Nation Media Group To Fire Many Of These Journalists
Those affected include correspondents, freelancers and several columnists.
Marvin Chege 
Nation Media Group (NMG) has begun laying off many correspondents and other external contributors in what is viewed as the latest move by the regional media house to cut costs.
Viral Tea was informed that a few of them have received firing letters in a move that has thrown many long-serving newspaper contributors into panic, with a significant number likely to miss contract renewals for 2026. Those affected include correspondents, freelancers and several columnists.
“We refer to the Agreement between yourself and Nation Media Group PLC by which you write articles for publication in the Daily Nation and other media outlets of Nation Media Group PLC,” reads a letter dated 12th Nov. 2025 sent to one contributor.
“Nation Media Group PLC wishes to give you one (1) month’s notice of our intention to terminate the said Agreement with effect from the date of this note.”
An empty newsroom at Nation Media Group on May 29, 2020. /NATION MEDIA GROUP
The affected journalists will continue working until December 12, 2025, after which they will no longer be engaged by the company.
“Consequently, we inform you shall not be required to submit any articles for publication after 12th December, 2025,” the letter adds. “Thank you for your services and co-operation in respect of this Agreement.”
Freelancers, correspondents and columnists make up a major share of NMG’s print workforce across the Daily Nation, Sunday Nation, Business Daily, The East African and Taifa Leo. The job cuts are therefore expected to hit teams in both Nairobi and the counties.
With the company already stretched on staffing, the latest round of cuts reflects deeper efforts to reduce costs amid shifting media dynamics.
The latest layoffs come eight months after Geoffrey Odundo stepped in as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), taking over a company battling sustained financial strain. NMG’s losses for the year ending December 2024 widened to Ksh254 million, up from Ksh205 million the year before. Although losses eased in the first half of 2025, the company is still struggling.
NMG has also been spending heavily on staff exits to slim down its payroll for a more digital-first future — a process that cost Ksh157.8 million in 2024 and weighed heavily on its bottom line.
The termination of contributors’ contracts signals the start of broader end-year restructuring. In line with its usual pattern, NMG is expected to release more permanent staff — mostly journalists and marketing personnel — just before or shortly after Christmas, and certainly before the first quarter of 2026 closes.
The latest purge signals a ruthless environment in Kenyan media, with legacy media houses facing dwindling advertising revenues alongside intensifying competition by fast-rising digital platforms as well as alternative media sources, including bloggers, influencers and celebrities themselves, with most of the advertising revenue being directed to the other platforms contributed by the rise of social media.
However, NMG is not new to carrying out firings as it has done so almost every year. In June 2024, the media house announced a round of mass layoffs, attributing this to a media landscape undergoing rapid transformation, that is, changes in audience consumption habits, technology, and other macroeconomic factors disrupting business models across the world.
NMG admitted to also facing such challenges as a result of reduced earnings from traditional platforms, occasioned by these unprecedented disruptions. However, it took cognizant of the fact that immense digital content creation and consumption opportunities exist not only in Kenya but across the continent.
"In order to reap the benefits of the new digital dispensation, we must accelerate that transformation. We must evolve into a leaner, and more agile company that will innovate at pace and drive the efficient delivery of services to our customers," the statement read in part by its group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Gitagama.
The radical decision, NMG added, would necessitate a workforce reduction, effective Friday, June 14, 2024.
Two years ago, in November, it had announced mass redundancies in a bid to align itself with the current market environment. Rather than go for the ordinary employees, the media house chose to cut short the tenures of senior editors, senior investigative journalists, long-serving news anchors and managing editors, among others.
Industry observers opine that the latest job cuts could present an opportunity for NMG's rivals to snap up star performers as media houses seek to improve their workforce ahead of coverage surrounding the 2027 general elections.
