Citizen TV has once again raided its competitors, poaching some of the most promising reporters in the country as the Dennis Pritt Road-based media house seeks to assert its dominance and strengthen its grip on the market share.
One month after Kenyans.co.ke exclusively reported that Citizen had set its sights on prizing away Emmanuel Too, KTN's fast-rising political reporter from Mombasa Road, Royal Media Services (RMS) has actualised the plan.
Not only has Citizen TV poached Too, the media house has also managed to poach Francis Odee, the investigations reporter from KTN as well as former KTN political reporter Willy Lusige.
Besides raiding KTN for its top talent, Citizen has also recruited Melita ole Tenges from NTV who has been serving as a senior political reporter and standby news anchor.
Informal talks with the budding journalists have been going on for weeks now but sources reveal that they were called in this week for face-to-face interviews during which letters of offer were finally extended to them.
According to our sources, the journalists will commence their work at RMS on Tuesday, June 18 when they will be expected to hit the ground running.
Highly placed sources have also confided to Kenyans.co.ke that Citizen TV has also held exploratory talks with Franklin Wallah, the seasoned crime and investigations reporter who recently joined TV47 from K24, although at this point it is still not clear whether he will be joining Too, Lusige and Odee at Citizen TV.
Recruitment Strategy
When Kenyans.co.ke broke the story about Citizen TV poaching Olive Burrows from NTV, we reported that Royal Media had set its sights on polished Crime and Investigations talent alongside budding political reporters with a high ceiling.
The groundwork on who to target had been ongoing for months.
For instance, Citizen TV had been monitoring Too for months evaluating his work and for a long time believed he was likely to be a good fit. This belief was further affirmed when he did a comprehensive story on the private plane President William Ruto used for his US State visit. The report became a top trend, which Kenyans used as fodder to question why the Head of State had spent taxpayer money on this with reports indicating that up to Ksh200 million could have been spent on the trip.
The traction of the report made decision-makers at Citizen TV fast-track their plans to recruit him. Too joined KTN in 2019 and now counts as one of the most established political reporters in the country.
The same strategy was also applied to Tenges whom Citizen TV had monitored for a long time since he joined NMG as a correspondent in May 2017 before quickly establishing himself and gradually rising through the ranks.
Meanwhile, Lusige a former KTN News correspondent for the Western region has been working as a freelance journalist after leaving Standard at the tail-end of 2023.
Long Game
Our sources indicate that Citizen TV is employing a two-pronged strategy as it moves into the next phase. With the media business being increasingly disrupted by digital outlets, Royal Media believes that capitalising on quality crime and investigations reports and in-depth political pieces is the only way to stay ahead of the curve and remain the market leader.
To that end, Citizen TV has been working round the clock to recruit new journalists after losing some of its best talent in recent months.
For instance, in March, crime and investigative journalist Hassan Mugambi and senior political reporter Chemutain Goin left the station for government jobs.
Mugambi joined the Ministry of Defence as the Communications advisor to Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale while Goin joined National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula's office as the principal media relations officer.
The duo had not been replaced since their exit in March.
