MH Reporter
The Standard Group Management has parted ways with its Digital Editor Caroline Kimutai after slightly five years at the Mombasa Road based company.
Caroline Kimutai exit is coming at a time when Standard Digital has failed to meet to the expectation of the management.
Kimutai, a former TUKO and X-News Editor is also just leaving months after Digital editor Brian Okoth left to join TRT Media group.
An insider told MH Reporter that her tenure saw the readership of the website drastically reduce making the once number one news website in the country lose its taste and previous ranking to the likes of Tuko, Kenyans.co.ke, Citizen Digital and Nation.
According to State of The Media Report carried out by Media Council of Kenya in 2022, Standard website was ranked number Four as the most visited news website from the number one position it enjoyed before Ms. Kimutai took over from David Ohito, the then Editor who left the position to vie for Ugenya Parliamentary seat in 2017.
Her reign was not smooth… and many editors and sub-editors left the digital desk for other engagements away from the Mombasa Road establishment.
Caroline’s departure comes just weeks after dependable Standard Digital Content/Quality Editor Sammy Wambua left in March.
Soon after Sammy, a former Nation media editor left, Standard Group Editor-In-Chief Ochieng Rapuro announced changes, leading to Ms. Kimutai’s exit.
In the changes, Sarah Okuoro, a young journalist who just graduated with a Masters of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, was made acting Digital Editor (Digital) a position previously held by Kimutai while William Bulemi was appointed as the head quality at Standard Digital in Changes announced towards the end of April.
Sources say Kimutai was caught unaware by the changes.
Crucial products such as Ureport, SDE (Standard Digital Entertainment) have since died.
Caroline who joined Standard from Tuko is leaving at a time when Standard Group PLC is struggling financially with huge salary arrears for staff running into months.
Recently the Group reported loss before tax of nearly Sh1 billion.
The company owes saccos affiliated to it money amounting to millions of shillings putting members savings at risk.
Staff who were fired under redundancy programme early this year have not received their pension benefit, an exercise which previously before the financial problems took three to four weeks to process.