MEDIA LITERACY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY IN RWANDA A CASE STUDY OF CITY OF KIGALI

Abstract

The study conducted is titled, Media Literacy and Socio-Economic Development of Community in Rwanda, A case of City of Kigali. The study’s objectives were to examine the level of media literacy among the community in City of Kigali, to analyze the contribution of media literacy towards the socioeconomic development of the community in City of Kigali, to find out challenges that limit media literacy development in City of Kigali, and to propose strategies to address the challenges that limit the media literacy development in City of Kigali. In conducting the study, descriptive research design with the mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative were adopted, simple random sampling technique were used in sampling, while questionnaire, interview and documentary were used in data collection. Descriptive statistical analysis were used in data analysis. The study finds that the respondents regularly check information from different media source and seek diverse viewpoints from various media to understand different perspective. The study also finds the media literacy increase the level of awareness of health and wellbeing, and media literacy encourage active engagement in community initiatives and civic participation the study later found the challenges such as the complexity and rapid evolution of media literacy and inefficient collaboration among media organization and educational institutions, the study recommends that the media literacy could be integrated in educational program and also the public awareness campaign should be organized to improve the level of awareness of media literacy.