The place and role
of the media in bridging the gap of knowledge and closing space was at
the centre of discussion in Berlin, Germany, on March 17, as the
International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of the GIZ hosted its
fourth international media conference. The topic this time was ‘Jumping
the gap: the Power of Media to extend classrooms’.
Roland
Gerschermann, the managing director of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
one of the country’s leading newspaper, in his opening statement spoke
of the important role the media has played and continues to play in the
affairs of the world and in helping to spread education. Taking a cue
from events around the world, he said,
“The media matters,
if we take into cognisance the events in Tunisia and in Libya where we
are currently seeing the effect of the media. In a long way, the media
matters because it allows people to share perceptions.”
He, however,
stressed that the media can only do this effectively in a free
environment. But this does not end there. He asked, even in a free
environment, “How does one know which information to trust?” In
answering this, he emphasised the need for the media to double check
facts and make sure information passed around is standard. To him,
“Media education matters too; it is not enough to rely on schools to do
this. The media must assist.”
The internet has
made a vast use of information and made education available beyond the
four walls of a school environment. In concluding his statement, he
said, “There cannot be democracy without the media, and the media must
be properly used to get democracy better.”
The importance of
the media in contributing to education beyond the classroom is crucial,
according to Gunther Taube. Inevitably, he also referred to the
revolution that has swept through North Africa, saying, “We look at
North Africa today and see how the repressive Libyan regime is trying
to squash freedom. Education promotes health; education is a hugely
important factor in promoting wealth. The media and education are
catalysts of life and growth.”
Mr. Taube, who is a
director in the department of good governance at GIZ, spoke of the need
to develop education because UNESCO researches have confirmed that to
reduce poverty, education must be improved and more should be spent on
its development.
According to him,
it is based on this policy and need that, “At GIZ, our policy is to
help journalists develop. We want to use the wide ranging influence of
media all over the world to extend this sphere.”
Critical citizenship
Because education
is needed to strengthen democracy and build a citizenship that is
critical, Manfred Konukiewitz said the government in Germany continues
to invest in training of teachers adding, “Education allows citizens to
be critical and informed in dealing with governments. This is our focus
in German development. That is why the German government has decided to
encourage media education. It is important to allow this for national
development.”
Mr. Konukiewitz, a
deputy director general at the federal ministry for economic
cooperation and development, said the role of the new media in
contributing to education cannot be dismissed or ignored. He, however,
cautioned that the possession of a laptop is not enough if people don’t
know how to use it.
“Computer and
e-learning are important and great opportunity for learning. Integrated
learning is the best way to learn,” he also said. He lauded the IIJ for
its activities in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; for contributing
to the education of journalists.
In her keynote
address, Rosa-Maria Torres de Castillo, director of Instituto Fronesis
in Ecuador took the argument of citizenship and relevance of education
further by stating that in the 21st century, the mission of education
should solely be directed at building people who are able and willing
to engage in citizenship.
To her, citizen
culture encompasses sets of knowledge, values, and attitude shared by
the members of a given society. She expressed concern that much damage
is being done to education at all fronts. In uniting both formal and
informal education and move from education to lifelong learning, she
advised of the need to increase the reach, space, and time of the media
to “ensure learning as a continuum, and promote intergenerational
development.”
The increasing use
of the social media in Africa was a point that most speakers at the
conference lauded. The course of events in the Middle East and how the
social media accelerated the unfolding drama did not go unnoticed, as
Gerrit Beger, a communication officer with the New York office of
UNICEF, agreed that what he calls “digital citizenship” confers some
level of safety on the users. That is, safety from censorship except
perhaps if the space is shut down, as it has happened in some cases.
Use of media as education tool
Aralynn Abare
McMane, executive director, Young Readership Development, at the World
Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, spoke extensively of how
newspapers have become useful in educating pupils in Liberia. She
stressed the need for the media to develop this area well so as to
continue to catch the attention of the young readers and sustain
interest in the media.
On her part, Anjoa
Yeboah-Afari, who easily falls into the category of a veteran because
she has been in media business for decades, gave examples of how the
Ghanaian media, especially newspapers, use specialised columns to
educate people about the ICT and the use of computers before it became
the fad today.
Ramamurthy
Sreedeher from India expounded on how India has used the radio to reach
bigger audiences with lessons on AIDS, and engaged with truck drivers.
He believes that with the radio experiment in India which was used to
spread messages about AIDS, the media can immensely be used to aid
education.
He said, “Radio can
best be used to reach a bigger audience. It can aid literacy and has
been used to educate truck drivers on AIDS in India.” Rayhana Rassool
said the programme called Soul City has become important in getting to
the youth population in South Africa because it is used to help change
behaviour, though he agreed that reach does not automatically mean
impact.
Astrid Kohl, the
head of IIJ, observed that the international conference was part of the
institute’s contribution to engaging the media and making people
realise and appreciate the media’s role in the society.
Mark Kapchanga of
Standard Newspaper in Kenya, who is undergoing a course at the IIJ in
assessing the conference said, ‘’It clearly showed the amount of work
ahead for developing countries. Clearly, there’s a lot more for them to
be at par with developed the countries’ system.’’ He plans to share his
experience with colleagues when he returns home. For Nqaba Matshazi
from Zimbabwe, the media must examine how it can impact on education
because ‘’the key question we should focus on in Africa is the
perennial lack of teachers, and the surging number of students in a
class. Resources are so few to meet the demand of Africa’s education
system. Getting teachers to attend classes, at times, is just but by
luck.’’ Finally Lola Okulo from Kenya is of the opinion that ‘’There is
future in Africa’s education system if media can go an extra step and
focus more of education matters.’’
