Focus Areas

OSIEA supports efforts to defend and strengthen the media environment. The iniative fosters efforts that provide greater access to independent information as well as diversity in media ownership. OSIEA encourages growth of independent media efforts that engage civic participation or reach local audiences in marginalized communities. This includes support for media training initiatives, independent and/or community-based media, as well as information and communication technologies.

The following are just some examples of recent Media and Access to Information grants:

Providing a Megaphone to Young People in a Nairobi Slum

Koch FM is a tiny community radio station formed in 2006 by eight young people in Korogocho, a community beset by poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. The station, housed in two soundproofed shipping containers, uses simple equipment to broadcast programs to the residents, who are some of the most impoverished and marginalized in Nairobi. Despite its 2 km radius, the station is likely to reach as many as one million listeners in the densely populated area. With support from OSIEA and OSI’s Media Program, the all-volunteer station broadcasts music and public-service programming produced by youth on HIV and other health topics, gender issues, and political participation. In addition to providing community radio, the project aims equip youth with broadcasting skills, develop significant and vibrant youth participation, and use radio discussions as a mobilization tool on issues of importance to the community.

Getting Kenyans Talking on TV

Agenda Kenya is a leading forty-five-minute talk show aired on television and radio in Kenya. Every week, a panel of five politicians and civil society personalities is presented with unscripted questions on an issue of political or social importance in front of a studio audience of 100 people. The program revolutionized Kenyan TV when it was first aired in 2005. Kenyans had never seen or heard a talk show where politicians were asked to account for their actions before a live audience. MEDEVA, the NGO that produces Agenda Kenya, provides quality programming with a social justice message as well as a training center for young television professionals. Agenda Kenya’s have included issues such as the constitution, budget making processes, domestic violence, devolved funds, community policing, prison reforms, water management, illegal brews, worker rights, and abortion.

Getting People Wired

Information and communication technologies (ICT) access in East Africa remains expensive and limited. Efforts to liberalize the sector continue to be thwarted by governments in the region. It remains unclear whether the planned East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) will eventually provide lower-cost connectivity. The Kenya Information and Communication Technologies Action Network (KICTANet) coordinates consumer advocacy groups with Internet service providers and the Kenyan government in order to advocate for progressive reforms in the telecommunications sector. The network has played a strong role to date in convening government and nongovernmental representatives to promote information-sharing and collaborative advocacy. KICTANet successfully championed improvements to the government's draft ICT policy and its advocacy efforts contributed to the Cabinet approval. KICTANet’s listserve and discussion site follows policy developments in the region closely and provides a space for lively exchange of information and ideas.

Lights! Camera! Action! Human Rights in Film School

Students at the Mohamed Amin Foundation, seeking a career in film and television, produce a human rights film project before graduation. Following human rights training, the students produce short features on a variety of topics, which form the core of a television talk show called Hatua (Action). Students are sensitized to human rights issues and trained to locate contacts for research and production content. Topics have included sexual violence, the environment, abortion, citizenship rights, and life in the slums of Nairobi. The films are shown and discussed before a studio audience and aired on national television in Kenya. While learning all aspects of television production, film and digital editing, sound mixing, and budgeting, students also learn about human rights law and interview key rights activists. The Hatua series has also been shown at the Amakula and Zanzibar film festivals.