Today, on May 3, 2024, marks the successful completion of a significant event that began on April 29, where a group of journalism students from Institut Catholique de Kabgayi (ICK) and Mount Kigali University (MKU) embarked on an enlightening journey to learn about solution journalism and how to pitch stories to international outlets.
This five-day training program, organized by the Rwanda Media Program with support from Fojo Media Institute, aimed to equip participants with the skills to create captivating stories focusing on solutions to social problems.
Solution journalism, a fresh and innovative approach to reporting, aims to showcase responses to social problems, inspiring positive change.
Sara Assarsson, a Swedish trainer expressed her excitement, stating, “We are happy that training went and finished well than we expected before starting it. Solution journalism offers a new perspective, empowering the future journalists to discover innovative solutions and inspire positive change.”
As the training concludes, a trainer Sara Assarsson, with a promising voice, said, “Even if training is at the end in this room where we are being trained physically, feel free to keep emailing me in any case you have a problem related to solution journalism.”
Throughout the program, the students visited different places at Muhanga district to brainstorm the stories related to solution journalism and wrote the articles that highlight the problems and possible solutions in a sustainable way.
Titus Manzi, one of the trainees from Mount Kigali University expressed his excitement, stating, “This training made us professional journalists even if we are still studying in universities. We deeply learnt how good captivating stories should be and we also gained insights into presenting our work to international outlets, increasing our chances of being heard and make positive impacts to the audiences worldwide.”
Belyne Ayera, a trainee from Institut Catholique de Kabgayi, shown her excitement, stating, “Solution journalism should be taken into consideration by all media houses because it does not reveal the problem and leave it without leaving its solutions, so I got the skills that I was expecting before we began and I absolutely happy that I became a part of this training. By highlighting solutions, we can inspire hope and drive positive change, both locally and globally.”
The training was attended by 22 journalism students from both universities.