Is there not a fundamental policy flaw at the heart of the BBC WST paper - a flaw reflected in overall media development policies by AID agencies - that in some way the "media" can be treated as different than society. When clearly there is a direct relationship - indeed not even a relationship but they are one and the same thing. Witness media in Russia under Putin - no public outcry. Or how about media in USA post 9/11 - overtly patriotic. Impossible to understand Canadian medi a in absence of understanding Quebec-Canada relationship and that 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of USA border. So why are we so surprised when media itself reflects and communicates - gives voice to - the tensions in Kenya? Is that not just the "national conversation" that media so proudly claims as its role?