Columbia Journalism School has awarded Maurice Oniang’o the 2026 Joan Konner Program in the Journalism of Ideas Fellowship, which supports journalism that departs from traditional beats and explores the world of ideas.
Africa Uncensored has agreed to publish Oniang’o’s reporting on the project, “Violence, Visibility, and Femicide in Digital Kenya,” which will examine how digital culture is reshaping the public experience of violence against women in Kenya, particularly the relationship between online visibility, public outrage, grief and accountability.
“Through reporting with survivors, grieving families, activists, and other central characters, the project will examine the gap between visibility and institutional response, including the role of online surveillance, viral outrage and digital culture in shaping public understanding of violence and justice,” Oniang’o said..
Oniang’o hopes the project will fill a reporting gap in Kenya.
Media coverage of femicide in Kenya has often followed the rhythm of individual killings, documenting the violence, amplifying the outrage, and then moving on, Oniang’o said. The structural conditions surrounding that violence, including impunity, institutional failure, and the role of digital culture in enabling surveillance, control and harassment, have received far less sustained attention.
