EDITORIAL: Make the most of available platforms to document survivors’ testimonies
Tuesday, April 13, 2021

15 to 20 years ago, self-publishing content was an uphill task. To publish an article on one’s experience for consumption by the general public, one would need to pitch it to media outlets with no guarantee that it will be published. It must have even been harder to get the same piece to feature on TV or Radio.

The bureaucracy of formal media organization and outlets in accepting an ordinary citizen’s story as content sure did saw multiple stories go untold.  

This has since changed with the uptake and popularity of social media and micro-blogging platforms.  The debut of multiple platforms easing the content distribution in multiple forms; articles, audio and video is an opportunity to share and tell survivor testimonies especially at a time that denial is growing  and deniers getting louder.

With a mobile phone, one can create an account on a medium of preference from wide options and commence putting out content without needing professional production input.

This comes in handy especially in sharing testimonies of survivors which is critical in creating knowledge about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Creating and sharing content featuring survivor testimonies would be ideal response to growing genocide denial across the world.

Telling survivor testimonies on the platforms will also come in handy in crowding out the false narratives and lies told by deniers.

With a majority of the globe’s population being young people under the age of 30, social media platforms and micro-blogging sites are a great avenue to get them to consume content in a convenient way without them having to read an entire book.

Going forward, it’s important to document and share survivor testimonies as well as  collect testimonies of  those among us to ensure that the memories of the victims are never forgotten and denial doesn’t have a chance.