by Phoebe Odingo

Created on: May 04, 2008   Last Updated: December 23, 2008

The answer is yes media expose's can lead to drastically needed reform. The problem is that there are so few true journalists. When there are scandals in government, journalists dance around them so carefully that they are not as effective. In western countries, where there are checks and balances in place, you would think that any kind of an expose' would lead to some kind of reform.The problem is that today, the media dwells on such insignificant issues while the government continues to recklessly misuse the peoples' tax money. In developing countries however, the governments have such a strangle hold on the media that no changes seem to come out of such revelations.

Take a country like Kenya for instance. This is one of the few African countries that could have been competitive in the world market today. By 1986 the exchange rate of the Kenya shilling to the dollar was Ksh 16.00, today it's up to Ksh 60.00 to the dollar. The GDP was very similar to that of Singapore. Due to corruption one might say, mainly led by government abuse, Kenya is now lagging way behind. The inflation rate is high and the unemployment rate reflects it. The level of embezzlement by government is well documented. Countless articles were written about these issues, all which amounted to nothing. In the end none of the corrupt leaders are prosecuted.

Case in point, a prominent government official, a Mr. Githongo exposed all the anomalies in the Kenya government. The media covered it as thoroughly as was expected of them. Names of top ministers were revealed in different scandals ranging anywhere from corrupt passport deals to money laundering. Needless to say, he was ostracized, the media reprimanded and after a brief suspension one of the rogue ministers, he was reinstated. Recently Kenya held an election in which the opposition party promised to streamline the government. When the votes were counted, even though the opposition was in the lead the whole time, the incumbent won. All the scandals that had been revealed during his previous administration would of course be carried over to the next government.

In essence as much exposure as the media gave the abuse of power, no reforms were realized. On the other hand neighboring countries like Tanzania and Uganda have been very sensitive to any reports of abuse by government officials. A Ugandan vice president resigned when he was charged with corruption after a journalist wrote about it.

It may seem like most journalists in these developing

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