Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang' Nyong'o was on Friday exposed over messages termed to distort the reputation of a group of journalists in Kisumu.
Kisumu journalist network Chairman Rushdie Oudia stated that Nyong'o verbally attacked the journalists through an article published on the Star on October 20.
The Governor's article read; "Let me call the attention of the national media to a terrible culture that has now become almost a normal practice in news gathering and news dissemination.
"I have noticed that, whether in Nairobi or in Kisumu, reporters tend to take it for granted that they must be "given something" for them to report events or press conferences they are supposed to cover," Nyong'o claimed.
In a rejoinder, Oudia revealed that the politician remarks were aimed at portraying the journalists in a bad light. This he argued were proved in a string of messages on WhatsApp.
The chairman claimed that in the thread the veteran politician and some of his executives contributed, in what appeared to be endorsing a proposal by one Bovince Ochieng', to 'handle' journalists, who are claimed to be giving them biased and negative reporting.
"The best solution is to make Kisumu media irrelevant and appear, a propagandist who is unreliable to the public by creating a parallel media team reaching out to every resident with the right information at the right time," read one of the messages.
The network of journalist affirmed that the would not back down from their role of informing the people as it is their duty.
Here are the messages:
"We will stand our ground, and on behalf of the public and the troubled county assembly perform our watchdog role," stated Oudia.