Make space for development journalism

Two recent initiatives encourage journalists to give wider coverage of development issues, an agenda inadequately explored and appreciated by the media which prefers political issues, often regarded as more high profile.

Our guests are:

Rosemary Okello Orlale, board member of rDNA, Reporting Development Network Africa. She is based in Kenya and is also the executive director of African Woman and Child Feature Service.

Umaru Fofana, member of Network of Development and Economic Reporters (NEDER) and president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ).

Both NEDER and rDNA are trying to enhance coverage of development driven stories, such as agriculture, tourism, health, and financial services. NEDER operates in Sierra Leone while rDNA is looking at a more pan-African approach in trying to get journalism departments to include a development component in the curriculum.

The Network of Development and Economic Reporters in Sierra Leone is keen on organising workshops for journalists and has already completed a four-day training session for 13 journalists from Freetown, the capital, Bo, Makeni and Kenema. For its first workshop, NEDER received funding from the World Bank Group and is now looking for financial partners to develop more activities.

The Reporting Development Network Africa initiative also holds workshops and intends to do so in various regions of Africa. And it will hold an annual forum for media leaders to discuss development reporting and its challenges. The next one will be in South Africca during the Highway Africa annual conference on 5 July. rDNA intends to reach out to editors' guilds. But, as Umaru Fofana pointed out, very often media practitioners are not members of the guilds representing their country.

rDNA also provides an online platform to showcase the work of journalists who are already members of the network.