KIGALI - In order to advance professionalism and develop the industry in the country, media practitioners have been advised to critically publish and broadcast well researched and balanced news stories to attract readers and listeners

The advice was offered by Alphonse Nkusi, a media and political analyst at the Rwanda Governance Advisory Council (RGAC), in an interview with The New Times at the sidelines of a meeting to discuss self regulation of the media as one of the factors in the development of the industry.

During the meeting at Telecom house in Kigali, some participants pointed out that some media houses in the country are crippled by lack of finances, swaying some reporters to publish stories in exchange for bribes.

They mentioned that when a reporter is bribed, he or she cannot publish a well balanced story as this would mean that the story is in favour of those offering inducements.

"You should engage in research and publish well-balanced news. You need to value what you’re producing because if you produce things that are not worthwhile, you will not get clients to advertise with your media house.

"If readers or listeners realise that your news is poor, your media house will lose the market. Therefore, media houses should know that nationals have the capacity to differentiate what is news and what is not”.

The media expert further challenged reporters who do not research for quality stories and instead resort to covering conferences and workshops. He added that this degrades the value of the media.

Nkusi further underscored the need for more media houses to enable the public to choose the most appropriate ones.

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