Mary Myers on two organisations working with DRC journalists to make sure press stories aren’t fiction.

In a country where rumour is rife, it is important to have balanced and objective reporting, such as the news bulletins provided by Radio Okapi. But in some ways Okapi is an artificial construct – something brought in from the outside – resourced and protected by the big donors and the UN.

What can be done about the propaganda and the sensationalist reporting that continues among the local press? Although there are some responsible local radio stations and newspapers – and many talented journalists – much of the mass-media still feeds on misinformation and propaganda.

One of the reasons for this is that very few journalists are paid enough to resist the temptation to bias their stories. Therefore, many of them resort to a corrupt practice known as ‘coupage’. This is accepting meals, drinks, money, or gifts from those politicians or interest groups who want their stories covered positively. In more extreme cases journalists are physically threatened unless they cover a particular event, or unless they agree to tell downright lies about someone’s opponents.

In the DRC, DFID is supporting the Panos Institute and Search for Common Ground to find ways around this problem. Among others, Panos is supporting Journalistes en Danger, a local group fighting for the rights and the protection of journalists – for example, by getting them legal or medical help. Panos is supporting journalists’ own associations and unions who, by organising together, are campaigning for a minimum wage and are setting ethical standards. The new Congolese governmental regulatory authority is also being supported, as is an industry body called OMEC, roughly equivalent of the UK’s Broadcasting Standards Council. Because these bodies are almost completely new, they need help with everything from office supplies to training.

Search for Common Ground’s Kinshasa office is counteracting misinformation and hate-media with its own radio and video programmes. One of these is a radio serial drama featuring a fictional taxi-driver called Mopila who debates current issues with his ‘clients’. Topics include the elections, the constitution, the responsibilities of the transitional government, events in the war-torn East of the country, and so on.

Propaganda makes people believe their differences are greater than they really are. This is very dangerous in a country that could so easily slide back into civil war. Panos and Search are helping the media in the DRC to find commonalities between people and to help give them the objective information needed to build a democratic society.

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