How to get your organisation into Rwandan media

Many organisations try to reach Rwandan media by emailing a press release to a few English-language newsrooms. That reaches some readers, but it misses most of the country.

The Rwanda Media Barometer 2024, published by the Rwanda Governance Board, found that radio is the most trusted and widely used information source, followed by television and then social media.¹ The regulator RURA's list of stations as of January 2022 shows 34 FM radio entries, and the national broadcaster RBA alone ran 28 FM transmitters, including Radio Rwanda and its community radio sites.²

Online audiences are growing but are still a minority. DataReportal estimated 5.01 million internet users in Rwanda in October 2025, about 34 percent of the population, and 1.35 million social media user identities, about 9 percent.³ Online coverage matters for partners, officials and the diaspora. Radio matters for almost everyone else.

Before you contact anyone, write down who you need to reach and what you want them to know or do. Then pick the outlets that reach them.

• National broadcasters: Radio Rwanda and Rwanda Television (RTV) are run by RBA, which has the largest FM transmitter network in RURA's list.² RTV is the only state-owned TV station.⁴
• Private radio and TV: RURA's list includes private FM stations such as KT Radio, City Radio, Isango Star and Radio Flash FM, and TV stations such as TV One.² Listen to their programmes before you pitch, to find the shows that suit your topic.
• Kinyarwanda news sites: IGIHE and Umuseke are digital news sites that cover the news in Kinyarwanda, and IGIHE leads the digital news scene.⁴
• English-language outlets: The New Times is the oldest and largest privately owned English-language newspaper, and KT Press publishes online in English.⁴ These suit messages for policymakers, diplomats and international partners.
• Community radio: RURA lists community radios in places such as Karongi, Byumba and Kibungo, alongside RBA's community radio sites.² They are useful when your work is local.
• International broadcasters: Voice of America and RFI were listed among FM stations operating in Rwanda in January 2022.²

Media in Rwanda is predominantly in English and Kinyarwanda, and Radio Rwanda broadcasts in all four official languages: Kinyarwanda, English, French and Kiswahili.⁴ If your audience is rural, a Kinyarwanda interview on radio will usually do more than an English article. Our guide on multilingual communications in Rwanda covers language choices in more depth.

The Media Barometer 2024 identified media profitability, journalists' working conditions and professionalism as continuing challenges, and media development and professional capacity scored lowest of its five indicators, at 60.7%.¹ In practice, many newsrooms have small teams and limited transport budgets. You make coverage easier when you remove obstacles, not when you send longer documents.

• A spokesperson who speaks Kinyarwanda and can explain the work simply on air.
• Access: a field visit to a site, a farmer, a clinic or a classroom, with consent already arranged.
• Local evidence: district figures, national statistics and named, willing people, not only global numbers.
• Ready visuals: captioned photos and short clips that editors may use with credit.
• Timing: material that arrives early enough for morning radio bulletins and evening TV news.

Do not offer cash or gifts in exchange for coverage. If you buy airtime or sponsored space, ask the outlet to label it clearly so audiences can tell news from paid content.

A press release is one tool, and our separate guide explains how to write one. In Rwanda, these formats often earn more attention:

• Radio talk shows and phone-in programmes: offer an expert for a topic listeners care about, such as farming seasons, school fees or health services.
• Field visits for journalists: a half-day trip with transport, a short briefing and several people who have agreed to speak.
• Data stories: a clear finding from your monitoring data, explained with one chart and one human example.
• Opinion pieces: signed articles by your leaders in English-language outlets for policy audiences.
• Community radio partnerships: regular slots where local staff answer questions in the language of the area.

Pick the format that suits your news. A new policy partnership fits an English-language outlet and a briefing. A service change for farmers fits a Kinyarwanda radio programme in the affected districts.

Rwanda has a media self-regulatory body, the Rwanda Media Commission, established in August 2013. It promotes ethical practice, accredits journalists and handles complaints from the public.⁵ Its work on online media has addressed problems such as violations of privacy, nudity and graphic depictions of violence.⁶ Journalists are expected to follow the Rwanda journalists and media practitioners' code of ethics.⁷

This affects how you work with the press:

• Journalists decide what they publish. Do not ask to approve their story before it runs. You can offer to check facts and figures.
• If coverage is inaccurate, ask the editor for a correction first. Use the formal complaints route only if that fails.
• Protect the people you introduce to journalists. Get informed consent, explain where the story may appear, and never put children or people in vulnerable situations in front of a camera without safeguards.
• Be honest about results. Overstated claims damage trust with editors for years.

Copy this plan and adapt it to your organisation.

• Week 1: list your three audiences and the outlets each one uses: radio, TV, Kinyarwanda online, English online, community radio.
• Week 2: name and brief two spokespeople, at least one fluent in Kinyarwanda. Agree what they may say without further approval.
• Week 3: build a contact list of editors and programme producers, with their language, programme and best time to call.
• Week 4: prepare a media kit: a one-page fact sheet in Kinyarwanda and English, captioned photos, short clips and spokesperson biographies.
• Month 2: pitch one radio talk-show appearance, one field visit and one data story. Arrange consent with everyone who will be interviewed.
• Month 2: invite two or three journalists for an informal briefing with no story expected.
• Month 3: place one opinion piece in an English-language outlet and follow up on every pitch.
• Month 3: review what ran, where, in which language and with what accuracy. Adjust the plan for the next quarter.

Coverage in Rwandan media grows from steady, honest contact. Answer journalists' calls quickly, even when the answer is that you cannot comment yet. Share bad news as openly as good news. Thank editors for fair stories, and do not complain about fair criticism.

Track what you earn, not only how much. A five-minute Kinyarwanda radio interview in the districts where you work may matter more than a large online article. Our guide on media monitoring explains how to record and review coverage over time.

In our own practice, we find that organisations which invest in two or three trusted relationships with producers and editors get more accurate coverage than those which send many releases to long lists.