Professional Documents
Culture Documents
To The Star, Congratulations!
To The Star, Congratulations!
JustasIsupportedyourworkwhenyouwerenotyetonyour
feetbybuyingandreadingtodayIcanconfidentlysayIdo
evenmore.
Iamtodayoneofyouractivenewssources.SometimesIact
asa'confidentialsource'.Sometimeswhenthenewsroomis
dryIdoreceiveyourcalltospiceupastory.Manyatimes
youhaveemailedandphonedmetogetmyresponseonrecord
whilereportingonthe'bigman'ImeanmybossRaila
AmoloOdinga.
In fact, sometimes you even ask me about Jubilee our
incompetentfriendswhichIalsorespondquitehappily.I
thankyou.
Ladiesandgentlemenofthepressasweheadto2017,my
relationshipwithyouwillnotchange.Iwillcontinueto
supportyourwork.Iamyourfriendandpartner.Ihave
alwaysbeen.
Thetaskaheadisenormous.Theexpectationsaregigantic.
Youshouldnotfailus.Iknowthatcomplacency,thatevilof
not rising to the occasion when you ought to will be
rewarding,especiallywhenthestorybeforeyouisahigh
stakesone.
Iamnotheretotellyouwhattodo.Today,Iamhereto
remind youthatonly you willmakethosechoices which
improveourwholelotasapeopleandanation.Onlyyouwill
writethosestoriesthatleadtothosetrustedwithpublic
affairsbeingheldaccountable. Iamconfidentthemenand
womenIseehereareuptothetask.
WheneverImeetjournalistsinanoccasionlikethisInever
forgettoaddthis:Everystory,ifonlyextendedbyone
inch,caneitherleadtothetruthorcompletelyerasethe
truth. The truth therefore is a bargain between
professionalism,yourethics,yourappreciationofpublic
interestand,moresignificantly,yourcraft.
Iwillgiveyouanexample:someofmycolleagueswhistledin
parliamenttheotherday.SincethenIhavereadallthese
commentaries about how wrong, or disrespectful, or
unacceptable,theiractionswere.Theoneinchsomeofyou
refusedtogoiswhetherthewhistlingwasunprecedented,or,
grossly
out
of
sync
with
comparative
parliamentarypresidentialdemocraticprocessesaroundusor
elsewhereintheworld.
Ifthoseofyouwhowritepoliticalnewsweregoodstudents
ofhistoryyouwouldhavenoted,anddeliberatelyinformed
thecountry,thatwhateveritisthatwentoninparliament
isverynormalindeliberativedemocracies.Infact,the
firstwhistlingincident,orevent,actuallyhappenedatthe
verybeginningofourhistoryatthesecondLancasterHouse
Conference.Ileaveittoyoutofindoutwhowhistledand
why.
Ifyouwanttohelpoursocietyadvance,makeitcomprehend
whatchangesaretakingplacearoundus.
Whatwearerelaunchingtodayshouldbeanewphaseof
journalismasonlyTheStarknowsitbest.IamconfidentThe
Starwillremainacommonmannewspaper.The'wethepeople'
voicethatyouhavegivenspacesinceyourinceptionmust
neverdie.Andaslongasitlives,youwillkeepappealing
tothisgreatconstituencyyouhavecurvedforyourselves.
Andyouwillremaininbusiness.
Iwishyouluck,alotofit,asyoucelebrateonthis
relaunchagreatpast,awonderfulpresentandahopeful
future.Thankyou.
Hon.JunetMohamed,MP
April7,2016