Over the last five years Rwanda Media Commission (RMC) resolved 301 complaints against journalists. Speaking on a panel at the African Information Day celebrations yesterday, Emmanuel Mugisha, the Executive Secretary of RMC said that though commendable strides have been made over the years, the regulatory body continues to receive people whose complaints in part demonstrated the challenges of the country’s media industry. “These complaints are diverse but are mostly centred on content (by the public), those filed by journalists against fellow journalists, and journalists’ complaints against media owners regarding non-payment,” he said. The Executive Secretary of Media High Council (MHC), Peacemaker Mbugiramihigo, told journalists and media stakeholders that the council continues to facilitate journalists with trainings, which has improved content. “We design training materials tailored on the needs highlighted during training needs assessments and, because of this, we have seen improvement in terms of media content because it is people- centred,” he said. He, however, said that there is need for specialisation if journalists are to cope with the changing tastes and preferences of news consumers. “We, however, still have a long way to go because when we try to analyse the media, there is knowledge and skills in terms of news gathering and dissemination. But there is still need for specialisation so that they can be competitive enough to meet the expectations of the public,” he said. The conference was followed by a journalism awards ceremony where more than 20 journalists were due to be awarded. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
