years. 

In a statement read by Standard Group Editor-in-Chief Ochieng Rapuro, the senior editors further asked the government to seek ways of cushioning media houses from Covid-19 effects.


Ochieng Rapuro. PHOTO/KEG

KEG chairman Churchill Otieno promised steps to ensure Kenyan media houses survive the pandemic by embracing a digital culture.

They were speaking at Ciala Resort in Kisumu County during the KEG third annual convention where journalists from different countries were trained on innovative and transformational leadership skills.