Solutions, Please!

Matabeleland- let's come up with solution-oriented narratives. Graphic by The Citizen Bulletin

BY DIVINE DUBE, Editorial Director | @Village_scribe | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | APR 1, 2021

There is a whole school of thought that citizens from the greater region of Matabeleland are crybabies. Perhaps this is the best time to prove naysayers wrong — we need solution-oriented narratives now more than before.

BULAWAYO (The Citizen Bulletin) — I have lost track of the number of WhatsApp and Facebook groups I have been added to in the past decade, in which the idea is to rant about challenges affecting the greater region of Matabeleland.  
 
Recently, we wrote about the hullabaloo triggered by the grade seven results after several schools in Matabeleland performed dismally in the country’s public examinations. We also predicted that the debate would not trigger any meaningful action, just like many others we have followed. We were right!
 
Our pessimism raises the question: Do Matabeleland citizens have solutions to problems they face? Maybe they do, or perhaps they don't. That's why we are introducing a new column, Local Fix, where we invite our audience members to explore not just problems but solutions to some of the pressing challenges our communities face.

Local Fix is more than just a column; it's a platform for sharing and using the information our communities need to become agents of good governance and social progress. We want to partner with you — our readers, followers and supporters — in something audacious: reigniting civic discourse through solution-focused storytelling.

Reaching The Impossible Generation
 
In Feb., we launched a COVID-19-themed essay competition for secondary and high school pupils from the greater region of Matabeleland. The response was initially sluggish, but as the deadline drew closer, more submissions came through, shooting above one hundred, a majority from girls.
 
Our idea was not just to (re)ignite storytelling amongst young audiences. Instead, we also wanted to spark interest in news and, by extension, civic engagement amongst uninitiated young citizens. Like other newsrooms, we are always seeking new ways to connect with new audiences, especially millennials.

We learnt some valuable lessons from the essay contest, which we plan to use to engage younger audiences better as we continue to establish our presence in Matabeleland, the region we serve. For now, here are some of our key takeaways:
 
●    Listen: Most newsrooms talk about young audiences, not with them. When we spoke with pupils on WhatsApp about what they would like to read in our bi-weekly newsletter, we received a dozen of responses — more than we expected. From this conversation, we learnt that we could produce audience-first news products if we actively engage, listen, and use input from young audiences to make editorial decisions.
 
●    Find them where they are: Most news outlets and publishers fail to understand this: producing good content is one thing; finding the right channel to distribute the content is another. Our recent interaction with the young essayists has cajoled us to consider ways to reach young audiences using native platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, not just WhatsApp, which they sometimes find boring.

●    Lastly, experiment: The best way to engage young audiences is to catch them by surprise. Millennials like not just surprises but experiments. At The Citizen Bulletin, experimentation means rethinking the news agenda that many young people find repetitive, coming up with new formats and changing the overly "negative" tone of voice. In future, we plan to engage young storytellers as part of our efforts to reinvigorate our content to appeal to millenials.

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Going forward, the essay writing competition will be a permanent feature of our community-building efforts. In the future, we also plan to launch deliberate strategies to reach more young audiences and turn them into engaged consumers and creators of our news products. We've learnt in one way or another that young people are a critical segment of our audiences. So, building a sustainable relationship with them is vital.

If you would like to contribute to the Local Fix Column or participate in any of our community journalism initiatives, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or send a WhatsApp chat to +263 7 18636459. We would like to hear from you.