From walking barefoot to school to founding a radio station: Meet Harriet Atyang

The International Center of Journalists’ (ICFJ) Disarming Disinformation Initiative is a three-year program, supported by the Scripps Howard Fund, that aims to curb the spread of disinformation through multiple programs such as investigative journalism , capacity building and media literacy education. The ICFJ partnered with the Poynter Institute’s MediaWise to develop and deliver media literacy programming.

The media literacy training of trainers program accepted global participants for two different cohorts. Participants are community leaders who will educate others about the importance of media literacy and how to apply these skills in real life. The following article is one of five impact stories selected from the first cohort to celebrate media literacy week.

Harriet Atyang is helping to build a fortress against disinformation in western Kenya. As the founder of a local radio station called Dada Radio based in Siaya, Kenya, she believes in the power of information.

“Information can make or break a community. As a community leader and journalist, I love educating my community, especially rural women, most of whom are at a disadvantage as technology continues to grow,” she said.

In January 2024, Atyang participated in the first cohort of 19 people in the Disarming Disinformation training of trainers where he learned from MediaWise how to use and teach media literacy skills. In the months since, he has imparted these skills through mentoring programs for journalism students and workshops for community members, training 67 people to date. At Dada Radio, he ensures that all station presenters are equipped with media literacy skills and regularly conducts media literacy training through live programmes.

In his trainings, Atyang has brought together a person who spreads misinformation and the subject of that misinformation to have a productive conversation; taught high school students to produce professional level fact checks that were broadcast on the radio; inspired those students to pursue careers in journalism; and launched a tutoring program for secondary schools.

Growing up in the western Kenyan town of Busia, near the Ugandan border, Atyang walked to school barefoot in the sweltering sun, often with no food and only a little water. Sometimes the only drink consumed was the local alcohol that his mother illegally distilled to earn a few shillings, although it was not enough to feed her entire family. If they found a piece of moldy bread, it was like “they had a feast to eat,” he recalled.

The third born of eight children, Atyang spoke of how her mother left her father to get away from the abusive relationship and then came back to rescue her during the night.

Through it all, she never wavered in her desire to go to school, get an education, study journalism, and help people who can’t help themselves. That drive makes her the trusted journalist and community leader she is today—one who is passionate about supporting women, who strives for excellence in journalism, and who cares deeply about her community.

Atyang launched Dada Radio in 2023. Dada, which is its Swahili sister station, has defied standard norms, broadcasting in the local Luo language and prioritizing stories affecting women and girls, putting your needs first.

For a small community radio station, where learning journalism by trade is normal over traditional education, Atyang went ahead with the Disarming Disinformation train-the-trainer program knowing that media literacy techniques could have immediate and lasting impacts for their Dada Radio team, for their community and for local journalism students.

“This training opportunity came at a time when I really needed to help my community promote responsible information sharing,” he said.

When asked for her biggest piece of advice for others wanting to run media literacy workshops, she said to “build the program around the availability of the participants, not the availability of the trainer.”

This approach cannot be stressed enough. To ensure that your audience is mentally present to engage with the learning materials, a trainer must work around the audience. This creates a welcoming learning environment.

Members of the local community attend a media literacy workshop. (Courtesy: Dada Radio)

Atyang admitted that she wasn’t sure what the rural community would think about media literacy, considering that the city doesn’t necessarily have access to advanced technology like other parts of Kenya and the world.

“I was amazed at the level of interest and enthusiasm of the participants,” he said. “I expected some skepticism, especially because my participants are rural residents and may not be interested in media literacy.”

The concern quickly dissipated once Atyang was in the room with his participants. “(They) were very eager to learn and put into practice the knowledge acquired during the training,” he noted.

Someone who had spread false information about a local person entered one of the workshops, only to discover that the person they had wronged was also there. After a few games demonstrating the characteristics of misinformation, how it can evolve and how to trace it back to its source, the person who had shared the misinformation apologized for the harm they had caused. This unique instance, with the spreader of misinformation and the victim in the same workshop, changed lives and healed wounds.

When it comes to media literacy, digital hygiene is the one skill everyone should know, Atyang urged. Digital hygiene refers to the precautions someone can take to ensure that their data and devices are safe both online and offline.

Verification tools are also crucial, he said. Journalists and people in their daily lives can use these tools to check what they see on social media.

Harriet Atyang holding a workshop for journalism students (Courtesy: Dada Radio)

Atyang’s lifelong passion continues to this day to support the next generation of journalists.

An immediate impact of these workshops is a mentoring program for journalism club members at one of the community’s high schools. Atyang and his team at Dada Radio continue to focus on media literacy in schools, while incorporating news production skills.

The mentorship program amplifies the importance of media literacy while nurturing students’ passion for journalism and the desire to pursue a career in the industry. As part of the program, students will provide a verified news story a week to be aired on Dada Radio.

By early 2025, five more community schools will offer the mentorship, reaching at least 200 students with media literacy and news production skills. Atyang’s goal is to set up small newsrooms in these schools so students can get hands-on experience. Meanwhile, at Dada Radio, he plans to launch a fact-checking desk with at least one person dedicated exclusively to using fact-checking tools to verify news.

“We will continue the conversation about media literacy,” Atyang promised. “We will continue the conversation about media literacy on and off the air, during other community engagement activities and (relying on) those who have been trained to continue to share their skills with other members of the community “.