The Daily Nation is a Kenyan daily newspaper based in Nairobi.[1] It was founded in 1958 and is published by Nation Media Group.
It operates on a subscription model, requiring readers to pay for access to most of its online articles and content.
History
A predecessor to The Daily Nation was a Swahili weekly called Taifa by the Englishman Charles Hayes, founded in 1958.[2] It was bought in 1959 by Prince Shah Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV and became a daily newspaper, Taifa Leo (Swahili for "Nation Today"), in January 1960.
An English-language edition called Daily Nation was published on 3 October 1960, in a process organised by former editor of the British News Chronicle, Michael Curtis.
The publisher was East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd, which later became the Nation Media Group, with operations throughout the African Great Lakes region.[1]
Goan Kenyan journalist Cyprian Fernandes worked at the Daily Nation and Sunday Nation from 1960 until he was forced to flee Kenya around 1973, owing to his investigative journalism probing irregularities which came too close to the government under Jomo Kenyatta, and his family was threatened. By that time he was chief reporter.[3] He was one of the first Kenyan-born reporters at the paper.[4]
Another well-known sports writer in the 1960s at the paper was Polly Fernandes.[5]
Headquarters
The newspaper was originally based at Nation House on Tom Mboya Street. It is now published from the Nation Media Group headquarters on Kimathi Street in Nairobi.[6]
Market share
The Daily Nation and its Sunday edition paper Sunday Nation had a market share of 53% in 2011.[9][10] Their market share was 74% in 2013.[9]
One of its main competitors in 2014 was The Standard, published by the Standard Group.[11]
The daily first turned a profit in 1968, and by 1970, was selling over 46,000 copies per issue.[12]
Affiliated newspapers
- The Saturday Nation
- The Sunday Nation
- Business Daily Africa
- Taifa Leo, a Swahili-language newspaper, Kenya
- Daily Monitor, Uganda
- The Citizen, Tanzania
- The EastAfrican Newspapers
In film
A documentary film about the paper was released in 2000, directed by Dutch filmmakers Hillie Molenaar and Joop van Wijk.[13][14]
External links
References
- Daily Nation - Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports Bizna Kenya, 2019-03-15, retrieved 2020-05-28^
- Gerard Loughran. The Birth of a Nation: The Story of a Newspaper in Kenya I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, 2010^
- John Veage. Yesterday in Paradise St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, 14 February 2017, retrieved 6 January 2024^
- Cyprian Fernandes The Nation, 9 December 2023, retrieved 6 January 2024^
- Remembering the football debacle of 1965 when Ghana thumped Kenya Nation, 21 December 2012, retrieved 3 January 2024^
- Contact Us Nation, 21 January 2021, retrieved 6 January 2024^
- Charles Wachira. Kenyan Media Company Linked to Kenyatta Offers Free Daily Paper Bloomberg News, 1 July 2014, retrieved 21 November 2014^
- Tom Rhodes. Advertising and Censorship In East Africa's Press Center for Public Justice (Washington, DC), 2013, retrieved 21 November 2014^
- Daily Nation Newspaper and facts about Nation Media Group BuzzKenya, June 10, 2013, retrieved May 18, 2016^
- Tinega Geoffrey Ngoge. A Comparative Study of Print and Online Media Content in Kenya: A Case of 'Daily Nation' Newspaper University of Nairobi, 2014^
- Daily Nation (Kenya) Newspaper Kenya-Advisor.com, 13 June 2011, retrieved 21 November 2014^
- History The Nation Media Group, retrieved 2025-08-15^
- {{IMDb title|qid=Q124251342|title=The Daily Nation}}^
- The Daily Nation: A documentary about a Kenyan newspaper^