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Dispatch #8 from Rwanda
This dispatch is an attempt
to answer some of the questions about the state of
journalism and broadcasting here.
The other day I used the term "professional"
journalist while speaking to a colleague from Uganda.
She quickly corrected me. "They're working
journalists, not professional journalists" she said.
This, I think, says a lot about the state of
journalism in Rwanda.
Most professional journalists were killed during the
genocide and today almost all journalists working in
Rwanda have absolutely no formal journalism training
whatsoever. They are working in the field simply
because it provides them a modest income.
But I think it's important to remember that most North
American journalists that began their careers in the
60s and 70s also have no journalism degrees, let alone
any degree at all in some cases. The idea that
journalists should have a degree, and preferably a
journalism degree, is a relatively new one. This
realization has made me ask myself if the situation
here is really that different in this case. I think
the answer has to be yes. Why? Because I think there
is at least the tradition of a free press in North
America and Europe - that tradition does not yet exist
here, but most are at least aware of the implications.
But it's hard to teach and train in an environment in
which there is one radio station, one television
station and a couple of newspapers. In other words,
how do you do journalism training when there's no
press freedom?
There is a relatively new national press council in
Rwanda, though I can't seem to find much information
about it nor do journalists seem to know much about
it. Indeed, it seems even they are unclear as to what
the council's role is or should be. There is also a
new press law which I think has been discussed more
outside of Rwanda than inside. The tradition of a free
and fair press here is not strong at all. Radio, like
everywhere in the developing world, is common, but
with only one state-run station there's little room
for differing views or discussion. The government has
said it will issue more licenses for private radio
stations and while the applications have been piling
up, including one from the university, there's been
absolutely no progress on that front and the
applicants continue to wait.
Part of the fear stems from the way radio was used
during the genocide: to incite violence, hatred and
ultimately the murder of close to one million people
in 100 days. If nothing else, this proved the absolute
power of radio and why there is fear associated with
opening up the airwaves. Some feel the situation could
easily enough destabilize again and they want to be
certain there is never a repeat of what occurred in
1994.
My students here, Rwanda's future journalists and
communicators, are an interesting bunch. The more I
deal with them, the more I realize students around the
world are more similar than they are different.
Countless times this past week I've had several
students (who have a major project due) come to me.
"There's a big problem," they said. After several
minutes of discussion and me pushing them to divulge
what also appears to be a "secret" problem, they
reveal that the "problem" is either that there's not
enough equipment or not enough time. How universal is
that, I ask, and I explain this to them. That's part
of the nature of journalism, constantly working under
pressure, under deadline and with what never seems to
be enough resources. And I explained to them that
these really are challenges as opposed to problems. I
tell them to deal with the situation and to do the
best they can with what they've got.
Of course, like students everywhere, they weren't too
happy with my "solution" - they were hoping I'd give
them an extension.
Despite situations like this, I have, for the most
part, found the students here eager to learn. But then
they contradict this by showing up 30 or even 60
minutes late or simply failing to show up for class.
Or they get up in the middle of class and disappear.
Who knows where they go? Some come back after 10
minutes or 30 minutes; others don't even bother. This,
in a class of 25 students. And this is not unique to
my courses, apparently it happens all the time! From
one day to the next I never know if anyone will show
up. Last Tuesday I showed up for my 8am class. One
student was there and it seemed he was there only to
inform me that President Kagame was coming to Butare
that day and the students had been told to attend a
rally. So, apparently there were to be no classes.
Well, how did the students know and I didn't? A moot
point, I suppose. Oh, in the end Kagame never even
showed up!
Another challenge for me at the university has been
the language barrier. The university has an
interesting idea which they've adopted as practice -
the idea that all students should be multilingual
(English, French and Kinyarwanda) and that courses
will be offered in each of these languages. It's a
great idea in theory and I think given a few more
years it could well be successful, but at this time I
think it can be frustrating for students and teachers
alike. While all students are fluent in Kinyarwanda,
their second language is either French or English -
but not both. In my classes (which I'm supposed to
teach in English, although I allow them to do
assignments in French), most of the students are
Francophones with varying levels of English. I find
myself speaking excruciatingly slowly, yet even that
is too fast for some of them. My most often used
phrase? "Are you guys with me?" That they understand
perfectly and they'll answer with either a shake or a
nod of their heads.
They also have a thirst for outside media. Several
times I've brought in week old American newspapers or
month old Newsweeks and they just snatch them up. They
read every single word, taking it all in.
Of course there are other challenges as well, like
asking them to please watch as many TV news programs
as possible. Then, feeling like a complete moron, I
realize most of them don't have access to a
television. Indeed, TV Rwanda has only been around
since 1997. The irony though is that while not many
have access to television, cybercafes are popping up
in Butare and other towns and cities across Rwanda. If
you've got a few pennies, you can access the internet,
but you can't watch TV. I think it's important to note
also that neither Radio nor TV Rwanda have websites.
All of my students have email as do many
urban-dwelling Rwandans. This in sharp contrast to
somewhere like the Ivory Coast where my colleague Ines
just spent a week to attend a media conference. She
said she was shocked that barely anyone at the
conference had an email address. That got us
discussing the state of affairs in Rwanda and it kept
coming back to the themes of will and strong
leadership. If neither of these are present, it seems,
there will be no progress in journalism or journalism
education.
We talked about resource-rich Radio Rwanda compared to
the dearth of equipment at TVR. She believes it's
simply that the will doesn't exist at the top, that no
one has the time, energy or desire to find the money
to buy more cameras or edit suites. She says there are
aid agencies around the world just waiting for someone
to ask them for help. Her example of how this is
possible? In the past year she was able to secure
enough money to buy four cameras for the school of
journalism.
Ultimately, I'm trying to leave the students (and the
working journalists with whom I've worked) with the
idea that they really need to help and support each
other. Teachers and trainers like myself come and go
but they are the constant and the future of journalism
in Rwanda and they need to rely on one another. I
don't have all the answers (indeed, there are days
when I wonder if I have any at all!), instead they
need to take what I say and adapt it to suit their
needs. When I explain this to students not only are
they quick to agree, but it seems this is something
they have already realized.
Friday I'm off to Kampala, Uganda to spend a week
teaching television journalism and production at
Makerere University. When I asked what equipment they
had, the reply was: "none". So it should prove to be
yet another interesting and challenging week!
Be well,
Michelle
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