"This midterm performance evaluation of the United States Agency for International Development’s Assistance to Citizens in Fight Against Corruption Activity (ACFC) and Investigative Journalism Program (IJP) examines the outcomes the activities achieved during the first two and a half years of impl
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ementation. Both activities started in September 2019 and will end in September 2024. The evaluation concluded that the two activities increased citizens’ awareness about and confidence in anticorruption activities of civil society in directly targeted municipalities, and awareness about media anticorruption reporting at a national level. More success stories and a centralized effort to promote results and messaging should follow, and all supported media requires an improved approach to audience engagements. Despite stagnation at the national level, citizens’ engagement in anticorruption increased significantly in affected municipalities, especially through locally based informal groups and CSO initiatives, as well as through well-tailored initiatives for monitoring abuse of public resources in pre-election campaigns and public procurement during the pandemic. The lack of coordination between direct beneficiaries, and with external stakeholders, partially caused by the pandemic, made anticorruption efforts fragmented and less sustainable. The pandemic and political stalemates negatively affected the high-level advocacy initiatives with modest results only in the areas of conflict of interest and public procurement, while the ACFC grantees had some results in their advocacy initiatives. The two activities were effective in getting institutions to process corruption reports and in stopping illegal activities in some of the institutions. Investigative journalism reports resulted in several high-profile corruption cases. Even though judicial effectiveness is improving, citizens’ distrust in judicial and other institutions still hampers gains in reporting corruption." (Abstract)
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"Over the past decade, philanthropic organisations have poured millions of dollars into different specialised forms of journalism in Africa. While these new specialised forms of journalism are aimed at addressing existing gaps in news reporting on the continent, there has been growing concern over t
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he potential effects this has on the practice of journalism. This study explores the rise in philanthropy-funded journalism and analyses its broader implications for the practice of journalism in South Africa, focusing on the weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper and its two off-shoots, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism and Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. It is based on a combination of informant interviews with editors and managers of these three entities, secondary research, as well as analysis of documents from these entities." (Abstract)
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"Money Trail was a collaborative project between highly regarded journalism and training organizations: Finance Uncovered, Free Press Unlimited, Journalismfund.eu and Oxfam Novib. This final report showcases the ground-breaking stories, achievements, and activities of the project for the entire dura
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tion from April 2018 –September 2021." (Page 2)
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"This book features pathbreaking analysis from journalists and academics of the changing nature and peril of media capture - how formerly independent institutions fall under the sway of governments, plutocrats, and corporations. Contributors including Emily Bell, Felix Salmon, Joshua Marshall, Joel
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Simon, and Nikki Usher analyze diverse cases of media capture worldwide, many drawn from firsthand experience. They examine the role played by new media companies and funders, showing how the confluence of the growth of big tech and falling revenues for legacy media has led to new forms of control. Contributions also shed light on how the rise of right-wing populists has catalyzed the crisis of global media. They also chart a way forward, exploring the growing need for a policy response and sustainable models for public-interest investigative journalism." (Publisher description)
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"At the start of 2016, Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and Tempo Institute, the NGO arm of Tempo Media Group, shared the ambition to create a new generation of investigative reporters and promote a culture of accountability throughout Indonesia in the design of “Investigating with Tempo”. In this pro
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gramme, talented journalists from local media based outside the capital were selected for a six-month fellowship to research a topic that affects the lives of citizens and local communities. The fellowship worked towards publishing an in-depth investigative story in Tempo Magazine, mentored by senior journalists of the Tempo newsroom. During this time, the fellows received a living and travel allowance, which enabled them to fully focus on the issue that they were investigating [...] This book gives insight into how social change through independent journalism happens in practice. Tempo Institute has managed to create and foster a culture of investigative journalism, and their work resulted in stories that contributed to policy changes and positively impacted the lives of marginalized groups. Individual stories can have a societal impact, either in the form of provoking power-holders into action or by bringing issues into the public sphere that would otherwise not be talked about." (Foreword, page viii-ix)
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"This booklet contains a series of stories and essays on the impact and rationale behind the various PubLeaks platforms that Free Press Unlimited has helped set up over the years." (Publisher description)
"Centre of Investigative Journalism (CIJ Nepal) has made a contribution to introducing and promoting investigative journalism and its activities need to be continued, particularly given the efforts of Nepal to democratize and the introduction on new governance structure in the country. Generally, th
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e project implemented by CIJ Nepal and Vikes has contributed to investigative journalism in Nepal and to the development of confidence among journalists to take on investigative assignments. Some trainees also received awards and citations. The trainings have also provided journalists opportunities to spend more time researching stories and working with mentors to produce copy. However, there also were areas where CIJ Nepal and Vikes could take actions to further enhance the overall quality and impact of the investigative projects." (Page 6)
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"Our findings show that there is a viable future for investigative journalism (IJ) at all levels, local to international, if systematic, predictable, stable funding for networks, centers, journalists, technologies and collaborations can be found. Funders acknowledge that most manifestations of IJ ar
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ound the world will be non-profit, with remarkable, honorable exceptions. That said, all interviewees agree that IJ needs support for an infusion of skills in organizational management and development as a springboard for its future progress, especially if donors want to encourage IJ groups to develop greater revenue diversification as a route to viability." (Executive summary, page 6)
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"Este artículo analiza las estrategias de colaboración transnacional desarrolladas en los últimos años por medios latinoamericanos, destinadas a desplegar proyectos periodísticos que ponen el acento en la investigación y la calidad. Financiadas con la aportación de fundaciones internacionales
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, estas iniciativas aprovechan las ventajas digitales y las sinergias para unir esfuerzos en la denuncia de la corrupción o la violación de derechos humanos." (Resumen)
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"This books draws a comparative balance of twenty years' international media assistance in the five countries of the Western Balkans. The central question was what happens to imported models when they are transposed onto the newly evolving media systems of transitional societies. Albania, Bosnia-Her
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zegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia undertook a range of media reforms to conform with accession requirements of the European Union and the standards of the Council of Europe, among others. The essays explore the nexus between the democratic transformation of the media and international media assistance. The cross-national analysis concludes that the effects of international assistance are highly constrained by the local context. From today's vantage point it becomes obvious, that scaling media assistance does not necessarily improve outcomes. The experiences in the region suggest that imported solutions have not been very cognitive in all aspects of local conditions but international strategies tend to be rather schematic and lacked strategic approaches to promote media policy stability, credible media reform and implementation. The book offers valuable insights into the nature and effects of media assistance and the strategies deployed by international aid agencies, local political forces, media professionals, civil society organizations and other actors." (Publisher description)
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"This article analyses 12 cases of investigative journalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reporters all claimed to have contributed to change processes by influencing government policy, action by state administration, supporting the uptake of scientific solutions or provoking public debate. An assessme
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nt of these processes shows that in 10 cases, the journalists indeed helped to trigger change and in two cases they failed to do so. The cases are evaluated through an explorative approach inspired by the dynamic models for communication on public issues developed by Rucht and Peters. Different types of investigative stories in Sub-Saharan Africa are identified and hypotheses are developed on key factors that were important in investigating and publishing the stories as well as in achieving change. A decisive element of investigative journalism in Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be the involvement of and the interaction with other societal non-journalist actors." (Abstract)
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"By October 2015, the TMF project will have transitioned from being a donor initiative to a new legal entity. Since 2008, the TMF project has been using grants as a way to increase quality content in as well as to strengthen the Tanzanian media landscape. This new strategic plan, which outlines the
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new TMF’s vision and work from October 2015 to December 2018, continues with this approach. It draws heavily on the experience gained during the implementation of the TMF project from 2008 until May 2015 and particularly on inputs from the 2014 TMF external review and consultations with various media stakeholders [...] This process of engaging with the context and honing in on TMF’s comparative advantage led to the decision to focus on two basic objectives: increasing quality, quantity and diversity of Investigative Journalism (IJ) and Public Interest Journalism (PIJ) products in the media sector; Increasing the professional capacity of participating media organisations and stakeholders. Going forward, the new TMF will also be concerned with ensuring its sustainability. As part of this process, this Strategic Plan outlines major changes that will continue to take place to strengthen TMF as an organisation." (Executive summary)
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"This paper compares and contrasts four centers: The Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina (CIN), The Journalism Training and Research Initiative in Bangladesh (JATRI), the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in Jordan (ARIJ), and The Caucasus Media Investigations Center (
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CMIC) in Azerbaijan. No officials or funders ever announce failures or label projects like these failures. But this paper posits that those centers designed and run by journalists to actively report are more effective in fulfilling their role as watch-dogs, as well as more sustainable. They perform better at developing future practitioners and instilling an investigative reporting tradition in new places. This examination suggests that donors hoping to implant successful centers increase their chances when they match ambitions to the political and legal climate of host countries, commit to multi-year involvement, and select passionate leaders with clout in the eyes of other journalists in their host regions. This study suggest that centers designed by outsiders and run by non-journalists tend to evolve into generalized research, resource and training centers." (Introduction)
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"Is it possible to introduce, in a sustainable manner, investigative reporting practices and non-profit centers into media contexts that lack the basic preconditions necessary for the development of investigative reporting? The answer seems rather multifaceted and far from obvious or definite. For e
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xample, the effects of investigative journalism training programs and assistance for story production are questionable. The direct results of the numerous donor projects and programs aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of local journalists and the media about high-quality journalism are not readily apparent as the participants of such programs have had to return to media outlets that lack the basic resources to put the skills and knowledge they gained into practice. However, the potential cumulative impact of such initiatives should not be dismissed, as knowledge and skills spread through newsrooms, NGOs, and journalism schools. The long-term impact of such efforts remains a worthy subject for future studies, though it goes beyond the ambitions of this research. Similarly, the effects of the assistance towards the production of investigative content by media and individuals are unclear as the practice rarely continues beyond donor support due to unsupportive newsrooms and lack of funding. When looking into the effects of the two non-profit investigative reporting centers that were the focus of this paper, the situation becomes much clearer. Namely, both centers have a regular output of high-quality stories, featured in the media of their countries and have achieved some significant impact with their stories. It is safe to say that CIN and CINS are functional media organizations, which fulfill a need in media markets with a serious lack of professional investigative reporting and a lack of independent media." (Final remarks, page 49)
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"According to the Danida website "The Danish Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP) is a long-term programme with the dual objectives of 1) supporting local reform processes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) and 2) Establishing a basis for improved dialogue, understanding and cooperation
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between Arab countries and Denmark. Media support has been the biggest programme under the DAPP with a total of 178 million DKK (approx. Euro 24 Mio) being allocated to these activities during the period 2005-2012. The evaluation applies OECD/DAC’s five criteria: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, (emerging) impacts, and sustainability to answer the overall evaluation questions, including whether and how the media cooperation activities have contributed to media reform in the Arab countries and to enhanced dialogue between professional media partners in Arab countries and in Denmark. Other key questions include the extent to which DAPP and MCP programmes and projects have been able to adjust and respond to the dynamic changes in the region and which lessons can be learned for future media cooperation and professionalization of the media in the MENA region". The overall study frame included 20 different regional and country programmes. Five countries were assessed: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen and Tunisia. The intervention areas sampled for assessments were: investigative journalism, media monitoring, legal reform, online media, public service broadcasting (PSB), documentary filmmaking and twinnings." (commbox)
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"This report examines seven central areas of media development—funding, digital media, sustainability, media law, journalists' safety, journalism education, and monitoring and evaluation. It also delves in-depth into four areas deserving of greater attention: citizen journalism, investigative jour
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nalism, community radio, and media literacy. The report recommends to expand funding, to prioritise long-term commitment, to better coordinate and cooperate, to integrate digital media into all aspects of media development, to strengthen citizen journalists' capacities, to teach media business skills, to emphasize legal issues, to support investigative journalism, to address impunity for journalist attacks, to modernize journalism education, to invest in community radio and to embed evaluation into all projects." (commbox)
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"The political and economic environment in some regions of the world present specific challenges for investigative journalists: countries that score low on governance and transparency present particular risks and underline the need to build investigative journalism capacity. This Brief analyses the
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obstacles to investigative journalism in the East African region, focusing on Kenya and Uganda, and discusses what can be done to help address these barriers." (Page 1)
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"This report explores the rapid growth of investigative journalism overseas and suggests ways to best support and professionalize its practice in developing and democratizing countries. Among its findings:
• A substantial investment into investigative journalism programs can have significant posit
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ive impact in a wide range of countries, including those in the Middle East and former Soviet Union. Such funding will be most effective if long-term and integrated into broader initiatives that include legal reform and freedom of information.
• Nonprofit investigative reporting centers have proved to be viable organizations that can provide unique training and reporting, while serving as models of excellence that help to professionalize the local journalism community.
• The centers are part of an expanding global network of training institutes, reporting organizations, journalism associations, grant-making groups, and online networks that have great potential to effect change. Different programs will be appropriate for different regions and markets.
• Commercially based training, even in the West, plays little role in furthering investigative journalism, leaving nonprofit organizations to take the lead. Although university-based training has potential, it appears limited in scope outside the United States and Western Europe.
• Because of its emphasis on longer-term, high-impact journalism, investigative reporting projects can be difficult to evaluate. Training and reporting projects aimed at creating a culture of investigative journalism should be evaluated based on their quality and impact, not broad numbers of people trained and stories produced." (Executive summary)
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