Thread by @wmnjoya

Here is why journalists should study literature.

There is something we call melodrama, which is the use of intense emotions in a piece of work.

The problem with melodrama is that it leaves the audience overwelmed with emotion but helpless to do anything about the situation.

A story becomes melodramic is when its plot has so many victims but no perpetrator whom the audience can hold responsible for the catastrophe.

Tragedy, on the other hand, is when the plot identifies the powerful as responsible for catastrophe. So victims dont dominate the plot.

#CribOfDeath and #HardshipAcademy, two
documentaries by @KTNKenya and @ntvkenya, are problematic because they are melodramatic, instead of tragic. They have shock value, but no bureaucrats or politicians for us to crucify to redeem our education amd healthcare.

To prevent a story from becoming melodramatic, one must also contextualize the story. It's not enough to focus on the sites of inequality (schools in Kinango) or despair (Mama Lucy). The story must deal with causes beyond the schools and hospitals. Neither documentary did that.

#CribOfDeath failed to follow the trail of corruption in the hospital, was content not to name the management that was unreacheable for comment, and left Sonko looking like the buffoon he is, pleading he had already ordered the supplies. He essentially smelled of flowers.

#HardshipAcademy failed to track a century of discrimination in education at the Coast, reduced CBC challenges to teething problems, when actually, CBC moves inequality beyond infrustructure to the actual curriculum. Parental involvement will entrench educational inequality.

The central question of corruption in healthcare and education in Kenya is this: who benefits? We already know who suffers. We see it. But if the media houses were serious, they would now investigate who benefits from broken healthcare and broken education. Whom do we crucify?