Is our media walking the talk?

It would be futile to ignore the role media played, as a catalyst of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, with media concerns like RTRM and Kangura being at the forefront of cheering on the slaughter of innocent citizens; even going as far as revealing where the hunted victims were hidden. The current media would be rightly perceived by, all and sundry, as being radically dissimilar to the one that was operating before and during the Genocide. The process of rebuilding the trust of the society, which was wrecked by the media then, is still ongoing. One of the ways that the media is rebuilding trust is by being an active participant in every activity held to honour the innocents who lost their lives during 1994 Tutsi genocide. The ARJ (Association Rwandaise de Journalists), a two weeks ago organised a one-day event aimed at honouring journalists who lost their lives during 1994 Tutsi killings. Out of 380 journalists, who are officially registered with the High Council of the Press, only 30 of them showed up for this important occasion. This raised the question as to why only a small percentage of all media practitioners in the country turned up to pay tribute to their deceased colleagues. Most country’s, the media is considered, not only as the Fourth Estate, but also the leading forces of communication. This fact gives media practitioners a certain pedestal to air their views. This takes me back to the issue of having only 30 journalists out of possible 380 involved in the vital activity of remembering lost comrades. I’m left thinking that the large majority of journalists in this country are just talking the talk and not walking the walk. Why else would they write about so fervently about events in 1994 and then, when their time is needed to remember their deceased colleagues, they can’t even be bothered to show up in solidarity? I mean, how can a media that refuses to honour its dead then have the moral authority to tell the rest of the Rwandan community to do the same? It would be hypocritical, to say the least. Because our main responsibility, in the media, is to inform, educate and entertain the general public, we need to review our own behaviour, if only to not be perceived as ‘ghost media’ i.e. media that has no relevance at all. Otherwise, if we continue acting like we did, we journalists will lose all credibility in the eyes of the discerning Rwandan public. While there are those that believe that the public is easy to hoodwink, I beg to differ. They can tell the difference between a good media fraternity and a bad one. Let me hope that the media today doesn’t put itself in a position where it is being unfavourably compared with the one that existed before the liberation of this nation. In nut shell, let us walk the walk (and walk the talk) and continue to practice what we preach for the good of our profession as we help rebuild the country that our colleagues did so much to destroy. theinspector3@yahoo.com