Rwanda marks the African Information Day in Kigali, today, with various activities and discussions on the agenda.

The day will include the eighth National Media Dialogue, launch of Media Barometer, presentation of Imihigo for Impamyabigwi and the Development Journalism Awards.

Impamyabigwi are journalists trained under the National Itorero Commission to combine journalism ethics with Rwandan values to better do their job in a constructive manner.

They will be presenting their contributions to socio-economic development after almost a year.

About 300 participants from local and foreign media institutions, policymakers, academia, diplomats, the private sector and other media stakeholders are expected to attend the events at Kigali Marriott Hotel.

The African Information Day will be marked under the theme, "The Africa Media we want,” according to a statement from Rwanda Governance Board.

"It will be an opportunity for media experts from different African countries to discuss how to position African media globally to ensure that the African story is told by Africans,” reads the statement.

The Development Journalists Award 2016, an initiative that recognises the best performing journalists in different categories, is expected to be one of the highlights of the event, according to the statement.

The initiative started in 2012 and involves giving awards to best performing journalists whose outstanding stories were selected during the year.

The Rwanda Media Barometer (RMB) was established in 2013 with the central goal of setting up a comprehensive framework of media development to be used for regular monitoring and assessment of the state of media in Rwanda.

It is expected that such an assessment will allow, overtime, to identify gaps in terms of media policies, laws, capacities, values and practices that need to be filled in a bid to promote a highly performing and sustainable media industry, serving as a key driver of the country’s development.

"Basically, Rwanda revived the Africa Information Day as part of encouraging other African countries to develop a media that tell the true African story, that is why the theme is ‘the media we want,” Gonzaga Muganwa, the secretary-general of Rwanda Journalists Association (ARJ), told The New Times yesterday.

Media experts to speak

The event will be attended by government officials and international experts.

They include the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Louise Mushikiwabo; the Minister for Local Government and Social Affairs, Francis Kaboneka; the Minister for Justice, Johnson Busingye, among others.

Lamin M. Manneh, the UN resident coordinator, is also expected to give remarks during the award of Development Journalism Award.

Other speakers expected include Dr Peter Mwesige, the executive director of Uganda-based African Centre for Media Excellence. Mwesigye is expected to give a keynote address on the role of journalists in shaping the African narrative.

Dr Fred Golooba-Mutebi, a researcher and lecturer Makerere University, Uganda, is also expected to discuss the topic of Africa’s media versus Western media, tackling the question, "Does Western media only see negative stories in Africa?”

Dr Haron Mwangi, the chief executive of Media Council of Kenya, will discuss professionalism and ethics versus profit making.

The National Media Dialogue is organised annually with the objective to address challenges facing the media with the aim of devising strategic measures to foster media development.

This year, Rwanda chose to raise the profile of the dialogue in order to engage African media practitioners to take the lead in positioning African media globally, according to organisers.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw