Debunk Media

How does a newsroom disrupt itself? By going back to basics. At Debunk, much as we’ve always done our journalism differently, we feel it isn’t & it hasn’t been enough both for ourselves & our audiences. So we start again. That’s why we’d like those who move like us to join us. 🔗 debunk.media/apprenticeship/

We Can’t Wait…

Back. Better. Stronger.

We know it can be thankless, but have you ever felt the high of turning a writer’s first draft into a piece of magic, if not their best work? That’s what we’d like you to feel, forever. A fulfillment borne out of a generosity of spirit, to give of yourself for something bigger. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2tzajhrn

Sometimes what we all need isn’t a second chance but a proper chance. Calling all storytellers who’ve given it a solid shot before but now want to soar. Those who no longer wish to roll solo but want to be part of a bigger mission. Come, let’s up the ante, writing & reporting. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2d7mjc8u

How does a newsroom disrupt itself? By going back to basics. At Debunk, much as we’ve always done our journalism differently, we feel it isn’t & it hasn’t been enough both for ourselves & our audiences. So we start again. That’s why we’d like those who move like us to join us. 🔗 debunk.media/apprenticeship/

On the eve of the 2022 general election, JB Muturi, then Speaker of the National Assembly, was flirting with the idea of becoming president. He didn’t. But he found landing; Attorney General, then Cabinet Secretary. Now he’s out. Which way for @HonJBMuturi, the poker player? Read: debunk.media/from-speaker-t…

Rasna Warah was a one of kind writer, journalist, columnist & patriot. Today, friends and family gather in her memory. Follow the @RasnaWarah vigil here: youtube.com/live/A_yy9wptu… #HereGoesRasnaWarah

When Debunk Media launched its op-ed section, Public Square, in October 2022, @RasnaWarah was the first columnist to officially join the team. Alongside the op-eds, Rasna, now battling cancer, did more writing, but in the form of Q&As. This is how Rasna did another first for Debunk, by pioneering Debunk Speaks To, Debunk’s Q&A beat. These reflections are from Rasna’s comrades in arms, those with whom she wrote and thought alongside during her stint with Debunk. Read more: debunk.media/for-rasna-from… #HereGoesRasnaWarah

Like the next newspaper reader, I didn’t know Rasna Warah. I only knew of The Rasna Warah, the feisty Kenyan Asian woman opinion columnist who wrote for the Nation.  Growing up in the ‘90s, my father, a crossword puzzle addict, would rather the family forgo a meal for him to get a copy of the Nation, which he’d hoard until he was done with the crossword. This is how newspapers became sacred to me, and this is how I placed those who wrote in the papers, like Rasna Warah, on a pedestal.  There were the Kwendo Opangas, the David Makalis, the Kwamchetsi Makokhas, the Tom Mshindis, the Mutuma Mathius, the Jaindi Kiseros, the Macharia Gaithos, the Philip Ochiengs, and many, many others. The women columnists, though, at least from my teenage recollection, were far in between. A Rasna Warah here. A Lucy Oriang’ there. Later, an L. Muthoni Wanyeki. And so I second-guessed myself when I wrote Rasna Warah in October 2022, asking whether she’d run a column for a two-year-old digital publication I was editing. Time had passed, Rasna had left the Nation, and those of us who grew up reading Rasna and her ilk were now attempting to do what they did so effortlessly. Would she be kind enough to consider it?  “Dear Isaac,” Rasna wrote back, “I am really honoured by your offer. Maybe it is something I need to do to forget about my condition. Could we talk more on phone?”  Read more: debunk.media/finding-and-lo… #RememberingRasnaWarah

Before one presses 'publish' on a piece, writers, their editors & everyone else working behind the scenes jump through hoops, dotting the i's & crossing the t's. Camaraderie is gained & lost. @ashamwilu writes on working with @RasnaWarah , giving an in on their 3 hour phone calls. Read more: debunk.media/my-many-phone-… #RememberingRasnaWarah

To know @RasnaWarah is to simply read Rasna Warah, writes @rasmengesha23 . From writing pithy op-eds for @NationAfrica for decades to her wide ranging analysis on @theelephantinfo , to her fiction & nonfiction, nothing will shine a light on Rasna Warah more than reading her writing. Read more: debunk.media/who-was-rasna-…  #HereGoesRasna

Where does one stand in order to properly eulogise @RasnaWarah ? A rare, courageous, formidable human - imperfections & all - Rasna Warah was unstoppable, till death, at least physically. Impacting generations with her writing, @IsaacOtidiAmuke recounts what she meant to Debunk.  Read more: debunk.media/finding-and-lo…  #RememberingRasna #HereGoesRasna

Just over a year ago, we cautioned the Inspector General of Police, Japheth Koome @IG_NPS, who resigned today, that much as the police commit atrocities against Kenyans under his watch while citing “orders from above”, in the end, it will all fall at his feet. He didn’t listen… debunk.media/sleep-with-the…

In the meantime @RailaOdinga 👀 debunk.media/dear-mr-odinga…