Nation Media Group's NTV has laid off three journalists among them two top news anchors.
Kenyans.co.ke has established that the regional giant media house declared the three journalists redundant, with some having amassed years of experience at the station.
The three journalists are sports anchor and editor Watson Karuma, Swahili anchor and reporter Kaltun Jama and business reporter Alex Mwangi.
The decision to declare them redundant is said to have been communicated to the affected journalists on Thursday, February 10, 2022.
After they were handed their redundancy letters by the Human Resource, Kaltun and Karuma reportedly left the company's WhatsApp groups without a word.
"Only Alex said his goodbyes, Kaltun and Watson just left. But we knew that they had been demoralised by the demands which the boss has put on them. It's quite unfair if you ask me," an insider told Kenyans.co.ke.
"It's hard right now because the staff is demoralized. After the last lot left, the company did not hire for those roles, now people were being given extra work without increased pay."
While NTV is yet to make a formal communication to the entire team about the exit of Kaltun, Mwangi and Karuma, a source privy to the state of affairs at Twin Towers revealed to this writer that the staff are blaming a new entrant in the management for their frustrations.
Kenyans.co.ke has further learned that, the three journalists were asked to take up new roles, which the company never filled since the last mass layoff.
Insiders opined that this was a subtle but intentional move to push out seasoned journalists so that they be replaced with fresh talent, seen by others as a cost-cutting strategy.
Kaltun joined the Kimathi Street-based media house in 2018 as part of a crop of new hires following a mass exit by its employees. Karuma, on the other hand, joined the fledgling media house in 2005, as per his professional profile, and rose through the ranks to the position of News Anchor and Editor.
Over the past year, NTV has lost some of its high-wattage journalism talent, both on own volition as well as through firings. They include Debarl Inea, Victor Kiprop, Ken Mijungu, Anita Nkonge as well as Gladys Gachanja.
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