EDITORIAL: Media Houses must endeavour to maintain high ethical standards

French international news organisation, France24, this week, published a story alleging that Rwanda’s poverty statistics were manipulated. Given that the Rwandan government has been picking a lot of good scores in poverty eradication strategies and efforts with definite results, the article attracted a lot of attention from various actors. The Government of Rwanda and the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda that carries research and published the report are, of course, put on the spot when such allegations come up. And so are development partners who finance some of the programmes that have lifted Rwandans out of poverty. Before publishing a story of such magnitude, the ethical thing France24 journalists should have done was to verify the allegations. There are credible sources in and out of Rwanda who have independently carried out research with regards to poverty in the country who France24 could have consulted prior to running the story. Accuracy, fairness and objectivity are standards of ethics that any reputable news organisation should strive for. Needless to say, France24 is aware of these ethical standards required of the profession and, flouting it so blatantly, whether by omission or commission, committed a grave violation of these standards. The fact that the main source quoted in the story is not objective when it comes to Rwanda makes one question the motivation behind publishing the story. Whereas Western media organisations have the tendency to treat Africa with disdain in their coverage—seeking to paint a milieu of thorns even where roses are sprouting—it would be important that they recognise the essence of feedback, crosscheck further and clarify. This is why, a few months ago, when US President was visiting Kenya, CNN referred to the East African country as a hot bed of terror. The media house went on to apologise for their sloppy statement and pulled down the report. To err is human and that is the same for media organisations, but it is through correcting errors that credibility is maintained.

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EDITORIAL: Media Houses must endeavour to maintain high ethical standards