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By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
First published on Ghana Business News
African governments have been called upon to re-invest monies recovered from corrupt entities into investigative journalism, because a weakened media starves democracy.
Speaking at the first in-person Digital Media Africa Conference since 2019 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Churchill Otieno, president of The African Editors Forum (TAEF), noted that Africa must find home-grown solutions to the question of media sustainability.
Giving a four-point recommendation, he said: “We must confront the elephant in the room: media sustainability. The question is stark – how shall we continue to pay for journalism, especially when society needs it more than ever? Advertising alone can no longer be relied on to sustain the industry. TAEF proposes a bold, home-grown solution: Africa should reinvest its anti-corruption recoveries into building a resilient media ecosystem. Why? Because corruption thrives where there is opacity and where journalists are silenced.”
Just last week, Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission handed President William Ruto Ksh5.5-billion – roughly $43-million – recovered from corrupt entities, noted Otieno. “Imagine if this kind of recovered wealth was invested in investigative journalism. The media would have the resources to expose corruption at its roots, hold power to account, and create transparency that strengthens governance. This is not charity; this is investing in the foundation of a democratic and ethical society.”
He noted that the conference is timely and critical, as the issues faced by media professionals have never been more urgent, complex, and deeply intertwined with the very fabric of societies.
“When states and societies fail to foster strong, independent media, we do not just lose the capacity to inform – we open the doors to false information, disinformation, and manipulation to take centre stage.
“A weakened media does more than just starve democracy; it erodes the very structures that hold society together. The struggles of media businesses today are not just a concern for those of us in the profession – these struggles are a societal problem. When we as media professionals falter, people’s lives are impacted, trust is eroded, and the cohesion of our communities begins to unravel,” he said.
Not just media freedom, but also sustainability
Otieno pointed out the need to recalibrate how media is regulated, saying that regulation must move beyond the traditional rights-based framework and also take into account economic perspectives.
“It is not enough to defend the freedom of the press – we must also ensure the sustainability of the press. Regulators must become attuned to the business pain-points of news publishers. In an environment where advertising no longer guarantees revenue, media businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and that should be a matter of policy concern, not just an industry issue,” he said.
He further called for a halt of the theft of African intellectual property.
“Our content is being exploited by others – used to train AI models and generate ad revenue on social media and search platforms – without any return to the creators. African editors and publishers are beginning to unite, forming a collective bargaining front to reclaim what is rightfully ours. Beyond that, the Africa Data Alliance, led by the esteemed Prof. Guy Berger, is exploring how we can harness the enormous amounts of data generated across the continent to benefit our media.
“Data is not just a commodity; it is a tool for enhancing the quality of our reporting – especially during critical moments like elections. It is also essential for ensuring business resilience by helping us understand audience behaviours and preferences, ensuring that we meet their needs more effectively,” he stated.
Otieno called on news organisations to also invest in research and development (R&D).
“We need to find new ways to tell our stories – ways that are engaging, relevant, and aligned with how technology is shaping the consumption of information. But beyond storytelling, R&D is key to understanding our audiences, building stronger relationships with them, and adapting as the news process continues to evolve. Without this investment, we risk becoming irrelevant in a world where attention spans are short, and competition for engagement is fierce,” he said.
The two-day conference co-hosted by WAN-IFRA, the Aga Khan University, and the Eastern Africa Editors Society, in Nairobi, Kenya, takes place under the theme Innovative Solutions for Today’s Media, and is being attended by 150 delegates.
As part of the conference TAEF and WAN-IFRA organised a workshop on Tuesday 17 September 2024 for editors and media managers from Africa, on how to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into newsrooms in efficient, effective, and ethical ways. The workshop also discussed ways to grow audiences and revenue.
