About Kenya Monitor

Kenya Monitor is a citizen journalism website, a project by Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) whose aim it to report on important stories from all the counties in Kenya through use of bloggers and other online content creators.

Kenya Monitor’s sole mandate is to report on important stories from all the counties in Kenya through use of bloggers and other online content creators.

It has become quite evident that that mainstream media does not necessarily cover all stories especially those of human interest. The growth of the number of internet users in Kenya has also spurred the rise of citizen journalist who are able to capture events as they happen through their mobile phones. Due to the lengthy process of sending images, video footage or stories to media houses, most Kenyans never get to share their witness accounts.

We intend to harness the power of the internet and the need by the Kenyan Citizen to share their stories to provide platform that caters for this need. We are starting with Nairobi County and its environs and eventually launch it countrywide.

 How it works

Kenya Monitor is accepting stories, images, audio and video footage from the public which will then be verified and edited by a team of editors and then published. The editors are paid and the content contributors will work on a volunteer basis but will be paid a small stipend to facilitate their Internet access costs.

 Content

Kenya Monitor is platform for Kenyans to tell their own unfiltered stories and at the same time crowd-source interesting stories as observed by the citizens. The main focus is on stories that don’t get much coverage in the main stream media. We have identified several broad thematic areas such as development, governance, health, culture, arts, culture, education, environment, philanthropy among others which will be the main focus point for the platform.

There is an emphasis of local stories and experiences Kenyans go through in their daily lives.

Translation

The content is currently in English, there are however future plans for the translation of the content into Kiswahili and other Kenyan languages. The specific content created is in the form of text, videos, audio and pictures.
Programmes

We have also started programmes under Kenya Monitor geared towards better citizen awareness around governance, human rights and internet freedoms through programs such as Jukumu Letu and iFreedoms.

Jukumu Letu

Jukumu Letu logoThe Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) together other Interactive Media Outreach Program Partners, under the leadership of Hivos created an initiative dubbed Jukumu Letu which was launched in January 2015.

Jukumu Letu is an initiative that entails bringing people together, interacting with them and making the constitution work for the Kenyan citizen. The initiative seeks to animate constitutional discourse and activate Kenya Citizen to be more informed and involved in the constitutional implementation by launching local initiatives with local artists and other stake holders in all 47 counties in Kenya.

Follow Jukumu Letu on:-

Twitter@jukumuniletu 

To Follow Jukumu Letu activities online, use the Hashtag #JukumuLetu


iFreedoms

Promoting Internet Freedoms in Kenya

Why iFreedoms?

The project  promotes internet freedom in the East African region through digital security and saiFreedoms Kenya Logofety skills development, creating awareness on the status of online freedoms and how to protect these freedoms, building a network of the region’s actors in this domain, and advocacy to engender a more progressive digital rights regime in East Africa.
The project will amplify the voices of citizen journalists on freedom of expression and engagement, utilise art and culture to promote internet rights (artivism) and continue to document threats to access, privacy and security online in East Africa.

Our Mandate

BAKE has established a network of bloggers, social media influencers, activists, hackers, software developers, lawyers and the civil society dedicated to protecting the freedom of expression online and access to information online by Kenyans.
The ifreedoms project run under the Kenya Monitor website is carrying out following:-

  1. Report on threats to online speech through blog articles and social Media
  2. Share information on tools that can be used to protect one’s identity online

BAKE’s iFreedoms other mandate is:-

  • Highlight the essential importance of a free internet to the promotion of human rights at the grass roots level.
  • Agitate for Internet policy changes
  • Empower citizens to exercise their fundamental rights
  • Support frontline online activists agitating for free speech online

Follow iFreedoms on:-

Twitter – ifreedomsKe

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/iFreeKe