Investigate without peril: how to support investigative journalism in East Africa?

Investigative journalism distinguishes itself from regular journalism by its depth and subject matter, often involving crime, political corruption or corporate wrongdoing. This brief analyses the obstacles to investigative journalism in the East African region, and discusses what can be done to help address these barriers.

The paper finds that:

• investigative journalism can play an essential role in terms of good-governance, but it is time-intensive, expensive, and often not affordable for smaller media outlets
• in general, strategies to strengthen investigative journalism capacities often have to reach beyond just the individual journalists to include editors and the management of the media house
• in terms of investigative journalists, short-term courses and targeted interventions can fill gaps in skills, if a country’s media industry is vibrant and fairly strong
• yet in a context of a weak industry, it is useful to consider a more comprehensive, long-term approach that includes media companies in order to build institutional capacity within a wider perspective

On the other hand, the document indicates that:

• online learning resources provide easy, affordable access and create useful reference material
• non-profit investigative journalism centers can offer a viable alternative to insulate investigative journalists from political and other pressures
• awards for investigative journalism can offset some of the concerns of media managers, and international exposure can add some degree of protection to journalists, even though they remain vulnerable to threats in their home country