NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 26 – Kenyan media houses have signed an agreement with the Media Council of Kenya on Internship and Industrial Placement of journalism students.
The initiative will see 100 journalism students placed in various media houses in each quarter of the year, with a monthly pay of Sh15,000 for each intern from the Media Council of Kenya to cover transport and insurance.
“This programme is aimed at bridging the gap because most students find it difficult getting internship,” said David Omwoyo, MCK’s Chief Executive Officer when he signed the agreement with Capital FM which one of the media houses that signed the collaboration agreement on Tuesday.
Capital FM was represented by its Editorial Director Bernard Momanyi and the station’s Finance Director and Human Resource Administrator Grace Nyambura.
“We are committed to the development of journalism students and we are confident that this internship placement programme will go a long way in exposing them to the work environment where they will gain experience,” Momanyi said and lauded the Council for considering to pay the interns due to the challenges media houses are facing, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the agreement, MCK will advertise calls for applications using an eligibility criteria and a panel established to review the applications to pick the best.
Nyambura assured that Capital FM will fully support the internship programme as part of it’s contribution to the journalism and media profession in the country.
“We are committed to media development and that is why we are happy to be part of this initiative,” she said.
Placement will be done jointly by the MCK and the respective media organisations.
MCK Chief Executive Officer Omwoyo said supervision of the interns will be done jointly by the council, media enterprises and Universities/Middle-level Media Training Colleges.
Media organisations will be required to designate specific employees such as News Editors and section editors to supervise the trainees.
