Rwandan media practitioners on Tuesday this week came together to celebrate the Africa Day of Information, an event that coincided with the Development Journalism Awards, which is an annual event where outstanding journalists with the most impactful stories are recognized. Organised by Rwanda Journalists Association and the Rwanda Media Commission with support from Rwanda Governance Board, the day was celebrated under the theme; “Media Development and Sustainability”. Equally central during the celebrations was the issue of the financial sustainability of media practitioners in the country, as a catalyst for responsible media. To this end, a report on financial sustainability of media houses and practitioners was presented. One of the recommendations from the report was for media houses and associations to explore potential alternative sources of revenue to supplement the traditional sources like advertisement, a space that has increasingly shrunk, especially with the advent of social media. This was a timely discussion and hopefully, the recommendations from the report will be implemented because, the financial sustainability of media houses and by extension the practitioners, has a direct bearing on responsible and impartial journalism practice. The sad reality in Rwanda, just like many other developing countries, financial constraints have increasingly led to a high turnover in newsrooms. Media houses simply cannot keep their best journalists because they end up branching to do public relations in NGOs and other places where the pay is better. As a consequence, media houses have continued to work as incubation hubs teeming with young fresh graduates with no experience, which impedes the growth of this critical sector. At worst, financial constraints have also exposed the media sector to some quack practitioners who thrive on blackmail, extortion and other malpractices which have soiled the image of this rather noble trade. While financial constraints should never create an excuse for such gross malpractices, addressing them would go a long way towards addressing such malpractices. That said, it is incumbent upon practitioners to make the first step towards addressing the systemic financial challenges they face and any other support can only come in to complement their own efforts.
