{{Short description|Newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya}} {{Use British English|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Standard | logo = | image = | caption = | type = [[Daily newspaper]] | format = [[Berliner (format)|Berliner]] | owners = The Standard Group | founder = [[Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee|A.M. Jeevanjee]] | publisher = The Standard Group PLC<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/corporate/about-us|title=WHO WE ARE: Standard Group PLC |work=The Standard |date=2025|access-date=18 December 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20251218024826/https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/corporate/about-us |archive-date=18 December 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> | editor = | chief_editor = Chaacha Mwita | associate_editor = | managing_editor = | news_editor = | campus_editor = | campus_chief = | opinion_editor = | photo_editor = | seniorstaff = | staff_writers = | founded = {{start date and age|1902|df=yes}} (as African Standard) | political_position = | language = English | ceased_publication = | relaunched = | headquarters = [[Nairobi]], Kenya | circulation = 150,000 (as of 2016)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Standard Group, Kenya: Taking Off with ppi Media's Software |publisher=ppi Media GmbH |date=2016 |url=https://ppimedia.de/ppi/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/cs_standardgroup_workflow_en_201601.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307172823/https://ppimedia.de/ppi/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/cs_standardgroup_workflow_en_201601.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2023 |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=ppimedia.de |format=PDF |url-status=dead}}</ref> | sister_newspapers = | ISSN = 1025-8450 | eISSN = 1605-9638 | oclc = 57067254 | website = {{URL|standardmedia.co.ke}} }}
'''''The Standard''''' is the oldest newspaper in [[Kenya]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-06-07 |title=Kenya media guide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13681344 |access-date=2025-08-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
It is published by The Standard Group, which also runs the [[Kenya Television Network]] (KTN), Radio Maisha, ''The Nairobian'' (a weekly tabloid) and Standard Digital which is its online platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sanga |first=Benard |title=Standard Newspaper: It all begun from a tiny office in Mombasa |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001304637/standard-newspaper-it-all-begun-from-a-tiny-office-in-mombasa |access-date=2025-08-15 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref> The Standard Group is headquartered on Mombasa Road, [[Nairobi]], having moved from its previous premises at the [[I&M Bank Tower]].
==History== The newspaper was established as ''The'' ''African Standard'' in 1902, as a weekly, by [[Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee]], an immigrant businessman from [[British India]]. In 1905, Jeevanjee sold the paper to Maia Anderson and Rudolf Franz Mayer, who changed the name to the ''East African Standard''. It became a daily paper and moved its headquarters from [[Mombasa]] to [[Nairobi]] in 1910. At the time the newspaper strongly supported colonialist viewpoints.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket6st/basket6st1141299181.aspx |title=Redirecting |access-date=3 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621020031/http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket6st/basket6st1141299181.aspx |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The British-based [[Lonrho|Lonrho Group]] bought the newspaper in 1963, only a few months before Kenya's independence (they were a colony of Britain). The paper changed its name to ''The Standard'' in 1977 but the name ''East African Standard'' was revived later. It was sold to Kenyan investors in 1995. In 2004 the name was changed back to ''The Standard''. It is the main rival to Kenya's largest newspaper, the ''[[Daily Nation]]''.
In 1989, the Standard Group acquired the KTN Television Channel.
===Premises raid, 2006=== In late February 2006 ''The Standard'' ran a story claiming that president [[Mwai Kibaki]] and senior opposition figure [[Kalonzo Musyoka]] had been holding secret meetings. At 1:00 am local time (2200 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]), on 2 March, masked gunmen carrying [[AK-47]]s raided the editorial office of ''The Standard'', and its television station KTN.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4765250.stm |title=Africa | Kenya admits armed raids on paper |publisher=BBC News |date=2 March 2006 |access-date=16 April 2014}}</ref> They assaulted staff members, forcibly took computers and transmission equipment, burned all the copies of the 2 March edition of the newspaper, and damaged the [[Printing press|presses]].
At KTN, they shut down its flow of electricity, putting the station off the air. Initially, the Kenyan information minister denied knowledge of the raid, but later revealed that Kenyan police were responsible, and stated that the incident was to safeguard [[national security|state security]]. "If you rattle a snake you must be prepared to be bitten by it," [[John Michuki]] said. Three journalists at ''The Standard'', arrested after the critical story was printed, were released on 2 March on bail of 50,000 Kenyan shillings (US$692).<ref>{{cite web|author=Thomson Reuters Foundation |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/594f371980df55020e96a8268a9aa506.htm |title=Thomson Reuters Foundation | News, Information and Connections for Action |publisher=Alertnet.org |access-date=16 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/72636 |title="Standard" journalists charged, released on bail; raided television station resumes broadcasting, staff released without charges |publisher=IFEX |access-date=16 April 2014}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}} {{Media in Kenya}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard}} [[Category:Newspapers published in Kenya]] [[Category:Newspapers established in 1902]] [[Category:1902 establishments in Kenya]] [[Category:Mass media in Nairobi]]