Motivation for Journalists and media houses to undertake more Agriculture coverage
Since 1992 when the Daily Monitor newspaper started to 2009, there was no dedicated space for agriculture like the newspaper was doing for politics, health, business and entertainment.
However, with the support of International Women’s Media Forum (IWMF), Daily Monitor has been publishing 20-30 articles every month since April 2009 through an agriculture weekly pullout every Wednesday.
According to the Editors at Daily Monitor, the paper was publishing 0-3 articles every month before the partnership (with funding), for the 2007- April 2009 period reviewed.
Agriculture coverage by The New Vision
The New Vision has been publishing 12-20 articles on agriculture every month through its weekly two farming pages. The newspaper says it values the agriculture sector and its role in the country’s development. Recently, the newspaper started running one weekly profile of a farmer who earn big in agriculture (Harvesting Money).
Tree farming in Uganda. Many journalists can not report about such
It should be noted that Daily Monitor which started its initiative four months ago is producing more (up to 40) agriculture stories every month than New Vision (up to 24) though it has been at it for the past 10 years. This is because Daily Monitor is a well funded (foreign) initiative.
Benefits of improved reporting of agriculture
v Farmers write back to the editor and columnists seeking help or advice.
v At least 3 readers write to the features editor of Daily Monitor commenting on agricultural stories.(thanking her or complaining)
Limitations of increased coverage of agriculture issues
v Lack of interested journalists to report agricultural and rural issues. Young writers shun agricultural reporting because of mentality that agriculture does not sell.
v Those trying to write on Agriculture and Rural Development are above 40 years, yet 90% of journalists in Uganda are below 35 years.
v Grass root farmers do not access information from improved coverage because they can’t read English.
v The beneficiaries are urban farmers doing agriculture as side-income. Full-time farmers who are based in villages do barely access information resulting from increased reporting on agriculture in newspapers (print media).
v Most farmers can’t afford the price of the newspaper to be able to read the “good” agriculture stories.
v Journalists find it difficult to get hold of sources of agricultural stories including farmers, extension workers, scientists and government workers.
Lessons from the two newspapers on media coverage of agriculture and rural development
- Agriculture reporting can be a self generated effort by media houses (after appreciating agriculture’s relevance to the majority).
- Better reporting of agriculture can provide the important information and guidance farmers need to boost their agriculture and farming.
- Financial support to media houses greatly improves coverage of agriculture and rural development issues. If many media houses are provided with funding to do agricultures stories (unlike politics, entertainment, agriculture stories are mostly field based), they can commit more space and airtime to these issues.
- Many journalists not interested in covering agriculture issues, even if the media houses want to run such stories.
- Many journalists covering agricultural and rural development issues are old, and some are taken by better paying organizations outside journalism.
- The low pay by most media houses makes agriculture reporting unattractive since it takes more effort than say doing a political or entertainment story.
- Increasing Agriculture reporting per se does not improve communication of agriculture issues to farmers. Newspaper reach a few people (an estimated 100,000 in Uganda daily), most are in English. Another study by Ultimate Media has shown that improved agriculture reporting and related programmes on radio are best to reach most farmers, but they should be aired at specific farmer friendly times (farmers especially women are busy most of the time) and should involve interactions with farmers. The study also found most agriculture information (especially tips, new information on prices, policies etc) can best be communicated through mobile phones to farmers or farmer group leaders.