|
|
Rwanda: Are the Media Forgetting the Rural Areas?
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Focus Media (Kigali)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Ann Christine Ishimwe
"We cannot speak of good governance without good communication," says Moussa Sawadogo, a consultant in communication science and techniques who was in the country recently to train journalists and PR officers. "We need to communicate to people to let them know what the government is doing as it serves national interest."
He adds that people need to be sensitized in order for them to contribute to the development. "A large portion of the population lives in rural areas, and if journalists are to contribute to the development of the nation, they should not forget this population," remarks Mr. Sawadogo.
Furthermore, he thinks journalists can contribute to the country's development by reporting interesting news concerning the rural areas. "There are various issues that need to be covered in rural areas, such as education, health, agriculture, etc. There may be a farmer in Cyangugu who has come up with a new technique to increase his yield of potatoes, and such experiences need to be shared with the rest of the population. So journalist should go out to such places and share such inspiring stories with the rest of the nation," Mr. Sawadogo says.
During the training, Moussa Sawadogo says, participants observed that apart from Orinfor and The New Times, few media houses are capable to send correspondents to the rural areas due to lack of money. Another issue that was mentioned is that journalists themselves take no initiative to go into the rural areas, except maybe to cover official ceremonies or press conferences organized by local authorities-when the transport fees are paid by the organizers.
Only sports and political news
Furthermore, journalists blamed their editors, saying that they themselves were willing to go to the rural areas but the editors refuse them the money.
In a similar meeting with editors, Mr. Sawadogo says, they acknowledged that this is indeed a problem and promised to contribute to the development of the nation by not forgetting the vast majority of the population. Some of them pointed out, however, that their newspapers cannot even pay the salaries of their employees, leave alone find the money to send them up-country.
The consultant also remarks that most journalists seem to think that only stories about sports and political news can contribute to the development of the nation. In fact, he notes that during one of the training sessions, people in charge of communication in rural areas complained that foreign journalists are always the first to come and find out what the people there think about certain new policies or other issues.
The good news, according to Moussa Sawadogo, is that the government has taken notice of the journalists' plight, and that the High Council of the Press (HCP) has carried out a study to identify mechanisms the government can use to support the media.
However, Mr. Sawadogo says that for such support to have effect, the media themselves should become more professional.
The communications consultant also heard the complaint of some media bosses that they do not have sufficient funds because they do not get advertisements from the government.
In Mr. Sawadogo's view, instead of complaining of lack of funds, they should find out what is wrong within their organizations to discourage the government from giving them advertisements. He advises them to constantly be in dialogue with the government to try and solve these issues, and to work hard to improve their standards.
"How can they go about criticizing the state-or for that matter anyone else-when they lack professionalism themselves?" he wonders.
Stop complaining
Mr. Sawadogo argues that the media should stop complaining that the government is not doing enough to support them. "They should not expect the state to do everything for them; it only comes in as a partner to development. Government has its role to play and so do the media. Journalists should become much more aware of their mission."
Therefore, he does not find the argument that lack of money prevents journalists from going to rural areas is a valid one, since money is not the first solution to bring about rural development.
"What guarantee does the government have that by giving money to certain media houses it will help in bringing about rural development?" Mr. Sawadogo asks. "If the journalists do not know their true mission, this money will still be used in the wrong way. Just look at what happened in 1994..."
So according to Moussa Sawadogo, great things will be achieved once all journalists have a clear understanding about their mission and obligation to the nation.
"Journalists must constantly be in dialogue with the government to look for the best ways through which rural development can be achieved. And they should be creative and come up with their own initiatives that will allow them to go to rural areas without waiting to be sent to cover only press conferences and official functions there."
Last but not least, Mr. Sawadogo stresses that not only should there be dialogue between government and media, but also amongst journalists themselves.
|
"Journalists should unite. They spend much time fighting each other, instead of working together to contribute positively."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Focus Media. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
