Investigative Journalism in Africa: An Exploratory Study of Non-profit Investigative Journalism Organizations in Africa

"[I]n a continent where traditional media organizations are increasingly failing to hold power to account, not-for-profit organizations are leading by example, setting the agenda and constantly scrutinizing those in power."

Journalist Ntibinyane Ntibinyane, who was a Reuters Institute Journalist Fellow in 2018, investigates in this report the opportunities and risks of donor-funded journalism in Africa. In a democracy, investigative journalism exists to provide citizens with information by engaging in watchdog activities. Pointing out that more and more not-for-profit investigative journalism organisations have been set up in more than 20 countries throughout Africa, he asks: What are the motivating factors behind the proliferation of these organisations in the continent? Who is funding them, and how? Are these organisations making an impact in Africa?

Following an introduction, Chapter 2 reviews literature on investigative journalism. First, Ntibinyane argues the concentration of media is a significant hindrance to investigative journalism. Second, he introduces the development of a normative theory of social responsibility, and argues that investigative journalism is a public good needed to hold power to account. Finally, he looks at agenda-setting theory and introduces various models of agenda-setting investigative journalism.

Chapter 3 provides background to help the reader understand investigative journalism. Reviewing its history, Ntibinyane then explores the driving motive behind the formation of these organisations (or centres, as they are often called) in Africa. He considers obstacles, criticism, and challenges. For instance, in addition to actual killing of journalists, as reported by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, governments have resorted to strict media laws to curtail and suppress the work of investigative journalists. Laws such as the criminal defamation, sedition, and insult laws are making life difficult for journalists, not just investigative journalists, on the continent.

Not-for-profit investigative journalism, specifically, is the focus of Chapter 4. Reviewing a few examples from the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and elsewhere, Ntibinyane cites Global Investigative Journalism Network data indicating that, as of this writing, there were more than 160 not-for-profit investigative journalism organisations in the world, with more of these organisations being created every year. While it is true that the disturbances in the economic foundations of newspapers have contributed to the upsurge in these organisations, this study argues that investigative reporters' desire to hold power to account equally played a part. Ntibinyane develops this argument further in the subsequent chapters, where he focuses on specific investigative journalism centres - examining their funding structures and models.

Specifically, he provides in-depth case studies of the following not-for-profit outlets in Africa:

• Amabhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism (South Africa), created in 2010 [Chapter 5];
• Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (Nigeria), created in 2014 [Chapter 6]; and
• INK Centre for Investigative Journalism (Botswana), created (by the author) in 2015 [Chapter 7].

The purpose of Chapter 8 is to summarise and synthesise dominant themes emerging from the study of these 3 centres, including:

• Impact of not-for-profits in Africa - Overall, the impact of these organisations supports an argument advanced by the social responsibility theory that investigative journalism has a responsibility to bring about change and to reveal wrongdoings by those in positions of power. The impact differs from country to country. In South Africa and Nigeria, strong oversight institutions (such as the judiciary, ombudsman, and parliament) complement the work of investigative journalism. The impact is not as sudden in Botswana, but this "does not erase the fact that organizations such as INK continue to produce good investigative journalism work."
• Agenda setting investigative journalism - Agenda setting is defined here as the ability of the mass media to bring issues to the attention of the public and/or policymakers. The 3 centres have proved that traditional news organisations such as newspapers and TV stations are slowly losing their ability to set the agenda. In South Africa, it was mostly Amabhungane's exposes that brought to the fore the alleged corrupt relationship between President Zuma and the Gupta family. In Botswana, it was INK that revealed that former President Ian Khama was constructing an airstrip and a holiday home using the military. In the cases of Premium Times, INK, and Amabhungane, their reports have led to changes in public opinion, as previous chapters illustrated.
• Frustrations with media ownership - "Further entrance into the media ownership space by wealthy businesspeople in Botswana crippled journalists' ability to monitor power....Frustrations with owners of traditional news organizations and their profit fixation informed the founders to find refuge in a not-for-profit model." For INK, the frustration was due to publishers' unwillingness to invest in investigative journalism.
• Unsustainable funding model - Some of the reasons why the model is flawed in the context of investigative journalism include: underdeveloped philanthropy in Africa; overreliance on single donor; short-term nature of funding; lack of grassroots support; and lack of fundraising muscle/teams.

This chapter also offers concrete recommendations for strengthening not-for-profits organisations in Africa.

• With regard to funding, sustainability, and management, Ntibinyane offers 9 suggestions, including: Build up a grassroots funding model that encourages citizens to support investigative journalism. Amabhungane received around 19% of its annual funding from crowdfunding in 2017 alone. Other organisations can replicate this.
• With regard to production, strategy, and operations, Ntibinyane suggests:
  • Collaborate on a country-to-country basis. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has worked to foster a spirit of collaboration amongst African journalists. To augment this, per Ntibinyane, there is a need for internal homegrown collaborative efforts on issues such as poaching, human trafficking, antiterrorism, and the refugee crisis.
  • Break it down. Most high-grade investigative stories by organisations in Africa Ntibinyane studied "are not appealing to an ordinary person on the street. The public find them too long, complicated, convoluted to comprehend and at times abstract. Organizations should consider ways of breaking down the stories into understandable stories. They can do this through audiovisuals, graphics, cartoons, and even comedy."
  • "Ditch newspapers, go online now." Nigeria's Premium Times "has demonstrated that it is possible to publish content online and still create impact. Not-for-profits should take all their content online and not share it with newspapers to build their own brands."
  • "Keep it small, but efficient." Ntibinyane believes that a fully fledged investigative centre should have no more than 10 editorial staff.
  • "Stay on the story." Not-for-profits are advised to "leave breaking stories to other outlets and focus on connecting the dots and holding those in power to account."

Potential areas of further research include:

1. A comparative content analysis that examines how traditional news organisations and not-for-profit organisations in Africa frame their investigative news articles for public consumption;
2. An evaluation (e.g., using focus groups) of how African audiences are receiving investigative stories from not-for-profit organisations to gauge whether they trust these outlets as democracy's watchdogs; and/or
3. Thorough research to establish the scale of investments by donor organisations in not-for-profit investigative journalism in Africa.

In conclusion, this study has demonstrated how the failure by traditional news outlets to develop and invest in investigative reporting has led to a new movement of African journalists that seek more editorial independence. The argument advanced by this study is that these journalists and their not-for-profits organisations are setting the agenda and creating respective impact in their respective countries. However, Ntibinyane cautions that while these organisations are currently discharging their mandate of holding those in power accountable and documenting incidents of human rights abuse, they are operating with a flawed and unsustainable funding model.