With the rapid advancements in technology, the field of media and journalism has evolved immensely over the years. From print to radio, to television, and now, digital journalism, the world has been reduced to one small community under the internet.
In Kenya, digital journalism lept to the next level in 2014. This was when a number of media houses in the country stepped up their online presence, both through websites and social media.
In this article, WoK takes a look at some of the best news websites in the country and a profile of their owners.
1.Tuko.co.ke
Tuko News is among the most read websites in the country. According to a recent ranking by Alexa, the media house was ranked fourth in the country only behind Google, YouTube, and Facebook.
This makes Tuko the most read news website in Kenya. It boasts about 6 million followers on Facebook and hundreds of thousands more on Twitter. Its YouTube page boasts tens of millions of views thanks to its most popular show, Tuko Talks.
Tuko is a partner of Genesis Media global consumer Internet company which also cooperates with Legit.ng (in Nigeria) and YEN.com.gh (in Ghana).
According to website, roem.ru, Genesis is a Ukrainian media company. It was able to apply the experience of media development in the CIS countries in Africa and the Philippines. The company’s naij, Tuko and Yen news sites lead the way in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana; their other website, Kami is the first most visited in the Philippines.
The company is based in Kiev, from there the editorial office is managed.
“When Genesis began to explore the African market, the company found that local players lacked the expertise to create international media, and foreign media companies present in the country, including the BBC, CNN and Buzzfeed, were making news aimed at Europeans and Americans who, for one reason or another, were interested in the situation in Africa,” the website states.
2. Kenyans.co.ke
Kenyans.co.ke is the second most read news website in Kenya behind Tuko. It is the sixth most visited website in Kenya overall only behind, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Tuko, and Twitter.
The media house boasts a solid news audience and social media presence. Kenyans has a million followers on Facebook, over 400,000 on Twitter and a solid YouTube subscription. It produces content cutting across various categories thus attracting a huge audience.
Kenyans is owned by a company called Boxraft Limited. Boxraft is owned by Robert Ndung’u. The company also owns popular news aggregator website, Kenya Moja.
3. Standard Digital
Standard Digital is the 24th most read website in Kenya, and the third most visited news site according to Alexa.
The website is owned by Standard Media Group (SMG). The Mombasa Road-based media house is owned by the Moi Family led by Baringo Senator and KANU leader Gideon Moi.
4. Nation.Africa
Nation is the 26th most visited website in Kenya and fourth most read news site.
The website is owned by regional conglomerate Nation Media Group (NMG), which also owns NTV, Business Daily, The East African, Daily Monitor, The Citizen and NTV Uganda, among others.
NMG was founded by Aga Khan IV in 1959 and is the largest private media house in East and Central Africa with offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
NMG is owned as follows: Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (44.66%), Alpine Investments Limited (10.15%), National Social Security Fund NSSF (3.44 %), John Kibunga Kimani (1.54 %).
Others are; Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya Limited (1.07 %), Standard Chartered Nominees A/c KE17984, (0.91 %), and CfC Stanbic Nominee Limited (0.81 %).
5. The Star
The Star is ranked 38th on the list of most visited websites in Kenya, and is the fifth most read news website in the country.
It was launched as the Nairobi Star in July 2007 and later rebranded as The Star in 2009. It began as a newspaper with a circulation of about 15,000-20,000.
The Star is owned by Radio Africa Group.
6. Ghafla
Ghafla is ranked 40th on the list of most visited websites in the country and the 6th most read news website in Kenya.
The media house was founded by Samwel Majani initially, as a lyrical website, but ventured into entertainment news. It was later bought for a cool Ksh60 million by Swiss firm, Ringier.
“The partnership with Ringier and relaunch consolidates Ghafla’s position as Kenya’s top entertainment news brand, as well as signals a new strategic direction in terms of expanding the editorial scope to include more politics, current affairs and international news stories, to further increase the popular platform’s followership. The redeveloped platform will also look to significantly increase its video and new media content, across all content sections and channels,” Ringier said in a statement after the acquisition in 2016.
7. Venasnews
This is arguably one of the most consistent bloggers in Kenya. He started the popular news blog venasnews.co.ke before it morphed into a betting site. The blogger has managed to keep his identity under wraps but WoK was at least able to get his first name Eric.
Here are bonus sites:
Kahawatungu – This a Nairobi-based news website. According to reports, the company is associated with blogger and Kileleshwa MCA aspirant Robert Alai.
Nairobileo.co.ke – The news website, launched in 2020 is owned by Journalist Martin Wachira. It commands a huge social media following, especially on Facebook.
Swala Nyeti – The news website was launched in 2021. It is owned by former NTV Journalist Mac Otani.
