KCOMNET

Animal Production Professionals and Technicians Bill 2023

kcomnet — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 03:47:39 +0000

World Radio Day 2022 Celebration

kcomnet — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 05:00:30 +0000

THEME: “RADIO AND TRUST”

World Radio Day is a universally celebrated event annually, on the 13th of February, that was adopted by UNESCO, in celebration of the immense contribution and role of radio in the community. This year’s theme “Radio and Trust” aims to not only look at how radio can continue being the trusted source of verified information but also how to transform loyal audience engagement into the sustainability of the radio stations. The theme of this year is so significant as the world grapples with misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. In Kenya, we even need to be more vigilant as the electioneering season is here with us. This is the season where instances of incitement to hatred disinformation and propaganda are quite rampant and thus, can seriously erode the trust of radio, destabilize and seriously affect communities.

Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) in partnership with GIZ/CPS celebrated the World Radio Day on Saturday 12th February,2022 at Shalom House, off Ngong road under the banner “Yes to Radio, Yes to Trust”. The event which was graced by representatives of 42 community radio stations as well as different stakeholders in the media industry aimed at reflecting on the theme, ‘Radio and Trust”. Many milestones have been achieved in the Media sector especially for the Community Media and it was indeed a day everyone had a chance to reflect and give feedback and reviews that the sector needs to address for continuity. As the umbrella network for community media in Kenya, KCOMNET’s mandate is to enrich community media through networking, capacity building, content development and policy advocacy for transformative social change in Kenya.
The occasion kicked off with a series of activities that were lined up for the community media representatives and other media stake holders. The event was opened by remarks from Mr. Tom Mboya, the Coordinator of KCOMNET. In his remarks, Mr. Mboya maintained on the need to remain on course in spite of the challenges faced by the sector and to always conduct any business with integrity and professionalism and strive to relay information that fosters Cohesion and Social integration putting emphasis on the ongoing electioneering period and upcoming elections in August 9th 2022. Since community radio stations remain the first point of reference for community members who are seeking truthful information, thus “Yes to Radio, Yes to Trust”. He also called upon the regulator, the communications Authority of Kenya, to review the current broadcasting regulations service in recognition of the sector. The coordinator expressed is gratitude to GIZ/CPS for their continued support to the community radios through our Umoja Radio for Peace (UR4P) Project and fully supporting the event. After the coordinators Remarks, The moderator of the day Mr. Alex Ikambi of KCOMNET took participants through the Panel discussion Forum. The panelist of the day were Grace Githaiga of Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTNET) and board member of KCOMNET, Abraham Marita of Internews and two representatives from community Radio stations; George Mwamodo-Station Manager, Mwanedu FM and Hilda Ajema -Station Manager, Ghetto FM.

The panel discussion questions focused on the sub theme: Trust, Accessibility and Viability of the Community Radio Stations. The moderator prepared three questions: 1). How can Community Radio stations transform loyal audience engagement into financial sustainability? 2). How can radio be used to build trust and cohesion between communities during and after elections? 3). Practical ways to build trust within communities during and after the electioneering period. Below are some of the view shared around the sub-themes

George Mwamodo-Station Manager, Mwanedu FM -“Radio is a great tool to unite people. The question we should all ask ourselves is how we can synergize energies to come together and create an enabling environment where we can discuss the challenges facing the sector. So many regulations hinder our productivity and holding such meetings gives us a chance to engage, discuss, prepare and present our grievances and recommendations to the relevant bodies. Journalists have to research. We need concrete evidence of the stories that we produce.”

Hilda Ajema -Station Manager, Ghetto FM -“Radio is flexible and accessible. Journalists should uphold trust and integrity as we are the ones on the ground and so close to the community thus, we understand their needs. Giving the community credible information should be our mandate hence this year’s World Radio Day theme of ‘Radio and Trust’ resonates so much with our profession. We have to investigate as we need concrete evidence of the stories we produce.

Abraham Marita-Internews – “Radio is a powerful media tool as journalists create an intimate nature with listeners. There is a need for one to be trustworthy. In my view, trust has not been lost, but it has decreased as Radio has been attributed to violence in very sensitive instances such as Kenya’s 2007 Post Election Violence. Social media for example is a space that is coming up really fast but at the same time, most mis-information is spread through this platform. For radio, there is a chance to verify information but time has to be invested as we seek to verify the truth. When journalists do not research well, Trust diminishes. In a nut-shell, fact-checking is a must. Trust has not been lost but it has been decreasing over time. Radio has been attributed to fuel violence world over and for Kenya, we cannot forget about the 2007 Post election Violence. Social media for example is a platform that has had immense growth in the last few years. However, social media is known for mis-information and spread of fake news. With Radio, there is hope because there is a chance to verify information before releasing it for public consumption. Journalists need to invest time so as to verify the truth. When we don’t research, the truth diminishes. Fact -checking is a must.”

Grace Githaiga -KICTANET– “Many assessments have been conducted and Radio remains the most powerful accessible tool for news especially among rural communities. In a world where fake news and mis-information is the order of the day, what distinguishes Radio is verified stories. Radio is the second trusted form of media in Kenya. There is confusion on the categorizations of media, especially Community Radios, Vernacular and FM radios as sometimes there is no clear-cut definition of what each does. There is a need by the regulator to ensure that Community Radio is well defined because the work we do is distinct, it is different and the target population is different. Community Radio Stations serve those who haven’t benefited from the formal structure of information. Young voices must take on the battle because we cannot accept to be clumped with stations that spread hate and foster war thus, we must be trustworthy as we do our work. Trust has not been lost but it has been betrayed. In such a year with electioneering, the slant news take is alarming. Information that is objective is no longer the aim. Social media sometimes channels false information and sometimes when radio stations want to remain relevant, they copy that information with verifying the truth. Our focus as Community Radio Stations should be to rebuild trust. The point of Trust betrayal is competition, we focus on advertisements and the number of audiences without realizing that Trust is what distinguishes us from the rest. We have to be keen on divergent views and be accommodative of other people’s opinions as we do our work with utmost professionalism.”

Mohammed, Garbatulla from Ranet FM “The founder and license owner of Radio Ranet is the Kenya Meteorological department. They withdrew their support in July 2019. Ever since staff have been volunteering as there has been no income enough to run the station’s operations. However, because the community trusts us, bearing in mind that the population we serve are pastoralists as Garbatulla is an ASAL with extreme climatic conditions. This means that we are very close to our listeners and they have owned the station. The community pushed an NGO to approach the government to push the coverage from 30km to 100km with a total of 10,000 people. An NGO has partnered with us and soon the staff salaries will be catered for. This could not have happened if we were not truthful to our listeners. We are glad that they support the station fully and they own it, they always refer to it as “our station”.

The last session on Media regulations was taken through by KCOMNET’s Coordinator Mr. Mboya. He stated that the regulations published by Communications Authority of Kenya(CA) last year took many stations by surprise. Challenges faced by Community Radio Stations and journalists towards compliance are immense, thus KCOMNET would like to engage with communications Authority of Kenya to Present the views shared today. A Session that was embraced with active participation from journalists which would later be followed up by a meeting with KCOMNET and radio station managers.

In their concluding remarks, the panelists noted that community radio stations and journalists have to invest time to conduct research and fact check information. Journalists should seek to practice professionalism, practice diversifying their source for sustainability, Representatives left the venue with the theme of Day deeply engraved in their hearts. Journalists renewed their commitment to abide by the truth and maintain professionalism as they do their work which is relaying truthful information to their listeners even in the forthcoming general elections. Stations have to adhere to the regulations set by governing bodies like CAK and that way the sector will grow. The moderator summarized the session in three conclusions: a widespread call for research and verification of information, recognition that there will be challenges that face the sector therefore need to be professional and adhere to the regulations set and need to conduct our business with truth and integrity that promotes peaceful co existence among communities.

Reporting atrocities – a challenge for responsible Media

kcomnet — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 05:00:01 +0000

There’s a saying in the world of journalism which sounds like a bad joke: “Bad news are good news”. The attack on the French satirical Newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” which left 12 people dead lead to an incredible boost of its business, the following issue print run had 7.95 million copies in six languages. In contrast, its normal print run was 60,000, of which it typically sold 30,000 to 35,000 copies. This example is unprecedented, but it shows an ethical dilemma: How should media deal with atrocities, even in the case where they are the victims.

The recent Dusit D2 attack in Nairobi was a “field day” for TV live coverage, reporters and press photographers, not to forget all these self-proclaimed social-media amateur-journalists spreading out facts and fake news in search of followers and retweets. Unfortunately, the bad joke is truth and the TV live coverage of these events gets highest viewing figures while press photographers and picture-agencies can earn more money with sensational photos than they get for a picture of a handshake of two Kenyan Politicians. The big question is: what about work ethics, what about (conflict) sensitive reporting, human dignity, and the protection of victims?

While most Kenyans were still comfortably seated in front of their TV sets or watching Riverside attack live reporting at their workplace on TV’s and smartphones, the “scandal” entered by a backdoor. During the still ongoing attack and security operations, the notable New York Times published a photo in their online edition, which showed partly two dead bodies of the attack in the “Secret Garden restaurant” of Dusit D2. Minutes later, a storm of protest started on social-media, accusing the editorial office of the New York Times in Nairobi to portray a special “African narrative” without respect to the dead people because of their black skin. NYT was also accused that they would never report the numerous shootings in the US the same way they did. While the text of the report, written by the Nairobi bureau-chief Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, was fact based and sensitive, the picture alone provoked the scandal, leading many people to demand the revocation and the withdrawal of Kimiko’s accreditation in the country. Even the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the governmental regulatory body, embraced the arguments of angry Kenyans and menaced the NYT to close its Nairobi office if the newspaper would not withdraw the photo from its article.

The difficult situation was also subject of discussion within the community radio journalists of the GIZ-CPS – KCOMNET media project known as “Umoja – Radio for peace”. How should a reporter talk about all of this? What kind of pictures should be shown on the website? Where is the red line when it comes to human dignity? What kind of questions should be asked? The case of a K24 reporter trying persistently to interview a traumatized woman who just escaped the assaulted building was one of the worst examples of journalist’s behaviors. The Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya requires that the media should avoid presenting acts of violence, armed robberies, banditry and terrorist activities in a manner that glorifies such anti-social conduct. They should respect the dignity of victims and report in a sensitive manner with regards to the chosen words.

If there is no question when it comes to respecting the victims’ human dignity and the need for a sensitive language in written and spoken words, what to report and what to show remains an open query. Journalists are quite often the eyes and ears of the world.Reporting of war, crime, violent extremism and humanitarian crisis shouldn’t be dealt lightly – it is not “Alice in Wonderland”. Right of access to information exists in Kenya and journalists have the duty to inform in an objective, truth- and fact based way. What to show involves an ethical choice that no responsible editor should mix with business considerations. Very often, journalists have to be the eye witnesses of atrocities which other people never see, but there is a certain amount of atrocity that the world should see to understand the horror and to try to eradicate the causes of it. In that sense, even pictures we can hardly bear to look at get a new meaning and the victims another dimension of dignity. A reporter who is doing his job in a sensitive manner is not driven by voyeurism but by the duty to show quite often the unbelievable sad and cruel reality. In the light of atrocities like the humanitarian crisis and the war in Yemen, the daily drama of refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean see, genocides which happened in Ex-Yugoslavia, Rwanda and other parts of the globe, human rights violations, natural disasters, and horrifying things humanity has to go through, the media cannot be silent. They have a duty to show it, to talk about it, to investigate and to try to discover who is sharing responsibility even with the risk of shocking some readers, listeners or viewers.

Sensitive journalism is not sugarcoated reporting but is about showing the whole picture. It means, for example, taking into account both the victim’s pain and trauma and the terrorist’s mother who might cry losing her son.

(Michael Schweres is a senior journalist, author and journalism lecturer currently working with the GIZ Civil Peace Service in partnership with Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) to support community radio stations with trainings on conflict sensitive reporting and content production).

The pictures shown below have been used in a journalists training to discuss the question of “WHAT TO SHOW”. They have all been published in different media.

P-FIM as a production tool for journalists

kcomnet — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 04:59:43 +0000

When it comes to productions, creativity really matter, sometimes it won’t hurt to borrow a leaf.

P-FIM means People First Impact Method. It was created by Gerry McCarthy and Paul O’Hagan who are the Co-Developers and Directors of the exercise.

The P-FIM exercise engages the communities directly by listening to their issues. Just like any other interview done by a journalist, listening and reporting are principles which applies in this exercise. The big difference: with P-FIM there’s no room for interpretation; you report what is said. The skill of listening is wanted here. Ask yourself: When was the last time you listened to someone without interfering, interpreting their statements or judging them?

This activity is important in our day to day work. We serve the community through different mediums and Community Radio is one of them. Community Radios are mostly owned by the community to inform the residents on the happenings using the local language of that community.

Radio is the most powerful medium of communication, using P-FIM when generating our programs and productions will bring us closer to the community. Most of our community members do not understand how radio or any other media tool is working. It is our responsibility as journalists to explain it to them so that they do not feel left out in our programming. Our communities need to feel that they own the stations, they need their voices to be heard and their issues addressed in their radio.

Voicing their concerns through their statements is more important compared to interpreting what they could mean. Statements are very powerful and every producer or editor knows quite well what makes good soundbites in different productions.

Asking the communities to highlight those issues which are important to them and advocating for their priorities is more important than having huge development programs in our communities that residents are not interested in and won’t own because they don’t address their real concerns.

Using P-FIM in our productions will not only highlight issues in our communities but it will help journalists to look at different ways of doing a production. It is a skill that will make our productions powerful and it will have direct impact to the communities keeping in mind the media ethics and law.

Trainings on P-FIM will be conducted and through the Community Radios, we will produce different productions, with different approach. These productions include: Cameo, radio dramas, news items, radio shows, documentaries etc. People use different methods and skills in productions as it advances and as Heraclitus would say, “There’s nothing permanent, except change.”

Mitigating Floods and Climate Change Through Community Radio

kcomnet — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 04:57:13 +0000

RANET(short for Radio/Internet) is a project established in 2006 by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, under the Kenya Meteorological Department(KMD). The project is mandated to interpret and disseminate information on the climate and weather outlook, forecasts and ultimate early warnings for any impending catastrophes in collaboration with the KMD. As an early warning system incorporated in the National Disaster Management Authority, RANET has six (6) radio stations strategically located in areas affected by climate and weather-related catastrophes. These are namely Kangema in Murang’a County, Kwale RANET in Kwale County, Nganyi in Vihiga County, Suswa in Narok County, Bulala in Busia County, and recently RANET Garbatula in Isiolo County.

Bulala FM is situated at the Bunyala Sub-County Headquarters in Budalang’i Busia County. It serves a 30-KM radius and boasts of a 250,000-strong listenership. Bulala 107.5 FM is the first, and so far the only, Community Radio Station in Bunyala, and the entire Busia County, hence our slogan: “Mwanawa’mberi, Omwoyokwa’Abanyala” which translates to “the first born (of the community), the voice of the Banyala.

The station has an all-inclusive programming schedule that runs between 6:00 am to 12:00 Midnight and has informative (news), educative and entertaining programs for the Banyala community and its environs, which include Samia and parts of Busia town.

Budalang’i has in the recent past been of National and international concern over perennial flooding during both the long and short rainy periods. Sandwiched between three water bodies i.e. the Yala Swamp, River Nzoia and the Great Lake Victoria, communities living around these water bodies have been hard-hit by devastation of their farmlands, destruction of their homes, death of their domesticated animals and to an extent, people’s lives are lost, mainly due to water-borne diseases caused by the contaminated water, which stagnates for almost three months. (insert photo 2)

From 2016, Bulala FM together with other RANET radios has partnered actively with KCOMNET’s Umoja Radio for Peace Project. This partnerships have seen many young journalists and producers benefit from periodic training and capacity building in production and conflict sensitive news reporting, such as conflict over the shared L. Victoria water resources. Other engagements with KCOMNET have also given the journalists a great deal of morale boosting and for social status in the community they serve and in the larger media fraternity.

Bulala FM looks forward to enhanced engagement with KCOMNET and other representative media organization in the championing for the interests of RANET Community Radio Stations, whose very existence has been hanging in the balance with the Ministry of Environment leadership threatening to withdraw paying salaries of the radios’ staffs. This is against the background of Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya’s regulations barring commercial advertising by Community Radios. Community radio can only survive through public funding or by being allowed like the private radio stations to engage in commercial advertising to be self-sustainable.

Radio Drama – The Imaginary Movie

kcomnet — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 04:55:50 +0000

Already more than 10 Million readers, spectators and first of all listeners have met Kadogo, her grandmother, Mwalimu Patricia and Mzee Lodyang. They are the heroes of a little SIF/Kituo Cha Sheria comic book “Real Talk – This can happen to anyone of us” that was published in 2017 and adapted to an animated movie and to a Radio Drama in 2018. In 2019 this Drama got 10 new episodes to be broadcast in the 40 Kenyan Community Media Stations. This new SIF radio drama that was launched during the celebrations of the World Radio Day February 13^th 2019 at Ruben FM, Mukuru slums was produced in collaboration with CPS – Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) project “Umoja – Radio for Peace and Ruben FM. Radio Drama for conflict transformation and community education, informationand empowerment is an interesting and innovative tool using the most widespread media in Africa: Radio!

Did you ever experience this? Your radio is on, you listen to a voice and in your imagination you seem to “see” this person, whether it is a tall and smart man, a younger lady, a bit shy, a gangster, a bad character. You hear a creaking door and suddenly the wind blowing and automatically you turn your head – shivering slightly – to look whether the door is closed or not. If this happens, the radio people did a great job. Radio Drama is like theatre for blind people, as you don’t see anything you must get the picture in your imagination: Voices, ambient noise, silence – different actors with different voices, a narrator, and the noise of everything else which you do not see. A splash of water – was it a stone thrown in a river or someone jumping into the water. You listen: It was Kadogo who just shouted “Look Grandmother!” and “SPLASH” she jumped in the river – she mustn’t say “Look Grandmother, I will jump in the river” – she does it and you hear/see it. And you feel that Grandmother is afraid calling her grandchild “Oh, Kadogo, be careful …!”

That’s Radio Drama – Theatre for radio listeners. In the “UMOJA – Radio for Peace” project we have experienced this with two previous radio drama productions: “Real talk – This can happen to anyone of us”. The story of Kadogo, her grandma, Mwalimu Patricia, Mzee Lodyang, Swalee and others talks and informs about displacement. In 2018 this first CPS-Radio Drama was broadcasted by 40 Kenyan Community Radio Media stations and reached about 12 Million Listeners. It is not easy to get a better outreach for information.

At the World Radio Day 2019, 10 new episodes with Kadogo have been launched – 10 stories which are talking about access to education and domestic violence, bad leadership and forced eviction, human trafficking and Trauma. Radio Drama can address serious topics in a light and touching way, it can entertain and inform at the same time with real people whom you can love or hate, they emerge in your imagination. Radio Drama for community information, education and empowerment is an inclusive and participatory tool cutting across separate lines – creating imaginary movies with individual pictures and common messages.

The scripts were developed in a unique approach in a 3-days “Creative Writing” workshop with community actors and stakeholders, radio people, CPS and KCOMNET staff. The technical production was done by Mukuru kwa Rubens community Radio known as RUBEN FM.

Radio Voices are magic: Every listener will hear the same words when Kadogo claims her right to access form 2 with a bursary, everybody will imagine his own Kadogo, “see” his own pictures, giving her an individual face – that’s Radio Drama.

A last question to be answered: Is Radio Drama expensive and complicated to produce? A clear answer: NO! Radio Drama production need not be expensive; it needs time and a systematic approach – Radio Drama is not “Comedia del arte”, an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italy, that was popular in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.. The basic need is a well elaborated production script with different columns: dialogues, noise and narrator. Noise can be recorded or found in online databases. To get the noise of a Tuktuk taxi we did some kilometers squeezed in a tricycle to record the typical noise of this engine in the traffic, bleating sheep and goat can be found in sound-databases**.For the voicing we worked with actors of 5 community theatre groups, chosen after an audition to find the best voice for every role. The edit with a multitrack sound editor*** is business as usual for trained radio people.

*The Radio Drama “This can happen to anyone of us” can be listened at https://umojaradioforpeace.org/podcasts/ section RADIO DRAMA. The 10 new episodes will be accessible through the same link from March 2019

** https://freesound.org

***An excellent open source sound editor is “Audacity”

VOICE standards to improve your farmer program

kcomnet — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 04:52:26 +0000

Radio is a great communication tool for African farmers. It reaches most of them. It can provide important and timely information in their own languages. And radio, (often coupled with mobile phones), can give farmers a powerful voice in development.

But radio is not always effective. In fact, farmer programs often fall far short.

– The voices of farmers are rarely heard.

– “Experts,” on the other hand, are featured and respected, whether they are helpful or not.

– Program hosts are disdainful of farmers, whom they see as much lower creatures than themselves.

– Important issues are ignored or avoided because they are complex, or sensitive, or require additional resources.

– Broadcasters are given no training, and are expected to produce effective programs with little or no guidance or support.

– And much farm broadcasting is very boring to listen to!

Too frequently, a radio station thinks that a farmer program is a slot in the schedule into which they can simply “dump” agricultural information, and hope that farmers will listen and use it. But a radio program is a distinct communications tool, with its own strengths and weaknesses, like a novel, or a comic strip, or a song. An effective farm radio program follows standards that exploit the strengths of radio.

As a farm broadcaster, you want your farmer program to be useful, interesting – even empowering, for farmers. And you want it to have a wide audience of both women and men farmers. To help you, we have pulled together “best practices” of farm broadcasters, and have grouped them in a way that will be easy for you to remember and use.

We call them the VOICE standards for effective farmer radio programming. There are five standards, and in English their key words spell out “VOICE.”

V – The program values small-scale farmers, both women and men. It respects farmers for their hard work producing nutritious food for their families and the markets, often in the face of major challenges. It reaches out to farmers to understand their situation, and is dedicated to supporting them in their farming work and in their efforts to improve rural life.

O – The program provides farmers with the opportunity to speak and be heard on all matters. It encourages small-scale farmers to name their concerns, discuss them, and organize to act on them. It holds to account those with a duty to hear farmers and serve their needs.

I – The program provides farmers with the information they need, when they need it. Farmers require specific information and they need it in time to act on it.

C – The program is consistent and convenient. It is broadcast at least weekly, at a time when women and men farmers can listen.

E – The program is entertaining and memorable. It appeals to the interests and tastes of a wide range of local farmers. Complicated material is presented in a way that helps farmers remember.

Taking Fact-Checking To Kakuma Refugee Camp

kcomnet — Mon, 24 May 2021 15:01:22 +0000

Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya has a population of over 147,000 refugees from 19 countries including South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Burundi, Somalia, and the Democractic Republic of Congo. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) states that the camp was established in 1992, along with the host community of Turkana, situated in the north-west region of the country.

The UNHCR in their latest global numbers released in June 2019, recorded that an unprecedented 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. This problem has added to the spread of misinformation in these communities that consist of people with various nationalities and beliefs. Kakuma refugee camp is no different.

In October 2019, Code for Africa (CfA) partnered with GIZ and KCOMNET in their UMOJA Radio for Peace project to train radio journalists from the Kakuma refugee camp, as well as from Turkana, Uganda and South Sudan. The project is focused on community radio actively engaging in conflict sensitive reporting in the pursuit of sustainable peace and development in Kenya.

This was one of many trainings by KCOMNET in their collective efforts for the development of community radio in Kenya. Each training session done across the country is a two-day event addressing fact-checking and content creation. CfA tackled fact-checking and verification while radio journalists Bande Edward, from Ratego radio, and Tebbi Otieno, from Mtaani radio, covered content creation.

Participants from the camp mentioned two instances of fake news:

During the country-wide Huduma number registration (National Integrated Identity Management System), different versions of misinformation were spread about the process, including that it was a satanic number received by the people. Peter Gatdeet, a pastor in the camp, said that because of that information some of his congregants decided to return home to Juba in fear of being indoctrinated into evil. Kanere news reflector, an independent news magazine produced by Ethiopian, Congolese, Ugandan, Rwandan, Somali, Sudanese and Kenyan journalists operating in Kakuma Refugee Camp, recorded some of these instances.
H.E President Uhuru Kenyata had to address the claims:

Leaders of different groups and nationalities in the camp falsely informed their members that another faction was planning to attack them, which resulted in the former attacking the latter group who had no ill intentions whatsoever. Such instances have happened often.

Also noted were clashes between the host community of Turkana and the refugees. The Kanere news reflector reported that, on July 10, armed conflict between Somali refugees and members of the host community resulted in at least three injuries, including that of a child.

During the training, participants learned what fake news is: this was defined as deliberate, targeted misinformation spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media. They also learnt that these fell in the categories of Misinformation, which is false information shared with no intent to harm; Disinformation — false information knowingly shared to cause harm; and Malinformation, which is when genuine information is shared to cause harm, often by moving private information into the public sphere.

In addition, they were taught that the fake news trend is driven by propaganda, because different people have interests they want to push; by under-resourced journalism, which does not allow for fact-checking a story; and by desire for political influence (misinformation can be a powerful tool in a time as sensitive as an election), or profit (gain from advertisers or private gain if the perpetrators are paid to spread fake news).

To counter such messages the communicators that were gathered for the training were taught how to spot fake news:

What is the source of the information? Were they official channels or gossip?
What is the date the information was first shared? Old news is not always relevant in the current situation.
What are the supporting sources of the information? Are said sources credible?
Do you have any biases? Personal biases may cloud judgement.

They also learnt how to fact-check images, videos, social media and websites and were encouraged to address malinformation as soon as it arises.

At the end of the two-day training, the journalists from the camp as well as all the others present, were equipped to address and assuage situations brought about by the propagation of fake news. They also learnt to not be the ones repeating and spreading untruths, by double checking the information they receive and present in their jobs.

The verification training materials can be found at http://bit.ly/KakumaFCT

Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest federation of indigenous civic technology and open data laboratories with CfA labs in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda and a further five affiliate labs in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco and Sierra Leone and funded projects in a further 12 countries. CfA manages the $1m/year innovateAFRICA.fund and $500,000/year impactAFRICA.fund, as well as key digital democracy resources such as the openAFRICA.net data portal and the GotToVote.cc election toolkit. CfA primarily supports grassroots citizen organisations and the media to help liberate data and empower citizens, but also works with progressive government agencies to improve digital service delivery.

In addition to funding and technology support, CfA’s labs incubate a series of trendsetting initiatives including the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative in East Africa, the continental africanDRONE network, and the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR) that spearheaded Panama Papers probes across the continent. CfA is an initiative of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

Fake news and fact checking – How to deal with this

kcomnet — Mon, 24 May 2021 15:01:16 +0000

Is the 21^st century, the era of fake news? And did Donald Trump actually put the words “fake” and “news” together? Well, he claims he invented the term “fake news”. In actual fact, he didn’t. Fake news also known as rumours have been there since medieval times. What we are experiencing now is the rebirth of fake news with kind of vengeance, thanks to social media. So, why is it important for community media journalists to learn how to deal with the epidemic of fake news?

Let’s first educate ourselves on the meaning of the term fake news? It is simply deliberate misinformation which is spread via various media – print, broadcast, video, online, among others. It is vital for KCOMNET to try and deal with the issue of fake news in order to retain credibility and authenticity of community media. KCOMNET does this through the Umoja Radio for Peace Project, a capacity building project in partnership with GIZ/CPS.

The first process of containing fake news is fact checking. In the workshops on fake news conducted for community radio journalists by Umoja Radio for Peace Project team, include a module on fake news and how to verify information. Participants are usually taken through the five step process of checking fake news which was developed by an organisation known as Africa Check.

Step 1; Always try to identify the original source of information. This involves; checking the source/author, using the 5W’s (Who, Why, What, When and Where), checking the figures (if they exist), and finally, images. One of the websites that can be used to verify fake news is tineye.com. This website can be used to reverse search images and see if they are originals or photo shopped.

Step 2; Verify the content. Simply check the quality of source of information. Is it being used in a good way? Is there any information that has been left out that could influence the interpretation? if the answers is No, do not spread the word without a caution/caveat. If the answer is Yes, go to step 3.

Step 3; Check for Context, Step 3, Check for context – is it user generated? This means establishing the content that is reposted mostly on social media platforms. Sometimes User Generated Content may be subject to copyright of which ideally the owner should be contacted for permission to use.

Step 4; Obtaining permission. If getting permission is not possible, then do not publish or broadcast user generated content in its original format.

Step 5; Setting out the evidence for your reader/audience. If permission is granted in step 4, finally go to step 5. This authenticates the work of the journalist and provides easier comprehension of their work.

If one has answered YES to all the five steps, your information is factual and can comfortably be published/broadcast.

Other than journalists, fact checking process can be used by regular citizens, activists’ among others to always undertake background check when they receive information, mostly on social media. This will help in controlling a lot of unverified information being spread that causes more harm than good.

For further details on fact checking Training, Research and Information, you can get in touch with KCOMNET’s Umoja Radio for Peace Project team; Sheila – Sheila@kcomnet.org and Michael – Michael.scheweres@giz.de

Chit Chat With Community Radio Journalists

kcomnet — Mon, 24 May 2021 15:01:01 +0000

Radio ratego is a community FM station broadcasting from Siaya county on a frequency of 98.9 that covers the wider Siaya and some parts of Kisii. The station has diverse programs that encompasses all ages in the areas of entertainment information and education. Umoja Radio for peace, a program under Civil Peace service in collaboration with Code For Africa recently undertook content production training targeting local journalists at the station in enhancing their capacities in radio production as well as fact-checking and verification of information. The Umoja team had a little chat with one of the Ratego staff after the training;

Name: Christine Odhiambo

Community Radio: Ratego FM

Role: Programs presenter

How do you define your role at Ratego? : I am a presenter. I also do mid-morning program and news briefs in between 10 am and 12 noon.

What does Ratego and Chuny Piny mean? : Ratego is a Luo name that means ‘a Hero’ Chuny Piny means ‘the heart of the people’

Why Community Radio? I chose community radio because I have been having an interest in working passionately for the community. I have the courage of working for the community. I simply have the interest of my community at heart

What’s your opinion on fake news: Fake news has affected me. I have that experience. There was a time I was about to go on air with a piece of story that looked so real. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case. I dropped it after I was alerted by my colleagues. Minutes before the top of the hour.

What’s your most exciting experience in community radio? I was a presenter in Pacho Radio before joining Ratego. And alas! All my listeners followed me to Ratego. They usually call me on my show. Even for those who can’t access the radio frequency, they just call to inquire about the topic that I am tackling and they participate in the program even without listening.

What’s your take on the role of KCOMNET in capacity building of community Radios? It is my first time to learn about KCOMNET because I have never participated in any KCOMNET training before. But all the same am so inspired. I feel like KCOMNET can still d a lot in terms of capacity building If they increase the frequency of grassroot engagements with community radios.

How can you describe your audience: My audience are the best. To me they are my bosses. I am there for them. They have given me a conducive atmosphere and confidence as a journalist in as much as I don’t see them they always contribute to my program. They are very positive and so engaging.

What’s your most embarrassing moment on radio: One caller during a live program started seducing me on air. To me this was so embarrassing since I got puzzled on how my listeners would depict me.

How can you describe Ratego FM programs: They are so engaging and they cut across all age groups. Everybody’s interest is involved.

When we talk of ‘Community Radio’ what’s your understanding of it?: Its community based. Key owners and proprietors are the community members. Simply put, the back bone is community

What has been your biggest challenge as a community radio journalist: Working as a volunteer. I have personal life. I have bills to meet. Financially automatically I get numerous challenges because I don’t earn and at the same time I have to deliver on my duties. Basically challenge of survival. But this is common phenomena in community radios.

Where do you see the future of community radios: What I have known and for the years that I have worked with community radios, am so eager and anticipating that in the coming years if community radios continue to partner for a common course, community radios will emerge the best in as far as fostering social change is concerned. In most cases, community radios are real unless those which experiences some level of political interference

What’s your biggest fear as a community radio journalist? : My safety. At community radio I believe that am working for the community and they must be informed in all aspects and there comes a time where you feel that there is something that has happened and you have to honor your duty to inform but then again how safe are you?

What key Interventions can you suggest for community radios: They should be recognized as those organs that are working hand in hand with the citizens for positive social change. The government acknowledges and support them and even the journalists who are working there.

Christine Odhiambo was one of the two radio journalists at ratego FM who were awarded Pesa Check T-shirts for scoring highest points in Fact Checking random quize.