Over 30 women-led Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in Kajiado County took part in a media training to equip them with the skills to better tell their impact stories.
The training conducted by Africa Solutions Media Hub under the Impact Mashinani Programme was convened by the She Leads Kajiado Movement.
Impact Mashinani programme seeks to Equip CBOs with impact storytelling skills in a bid to empower them to effectively tell their social impact stories.
The session entailed an overview on how the different organisations present could leverage on mainstream media as well as digital platforms that they own including social media handles.
“Impact storytelling helps in documenting works done by the organisations and helps project it to a wider audience. To achieve better results, you need to tell your story in a way that is relatable to your audience as you leverage on existing media channels to amplify your social impact work,” said Lilian Kaivilu, a Social Impact Storytelling trainer at Africa Solutions Media Hub.
Representatives of the CBOs present shared their struggles in getting their stories covered and published by mainstream media.
“Money becomes a factor whenever Media is involved and its a challenge for us to get our stories out there. Sometimes you reach out to a Media house or reporter having a very good story to share but you still don’t get coverage. Sometimes the reporter is willing but there are still hurdles to get their editors to approve and this becomes disheartening,” says Judy Purkei, an official at Omom Elite foundation.
According to Francis Mureithi, a seasoned editor, Solutions Journalism trainer and Mentor discouraged paying for stories to be run unless it serves as an advert. “Nobody should be charging you for news .It’s extortion, a practice highly discouraged across all media. But again there’s a need to familiarise yourselves with story format in the newsroom so as to know what sort of stories are paid for as adverts or sponsored content and those that can be published at no cost.”
He emphasised on the importance of packaging story pitches for media coverage in order to effectively compete with other interests in the newsroom. “Make use of your success stories of those who have benefitted from your programmes to keep your content relevant and with a human face,” he added.
Jackline Saleiyan, founder of A pack a Month and the convener of SHE Leads Kajiado chapter, applauded Africa Solutions Media Hub for the session, terming it as a step in the right direction for the different entities present .
“We need to grow in our approach of utilizing what we have to get what we want in the media space.. Getting the concept of media is what we needed to further advance our initiative and I believe this training will go a long way to get us to where we want to be,”she said.
Organisations present were also given a chance to consult further on how best to improve their social media messaging and polish their organisations profiles as well to enhance viewer traffic.
CBOs present included: Transform A Girls Life Initiative, Ignite, Re-birth of a Queen, Inspire Teengen Foundation, A Pack A Month, Happy Place, Birth and Beyond Organization and Women of Hope with disabilities among others.
