Community media houses are set to benefit from the government’s new plan of offering them advertisements.
The move which targets community radio and TV stations will help them generate revenue to pay their employees and sustain their operations, according to Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.
Mucheru was speaking during the launch of Trinity TV and Radio Stations in Ol-Kalou, Nyandarua County, saying that the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) was working on a framework to help actualize the facilitation.
“As a ministry, we are looking at what policy we can put in place for advertisers so that even us as the Government Advertising Agency we can begin supporting the community radios and the TVs.” Said the CS.
Trinity TV and Radio stations will become the first-ever media outlets to set up in Nyandarua County.
The CS who previously worked with tech giant Google acknowledged the importance of community radios in facilitating access to information among rural communities.
While addressing the prevalence of fake news occasioned by the liberalization of telecommunication services, Mucheru urged media houses to be responsible and careful with the information they release to the public.
Communication Authority of Kenya Director General, Ezra Chiloba, who was also present at the event, said that his agency was working towards licensing more community media houses to boost access to information among Kenyans.
“From 2015 we have licensed 23 stations and we hope to license 33 more by the end of this year. Our aim is to use the Community Broadcasting Licensing programme, to ensure the radios meet the information needs of the citizens,” noted Chiloba.
The former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission CEO urged the media to provide factual information to the public, saying that it would facilitate the well-being of the people alongside being informative.
“We must abide by the code, especially as we head to the 2022 General Elections and the radios have a critical role in bringing sanity and cohesion, through factual reporting,” added Chiloba.
