By Edith Otieno, DevReporter, Kisumu County
On the 5 December 2021 I attended the rural development reporters’ training session organized by Development Through Media, under its project, Empowering Rural Communities Through Media, which it is implementing jointly with Vikes of Finaland
The training aimed at bringing together members of Development Reporters (DevReporters) from the Lake Region in order to build their capacity to identify key development related issues of concern and meaningfully report on them, highlighting their impacts on the lives of the rural communities in the various counties within lake region. The training combined both theory and fun filled practical sessions.
But what is rural reporting?
When I saw the word rural reporting, it appeared to me that a journalist is mainly stationed upcountry (rural areas) and informs on the occurrences there. Well the joke is on me because rural reporting has a greater meaning.
I attended the training of course to be stationed back in my village Kaila, Seme Sub-County, and report on the newsworthy occurrences there, just the way other journalists normally do. But with every passing day of the training I realised how mistaken I was.
“Being a rural development reporter is not simply about talking about issues happening back in the village. It involves building on the happenings to tackle issues right from their root cause. Rural development reporting is an awakening call to the individuals and communities in the rural areas,” said Dr Rosemary Nyaole-Kowuor, a media trainer.
Mindful of changing the situation
A development reporter is more mindful of changing the situation rather than just informing of its existence.
In doing so, there are things to be considered, guidelines to be followed and measures to be taken.
To start with, the media and the society play the role of mirror and image interchangeably. Media and society can be shaped by each other. It just depends on which of the roles one finds easy to play.
Tenets of journalism was an important lesson during the training. The lesson reminded us that a DevReporter should always be guided by the four major rules that govern the journalism profession: seeking the truth and reporting it, minimising harm, acting independently, and being accountable and transparent.
The question of journalistic integrity was talked about a lot during the training. As a newly recruited DevReporter following the training, I realised that one should strive to meet the public’s interest no matter the circumstances. A journalist must try as much as possible to toss aside personal and other conflicting interests which will likely influence how the story is told. Once integrity is compromised, there is no turning back – the story is lost and the integrity of the individual journalist and the media establishment is eroded.
The training pointed out that at any given reporting time, a DevReporter has three main points of focus, that is, to inform, interpret and promote.
Changing with change
When we hear of the rural areas, the specific image or picture that comes in mind is mostly stereotypical: poor hygiene, underdevelopment, low facilities and poverty.
But according to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), “What we fail to realise is that these rural places are the backbone of every country’s economy. This is an especially pressing concern for the world’s small-scale farms. Despite their size, these farms make an enormous contribution to our global food supply: farms of 2 hectares or fewer collectively produce 31 per cent of the world’s food on less than 11 per cent of its farmland.
“They also tend to produce a greater richness and diversity of nutrition compared to larger-scale farms. But despite their contribution to feeding the world, small-scale farmers are especially prone to themselves suffering from poverty and hunger.”
While people who move to the cities in search of employment get their raw materials from the rural areas, the upcountry people are self-dependent on daily provisions. The upcountry people can eat produce directly from their farms. Unlike their urban counterparts, they don’t necessarily require cash for absolutely everything they need, and yet they are branded as beggars! A city resident is more likely than not, to go hungry if not paid. So who is poor now?
The perception of the rural areas as being the manufacturer of low life and poverty is what development reporting strives to change.
Apart from Agriculture, upcountry is now a perfect place for affordable housing. Since the ushering of Devolution in Kenya, more people are now more than willing to commute everyday to work in the city within the counties in which they reside and back to the village.
“Instead of paying rent I decided to buy a motorcycle. Now all I need is to recharge the fuel and this is more affordable than I thought,” says Maurice who operates everyday from his home village in Holo to work in Kisumu city, a distance of about 21 kilometres.
We as DevReporters are here now and our aim is to break the unfortunate narrative arising from of the hitherto normalised ways of telling Development oriented stories from our rural areas.
