Where We Work

Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya

Voices in Health

The Voices in Health program was launched in Kenya in 2003; a time when around 700 people were dying every day as a result of HIV complications. Since then hundreds of journalists have been trained to write responsibly about HIV/AIDS issues, with a particular focus on making the science accessible while dispelling myths and alleviating stigma. 

The complex and often culturally sensitive constellation of issues related to sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention and testing and gender make it particularly important for journalists to report in a way that is accurate and supports national and local efforts.

Voices in Health is designed to ensure that the program builds sustainable skills that contribute to the overall viability of media outlets while simultaneously enriching, informing and diversifying the information environment around HIV/AIDS and other target health issues.

The program builds on the success of the Internews global Local Voices training mechanism. Since 2002, Internews has provided hundreds of radio, print and TV media professionals across Africa, Asia and Europe with specialized training and long term mentoring reporting effectively on HIV/AIDS, avian flu, malaria and other health issues. Nearly 450 representatives from non-governmental and community-based organizations have also participated in practical media liaison training, and more than 3000 editors, media managers, journalists and others have joined topical roundtables on HIV/AIDS and other health themes.

Major accomplishments of the Kenya program to date include the establishment of several weekly radio programs with an HIV/AIDS focus, and the creation of two regular health slots on primetime national television. Numerous trainees have won major journalism awards or scholarships for their work in health reporting.

Reporting on Conflict

In widespread violence that followed a disputed Presidential Election result in early 2008, many Kenyan journalists, and their employers, found themselves at the eye of the storm.  It was the worst unrest in the country since independence, hundreds of people died. The vast majority of journalists had no experience of reporting on such events and matters were made worse as some key broadcasters stood accused of using hate speech, fuelling the inter-ethnic violence.

Internews introduced the Reporting for Peace project towards the end of 2008 to introduce journalists at carefully selected community and mainstream radio stations to a conflict sensitive, ethical approach to their work. Journalists explore their potential to act as public mediators and empower the audiences they serve by broadening the search for solutions.  Dozens of journalists have already been trained and go on to produce a consistent stream of professionally produced radio features and news items about the conflict and reconciliation process.

The methodology used in this project is internationally respected and has been applied by Internews in other post conflict zones such as Northern Uganda, Burma and Timor Leste. In Kenya, work is concentrated in the capital Nairobi and in much of the Rift Valley province which witnessed some of the worst of the post election violence.

The issues that drive inter-ethnic tensions in Kenya are highly complex with their origins stretching back decades. Through this Internews project a key group of journalists and radio stations are having their skills and capacity built in order to contribute to a more peaceful future.

Sub-Saharan Africa