Nation Media Group (NMG) has been forced to issue a clarification over its Daily Nation’s front page after an alarmist headline hit newsstands on Wednesday.
Two images of the leading newspaper were circulating with different sets of headlines packaged in a similar design just like that of Daily Nation.
The first edition ran with the headline, “Jimmy Wanjigi Paid 6.5 Billion for Dams,” whereas the second read, “Gloves off as Ruto allies take on Uhuru.”
Taking to social media, the Kimathi street-based media house revealed that the Jimmy Wanjigi headline was fake and that the other was the only genuine one.
“#FakeNewsAlert: Here is today’s Daily Nation front page. Do not fall for fake headlines. DAILY NATION,” posted Daily nation.
The Jimmy Wanjigi headline had earlier the same day trended on various social media platforms and rose eyebrows.
On a closer look by our expert staffers, the fake edition was marred with errors compared to how the genuine edition was packaged.
For instance, the top corner of the fake paper displays a story about Kenya’s film Supa Modo charming New York audience. The story was reportedly not timely.
A closer look at the issue numbers of the two editions shows that the fake edition displays issue number 19610 while the genuine edition possesses issue number 19611.
The style of writing applied in the fake edition is also not in line with the guidelines the media house subscribes to.