Today is the 28th September. It is the World News Day, a global initiative to draw public attention to the role that journalists play in providing trustworthy news and information that serves citizens and democracy. World News Day takes place annually on September 28.
As we mark this important day on the media and journalism calendar this year, what come to my mind are the daily hardships of community media, writes Matefu Mokoena.
A local newspaper or radio station should not only be remembered when it has to cover event or attend a media briefing, it must also be remembered when it comes to advertising. Sadly, most of the time majority of the local media get overlooked when it is time to issue adverts by public and private sectors.
One cannot overemphasise the fact that community media needs money in order to keep on informing the community, which is in dire needs of information about issues and challenges in their own local areas.
As much as the local media gives space and airtime to the newsmakers and policymakers, so should be the amount of financial support in terms of advertisements, sponsorships, advertorials, grants and other forms of financial support.
A local media is not only a news outlet but also a small business which should also be considered for funding when municipalities fund small businesses in their area.
Community media is the poorly financially supported sector yet the most needed one for the local news that hardly receives attention of the mainstream.
Community media is our own local radio stations, newspapers, online media and TV stations that bring us local news and information in multiple formats and platforms, which recently include social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, and X, among others.
The survival of this sector is crucial for the sector itself, the community that needs information, the policymaker who needs to communicate decisions and the business owner who wants to reach clients.
The survival of this sector is also crucial in the era of technological advancement that brings itself with the challenges of platforms for fake news.
The survival of local media is also crucial at the face of misinformation and disinformation.
Just imagine a society without media or a community without information!
A thriving democracy needs a sustainable community media.
