The Rwandan media has potential to grow into a regional leader

The Rwandan media has potential to grow into a regional leader



By IGNATIUS KABAGAMBE & GASHEGU MURAMILA.
Sunday, 22 October 2006

DAVID APPLEFIELD is the UK-based Financial Times newspaper Project Director for Africa region. He brought his rich expertise to Kigali last week on the invitation of the American Embassy in Rwanda, which also sponsored a five day (October 16 – 20, 2006) training workshop he conducted for private mediapractitioners in the country on how to manage media outlets as profitable businesses. On Thursday October 19, The New Times Managing Editor IGNATIUS KABAGAMBE sounded him out on how he found the media industry here and where he thinks it is headed. Below is the full interview as transcribed by GASHEGU MURAMILA.IK: Today is the fourth and second last day of the workshop: What has your experience with participants so far been like?DAVID: I’m very impressed with the fact that there are some sophisticated, energetic, ambitious and creative players on the private media scene here. I am more impressed by the few that are going forward than those that have not acquired or may never acquire the level of professionalism to become real journalism leaders.IK: During the workshop I noted your strong inclination toward marketing. How effective can that approach be in a situation like here where editorial content is far from being dynamic?DAVID: You have to build a house by erecting all the four walls and the roof at the same time. You have the basis of interesting content but you don’t yet have a media that has proven itself to be sufficiently powerful or has enough impact on society for the commercial world and the political one to take more attention. So I believe that it has to happen at the same time. On the fifth day we are going to be talking about what I call Rwanda’s content. There is a lot of interesting content that exists in the world, in the region and in the country, that isn’t yet being reported on by your newspapers and radio stations. There are a lot of local stories that haven’t been investigated on yet. This could be local stories, human interest stories, and business stories. I agree with you that the content has to become stronger. But strong content without an editorial and marketing strategy won’t help the survival of the newspapers. I believe that the economic health of private media is the key to building a more powerful and impactful independent press.IK: “Something is wrong in a society where every working person cannot have economic access to a daily paper,” is an observation you made in your article published in The New Times last Friday issue. What exactly do you see as wrong?DAVID: A daily newspaper should be on the diet of any responsible citizen. A citizen has to participate in the activities of the society and the economy. So its wrong when the average working man or woman doesn’t have the ability or economic buying power to purchase a newspaper. So I think the cover price of newspapers in Rwanda should come down as more revenues are acquired through advertising, sponsorship of events, etc. That is what I meant by what is wrong. It would be like saying there is something wrong with somebody who can’t afford a loaf of bread every evening or aspirin tablets when you have headache.IK: The daily newspaper in this country is only one and it is just over eight months old. Can our readers benefit from you as a vastly experienced person regarding the media scene on the African continent, to know where Rwanda lies in comparison with other countries?DAVID: Well the good news is that in terms of the production quality, the papers I have seen here are ahead of those in other countries of the same size, especially in West Africa. I think there is not as much suspicion and politicization of content as there is elsewhere. So I think that is positive. Having said that, I think this country could probably use more than one daily and currently your paper is the only English daily. I think that is because of difficulty in production resources. Your paper also doesn’t have the ability to produce enough copies to satisfy its demand. That is good news and bad news. The bad news is that you don’t have enough copies and the good news is that there is more demand and I haven’t seen this in many other countries. The radio scene in Mali is very vibrant and very free. Senegal has a lot of newspapers but there is a lot of political irresponsibility. I think in general what is positive here is that your government seems to be positive and supportive and doesn’t to a great extent meddle into your affairs. I think the climate for the independent free media here is very positive.IK: In the same Friday article I referred to above, you also mentioned the intention by print media practitioners to ask government to exempt from the newsprint and ink the high taxes levied. Which other areas do you suggest the state comes in to enhance the growth of media industry here?DAVID: It’s not the responsibility of the state to be the financial supporter of the private media. However, I think there is the question of legislation. Rwanda still has the Seditious and Libel Act. Only seventeen countries in the world still have this law and I think it has to be reviewed in the press law. There is need for collaboration with some government ministries like health and education in relation with the content you are trying to communicate. I think that people should not look at an independent media that criticizes whatever that is wrong as a media that is anti government or pro-government. These situations are prevalent in African countries like Togo, Niger, Mauritania, and Sierra Leone and highly doubt if Rwanda is happy in this company. Situations of this kind are slowly improving though.TNT: What about other development partners like the US Embassy that sponsored this workshop; Are there other avenues through which they can channel effort and resources to aid media development here?DAVID: What is really fascinating is that many organizations around the world now appreciate the role the media plays in development of their countries. Access to information is much more omnipresent especially with the internet. There are organizations like Intranews in Washington that organizes media training in 47 countries in the world. There is the Night Reader Foundation in the US which sponsors media practitioners around the world. I’m currently with journalists for a human rights organization in Atlanta which sends Canadian young journalists around the world to work with the independent media. The US Embassy believes strongly in helping to train media practitioners. You should feel comfortable by approaching the embassy and any other organization for resources that you need. This doesn’t necessarily mean cash. It could be access to people, other publication, etc.TNT: What was your impression on media freedom in Rwanda before you came and what have you found it to be like now that you have been on the ground?DAVID: Nobody in the few days I have been here has come up to me and said: ‘I can’t get my articles being published or am going to be thrown into jail’. I have seen articles that are pretty balanced and relatively responsible. I haven’t seen any very deep digging investigative journalism, though your colleague at Focus seems to care a lot about writing investigative pieces. I’m more optimistic that the media here is heading for a vibrant developmentTNT: One of the reasons which are constantly advanced as to why the print media industry in Rwanda is terribly under developed is a poor reading culture among the local population. What have you noticed during your short time here that can qualify this assertion?DAVID: Every body says that the people of Rwanda don’t read so much. But I think there is still a lot to be improved. I understand that there is a big library that is being worked on. I hope this will greatly make a step towards this goal. The private press should also launch things like book clubs, excerpts of novels once a week in your daily and short interesting stories for young people. There is need to partner with large publishers in South Africa or North America that could distribute thousands of unsold books that are some times thrown away. Remember that the more educated the public is the more exposed it becomes to issues of development. And the press has an instrumental role to play here.TNT: Would I be wrong if I said you must be eager to say something special about Rwanda’s only daily? If so, what are the areas you think The New Times management should focus on in order to boost the paper’s appeal and credibility?DAVID: An able management should be able to keep in-house talent and develop it. People who are working well should be motivated. My advice is that you identify talent and invest in them because as the paper grows, if such hard working talents aren’t appreciated, when they get a better opportunity they will be tempted to leave. I just had a tour of your offices and I thought you need a lot of re-organization of the jobs and hierarchy of who does what and where they should be seated. There is also the grand corporate feeling one gets seeing your paper on the street, which is not perfectly reflected inside your premises. Otherwise you have the potential to become one of the leading papers in the region.TNT: Lastly David, what has your experience been like; what are the impressions about the Rwandan people and their government? What economic development tip can you give us?DAVID: It’s really an exciting time to be here. There is a lot of potential here and the private sector is growing. There are some special sympathies that the world has for this country that is just walking down the road after the 1994 Genocide. It’s great seeing that the people are working hard together with the government to foster development. Rwanda should convert all the chances it has into tangible development.TNT: Thank you David for your time.DAVID: You are most welcome.LOOK OUT IN OUR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25 ISSUE FOR MORE OF DAVID APPLEFIELD VIEWS ON MEDIA AND OTHER ISSUES, EXCLUSIVE TO THE NEW TIMES.