Media dialogue to focus on growth, professionalism

High-profile media investors, managers, trainers and rights advocates from within the country, the region, and beyond will today gather at Rwanda’s 5th Annual National Dialogue on Media Development for discussions on how to improve the country’s media landscape.Participants at the conference will talk about four main themes, including profitability of the media sector as key to enhancing professionalism, the role of media self-regulation in enforcing ethical standards of the media, investment opportunities in the media in Rwanda, and the importance of telling the African story.The Executive Secretary of the Media High Council, Peacemaker Mbungiramihigo, told The New Times in an interview yesterday that the meeting, organised by the Council, would help media players brainstorm on how to enhance profitability.“We hope it will come up with concrete actions toward sustainable development of the Rwandan media sector,” Mbungiramihigo said.He said having a developed media sector is one of the means to attain accountable governance in the country.“It is a means to enhance democratic governance, economic progress, and social transformation of our society,” he noted.Delegates from regional media organisations such as Kenya-based Nation Media Group and Uganda-based Vision Group, as well as well as local media start-ups such as the Northern Province-based Ishingiro Community Radio and Kigali-based Umuseke web site, will speak at the conference.ChallengesRepresentatives from government and members of the media and journalism professors will also speak, mostly to highlight some of the country’s biggest challenges in the media sector as well as the possible opportunities in investing there.The head of the Rwanda Media Commission, Fred Muvunyi, said the biggest challenge for the media in the country is the low level of financial capacity.“Some of our media organisations still don’t pay their employees on time and many of them continue to pay peanuts,” he said. “The meeting should bring these issues to everyone’s attention and we might come up with ideas on the appropriate solutions.”It is expected that some resolutions will be made at the end of the conference for future consideration by different actors in the media sector in Rwanda.The event is expected to host about 200 people at the Serena Hotel in Kigali and will cover discussions under the theme, “A reformed media: Building Capacities to Exploit Opportunities.”It was organised by the Media High Council in partnership with the Rwanda Governance Board, the Association of Rwandan Journalists, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Rwanda Media Commission, a media self-regulatory body.Outstanding journalists chosen by the country’s media fraternity will also be recognised at the event.