The Daily Nation

In this feature documentary film we discover East Africa’s biggest and most modern newspaper, The Daily Nation, Kenya’s only independent source of information. The film shows the daily struggle of a newspaper trying to uphold democratic values in a corrupt society. Please read a review of the film by Tom Mshindi, former editor of the newspaper.

Style & Backstory

Filmed as though reading a newspaper, “The Daily Nation” joins editors, journalists, paper folders and vendors in their efforts to get the news out on the streets. The directors Molenaar and Van Wijk employ a mosaic style, encompassing everything from politics and sports to crime, creating a picture of everyday Kenya as few people even inside the country itself know it.

Human Interest

In Kenya’s still developing nation, corruption is a force felt everywhere. In spite of this, The Daily Nation struggles to maintain its objectivity. Their committed staff provide the Kenyan peoples with stories that make an impact on their lives and remind them of the value of an independent press.

Scenes

Newspaper The Daily Nation: information and work place.
This scene shows the work place for the editorial staff of the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation, and provides some figures about the news paper.
Investigation reporter working on a story about corrupt NGO’s
The editing staff is discussing the topics for the news paper The Daily Nation. One investigation reporter is working on a story about corrupt NGO’s that get money of donors on false grounds. The reporter feels that by doing his work, he is able to improve the situation in Kenya.
Political change in Kenia and the reaction by the newspaper The Daily Nation
The editing staff of the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation is responding to an important reshuffle within the national politics. The employers are very keen on giving an immediate, critical response on the politics in their newspaper. The newspaper is even making a special edition.
Photo reporter of The Daily Nation at work.
This fragment shows a photo reporter of the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation making photographs of a shooting accident on the streets. Afterwards he discusses the photographs of the shooting with the chief photographer.
Manager of the Daily Nation about freedom of press
The managers of the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation play golf together. One of them expresses his wish for Kenya to be more democratic like the Western world, where, according to him, there is more freedom of press.
Region manager about The Daily Nation and the rural areas
In this clip we follow a region manager of the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation. He’s visiting the vendors of the newspaper. He explains why it would be interesting to have an edition for his rural region, as there are a lot of farmers living there and the farmers have different interests compared to people living in the city.
Newspaper The Daily Nation in Kenia working on the news on the Kurdish leader Ocalan
In this fragment the movie directors follow the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation from the point that they discover a newsflash about the Kurdish leader Ocalan and the Greek embassy in Kenya, up to the point where the story is investigated and printed in the newspaper.
Availability of The Daily Nation in rural areas in Kenia
A region manager working for the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation talks about his work in the field. He thinks it is very important that also the people living in the rural areas are getting informed by the newspaper, and that’s why he’s keen on selling the newspapers in his region.