This paper examines press coverage of the Kenyan Mau Mau movement in the 1950s and shows how it supported the creation of a distorted world view of those times. In order to assess media tactics employed to propagate this view, the author reviews selected articles which appeared in the major newsprint media in Britain, the United States and Kenya between 1952 and 1956, from the onset of the state of emergency to the time that the British had gained the upper hand in the struggle. These publications are ‘Time’, the ‘New York Times’, ‘The London Times’, and the ‘East African Standard’ (now ‘The Standard’). The view presented by the press – a myth – is set beside the reality as presented by several sources – Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, a black Kenyan active in pre and postindependence politics; Robert Edgerton, author of ‘Mau Mau: an African crucible’ (1989); and David Maughan-Brown, author of ‘Land, freedom and fiction’ (1985). Kariuki’s book, ‘Mau Mau detinee’ (1963), tells the story of the treatment of black Kenyans before and during the state of emergency and addresses the myths which were spread concerning Mau Mau. Taken together, these sources seek to clarify and denounce misconceptions in popular culture. Ref.
