Kenya’s editors are preparing for a difficult period as the country heads towards the 2027 General Election, with the media industry facing growing threats to journalists and an increasingly sophisticated wave of AI-generated misinformation.
The Kenya Editors Guild (KEG), while launching preparations for its 9th Annual Editors Convention on Friday, said journalists and media houses were operating under pressure from intimidation and attempts to restrict legitimate journalism.
KEG President Zubeidah Kananu said the industry needed to remain united as the election approaches.
“We are already operating in an environment where journalists and media houses have faced threats, intimidation and attempts to restrict or silence legitimate journalism,” Kananu said. “This is a moment when we must stand together.”
She also warned that artificial intelligence would make the information environment more difficult to navigate, particularly as political activity intensifies ahead of the election.
“Mis- and disinformation will become more sophisticated, particularly with the rapid growth of AI and other emerging technologies,” she said, describing an “information environment” that will grow “noisier” as the election approaches.
Kananu said the threats facing the media were interconnected. Restrictions on journalists and media houses, she argued, could create gaps in reliable information that are then exploited by manipulated content and coordinated digital campaigns.
The concerns will form part of discussions at this year’s convention, which will be held in Mombasa from November 25 to 29 under the theme, Navigating the Storm: Media Resilience on the Road to 2027.
Editors, journalists, regulators and technology experts are expected to examine the challenges facing the industry, including journalist safety, AI literacy, newsroom economics and online abuse targeting journalists.
Kananu said the industry was not facing its first difficult election cycle, but the nature and scale of the threats were changing.
“We know this terrain. We have covered elections before. But every election presents a different test,” she said. “Our responsibility is not simply to survive the storm. We must be prepared to navigate it.”
For newsrooms, that preparation will involve maintaining the ability to report independently while helping audiences distinguish credible journalism from increasingly convincing synthetic content.
