Media audience has been urged to raise the capacity of differentiating the truth from false information disseminated across various platforms in this time when anything can be shared by the use of technology.

This was shared during a discussion on the role of media before, during, and after the Genocide on the national broadcaster on April 10.

The topic is part of discussions prepared as Rwanda commemorates the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi for the 28th time.

For 100 days since April 7, the country remembers and pays tribute to over a million lives claimed during the Genocide.

From the debut of journalism in Rwanda by the first newspapers in 1933 called Kinyamateka to RTLM (Radio Television Libre de Milles Collines), media experts discussed the negative ways through which media played a major role in inciting people to commit genocide.

Arguably the fourth estate, people have, for a long time, regarded information disseminated by any media house as true without question, which when under a negative government leads people into destructive mentality and actions.

Anne-Marie Niwemwiza, a journalist at KT Radio, said that based on the country’s history, people should derive a lesson of ‘not regarding the media as god’ and develop a capacity to critically question the news they receive.

"We learned that there are times professionalism is replaced by propaganda…people should be able to assess what is being said via media channels vis-à-vis the reality on the ground…they should also know that social media users are not journalists,” she added.

In a new era, Jean-Bosco Rushingabigwi, Head of Department for Media Sector Coordination Monitoring at Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), said that it is now hard to differentiate between professional journalism and citizen journalism because of modern technologies.

"You often find that unprofessional media channels are the most viewed, and in most cases, result in negative consequences because of lack of ethics, and guidelines.”

He then disclosed that there is a need to revise media policies in place to also include the rising spread of citizen journalism such as users of YouTube channels and other social media platforms.

Raphael Nkaka, a researcher and lecturer at the University of Rwanda, emphasized that the freedom of press goes hand-in-hand with professionalism, "journalists have to abide by code of ethics and understand that they have a social responsibility in what they do.”

Media challenge of self-regulation

Rushingabigwi said that the policy of self-regulation of media outlets is good but poses a challenge to practitioners.

"It all starts on self-assessment as a professional journalist, start by asking yourself whether the information you are going to disseminate is complete, accurate, and think of the impact it will have on society.”

Now, he added, "our efforts are geared towards ensuring that all institutions involved are contributing to media self-regulation process to have a media profession that fulfils its responsibilities effectively.”

Niwemwiza noted that beyond media self-regulation, the government and concerned institutions can still play a role in being the third eye for media outlets to professionally carry out their work.