About half of the world’s population lives in rural areas.
They are home to 70 per cent of the world’s poor and have some of the most pressing issues: from food security, poverty reduction, climate change and migration, to youth employment, child labour and indigenous rights.
But rural areas are also fertile ground for a wealth of untold stories and unheard voices that, if captured, have the potential to engage audiences.
Yet, mainstream media in Kenya has often underreported rural issues, largely focusing instead on urban topics.
This imbalance creates a gap in coverage that leaves many rural areas underrepresented.
Recognising the potential of rural economies and communities to make real and long lasting positive change in our societies, the media needs to work on rural issues and to make change happen through targeted programmes, initiatives and partnerships.
One pioneering media organisation and its founder are not only talking this rural enablement language but are also walking the talk.
Development Through Media, founded by pioneering media practitioner Dommie Yambo-Odotte, is a media-based civil society organisation that is anchored around the philosophy that media can contribute immensely towards social, economic and political transformation.
DTM and Yambo-Odotte drive the view that the main impediment in the path to development is that the scope of information is not available to everybody and that the development should be equally shared by all.
Through its anchor project, ‘Empowering rural communities through media”, DTM contributes towards empowerment of rural communities through targeted “learning by doing” capacity/skills building activities.
Under this innovative approach, media graduates are trained, retooled and mentored to effectively engage in media work with a lasting impact on rural communities.
DTM urges policy makers and the general public to change their mind-set about rural and recognise that empowerment and active participation of the rural population, particularly of the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, plays a critical role in rural development and national development.
So, what’s DTM’s pitch?
Rural areas are not only about agriculture.
There is growing diversity in terms of economic sectors, assets, people and the work they do.
Rural people are drivers of change and innovation and can be good sources of information.
It is time for media to focus on rural contexts and to weave rural angles into mainstream topics such as the economy, employment, environment, technology, communication, governance, human rights, entrepreneurship, health, education and social justice.
DTM leverages its rural focus through its journalists, called DevReporters, to take the opportunity to learn more about rural communities.
It is sensitises its reporters on how reporting on rural areas can increase the quantity, quality and originality of a journalist’s work, while engaging with new audiences.
Their mentee journalists are disabused of dominant stereotypes when covering rural issues so that the result is more accurate, engaging stories.
EDWIN WANJAWA
Wanjawa teaches
globalisation and
development at
Pwani University
and is programmes
associate at
Development Through Media
