Ask Okoth Osewe: Questions from Steve

I think KSB is a great blog and the many readers confirm this. Despite this I think Mr. Osewe could raise the standards a bit because the potential is there. When critized you usually defend your self by saying that it is your personal blog and subjective opions. This is very bad because; You have a lot of readers and your blog holds the potential to be a great gathering point and information resource for the diaspora. Whether you like it or not this means that you have a lot of power. You need to be more aware of this power and use it in a positive way rather than gossiping and going in to personal vendettas.

What you call power in this context is what I call “influence”. I have no power over anybody but what people read here could influence their opinions. When I defend myself, arguing that this is a personal blog, it amounts to retreating into what bloggers call “blogging cocoon”. If it is raining and you have a house somewhere, the natural thing you would do is to get inside your house for shelter. In this context, the criticism you talk about is the “rain” and so what is the problem if I simply dash into the house and close the door? At the end of the day, this is a personal blog regardless of the role it plays as a media outlet. If you study my responses, I usually argue that “this is my blog” when the criticisms are puerile or not worth responding to. If you raise more serious issues (like in this case), I give you what you deserve – a serious answer.

In many of your blog posts you are directly adressing your readers and are begging for feed back, why so if its your personal blog and you dont care about if someone reads it or not?

The funny thing is that you can do anything at a personal blog and get away with it as long as you are operating within the law. For seven years (1998-2004), I used to edit “KUWA Bulletin” (a monthly newsletter of Kenyans in Stockholm). However, the newsletter was not personal and there was an Editorial Board to vet all stories (I contributed 95% of the articles). There is a guy who used to cut down all attacks on the Kenyan Embassy because he was linked to the Ambassador but I could live with that because the Newsletter belonged to an organization and I was just volunteering my writing skills. It is in order to ask readers for feed-back on anything at any time. The fact that this is a personal blog does not mean that I cannot ask for feed-back.

You are claiming that is a news blog which contradicts the personal blog argument

A news blog can also exist within the framework of a personal blog. In other words, you can start a blog which principally focuses on news but it will remain a personal blog if it is not linked to any mainstream news channel which sponsors it. Some news channels (like The Nation in Kenya) have blogs for their own journalists. What these journalists write on their blogs (hosted at the Newspaper’s website) can be classified as personal opinions which do not necessarily reflect the position of the Newspaper but they are personal blogs. The difference is that the Newspaper remains legally responsible for what the journalists publish at their blogs and it is the work of the Editor to ensure that the journalists do not write stuff that could lead to the Newspaper being sued. That is how it works. Some people think that personal blogs are like newspapers especially when the blogs claim to report the news. This is not the case because a newspaper is more structured in its production process while a blog is not. At KSB, I am the writer, the Sub-editor and the editor in Chief. Of course, KSB agents bring storos but it’s me who is legally responsible for what is published here. I can assure you that I know the rules of the game. You are free to sue in case you think that I am breaking the law. In any case, I should not be allowed to get away with crime.

Anyone can blog, but not everyone can have a blog like KSB and if you dont care if people reads it why put it one the web? All bloggers wants to be read claiming anything else is ridiculous.

That is true. Building a blog like KSB did not happen overnight. It started in July 2006 and this month, the blog will be celebrating its 6th Anniversary. I have been building KSB block by block and the reason why it is not easy is because the blogger needs to have something to deliver in order to run an effective blog. I have never mentioned anything about how KSB started but the main reason was that after KUWA Bulletin closed down, I had no outlet through which I could ventilate kama mwandishi. KSB was a response to the folding up of KB. I was very sad that some Kenya-Stockholmers who started blogs had to retreat as fast as they had emerged because they did not know what to do. They were copying me not knowing where my energy was coming from. Anybody with a passion on anything can blog and it is the passion that drives the blog. In my case, I have a passion for writing which started in 1984 so I have come a long way. When I blog, it’s like I am playing football or ice hockey. I hope this answers your question.

Some of your articles are of high standard, but in general it seems like its you and not your readers that have difficulties in understanding what a blog is, and more important what kind of blog KSB is. You can choose whatever subjects to write that is true, but as a reader I believe this blog has such a potential!

The potential is there. The problem is that you can never tell a blogger the exact subjects to blog about. You can be sure that I know what a blog is. No one understands what KSB is more than me. Steve, if you have a child you are bringing up, it’s you who knows that child more than anybody else. KSB is my child and I don’t think that anybody’s knows it better than myself. This is common logic.

If you could write more articles about the life conditions of the diaspora and the situation in Kenya, bring up cultural and political issues, recommend events etc that would be great! You already to this, but sometimes you fall back in to gossip and personal things and defend yourself with the personal blog argument.

I actually laughed when I read this because it’s been raised quite often. May be, I do not just need to explain stuff but I also need to educate some of my readers on this subject. I am talking about “falling back into gossip and personal things part”. There are real newspapers which specialize only in “personal things” while others specialize only on “gossip”. What is your comment? What you (and readers in your school of thought) do not understand is how the media works.

In the world of news, there are different categories – political news, sports news, the weather, technical news and so forth. Some education may be necessary here. The “personal” and “gossip” bit you are referring to is what we call “Human interest stories”. There are very few newspapers which do not have these stories. In Sweden, the best example of a gossip/scandal newspaper is Aftonbladet or Expressen. How comes that the Swedes have not called for the banning of these newspapers despite the fact that they mainly report on personal/gossip storos? In any case, why do the swedes spend money on these newspapers everyday just to read pure gossip?

The answer is that human interest stories are what actually sells. The point is that the personal/gossip stories you are talking about are actually the sugar in the tea or the salt in the si-kuma wiki.

At KSB, there are so many personal/gossip storos that comes in everyday and the reason why everything that comes in never makes it here is because I am too bizzi. Some storos are so personal that at a human level, I just decide not to publish. One example will suffice. A Kenyan woman brings a storo that she is very disappointed with her hubby because the guy is not hanyaring her properly. Eti she is looking for a “vikaria” kuhanya her to climaxticos before returning to the guy, arguing that regardless, she loves him to death! That is when I promise “to see what I can do” before retreating into silence.

Recently, a Kenyan woman was allegedly conned SEK 12k by a Kenyan businessman but when the storo was brought here, I even tried to resolve the crisis instead of rushing with it here. In another case, a paperless Kenyan girl who was hired by another Kenyan woman to clean her house stole a huge amount of cash and gold chains from her employer. Interestingly, the woman thief was later advised by her Kenyan boss (a prominent dude) on how to hide the loot. The guy has been walking around attacking KSB, not knowing that we have his CV on file!

If you are hopping that one day, these personal/gossip storos will melt away, you will hope until Jesus comes back to save you from your hopes. The human interest storos are part and parcel of KSB with one condition: The law has to be followed and the IDs of those mentioned adversely must remain concealed.

If you pick up The Nation newspaper in Kenya, 90% of the news fall within the bracket of “huma interest stories”. You will find a guy who raped a young girl, a woman in Nyeri who sliced the hubby with a panga, the politician who stole money from CDF, Ruto attacking Raira, the guy who beat his wife to death, the thief who was burnt to death through mob justice and so on. The difference with Sweden (and KSB for that matter) is that those named adversely are usually not named in publications. In Kenya, they are sometimes video-filmed or their photos published. In one case, a guy was video filmed naked on bed after he was stuck in the shrine of another man’s wife following a ndumba operation which caught the couple in the act.

Imagine what could happen if, for example, the Kenya-Stockholmer who beat his wife and bit her arm were to have his photo published at KSB! Or this other guy who stole his friend’s wife for a night before being caught were to have a video clip about the argument published here! Have you ever tried to contact The Nation to warn them about publication of personal/gossip stories or are you challenging KSB in isolation? Sadly, these stories are here to stay. As long as the law is being followed, they will role. If you want to put an end to them, first close down Aftonbladet and Expressen (which are more notorious than KSB) and then, I will listen to you. If you cannot do that, you will remain the proverbial frog which continued kunguruma in the water as the cow continued to drink water by the river bank. It is sad but that is how it works in the Media world. Ask anybody who knows for further clarification or just call me.

Osewe KSB has passed that stage long time ago, its a blog for wakenya in Stockholm and Sweden, whether you like it or not! If you dont like it write somewhere else and name the blog differently and stop pretending that is a newsblog for kenyans. Asante sana!

Just as one Kenyan said, KSB will always remain KSB. There will be no renaming. I hope that I have answered your questions. Feel free to post new questions in case there is something I left out or in case you wish to challenge my reply. We could have a healthy debate. I do realize that I need to open up more so that my readers can understand me better. Thanks a lot for your questions.

Okoth Osewe

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A blog for News and Events happening around Kenyans in Stockholm.

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