by Mark Wood, Repubblika, Malta.
An experiment in activist-journalist education and collaboration to strengthen independent journalism
An experiment in activist-journalist collaboration is underway in four EU countries. The aim is to develop a model of joint investigative journalism that can eventually be used to informally educate grassroots organisations and news media outlets in the adoption of a similar approach.
The two-year, EU-funded project, called S-Info (Sustainable Information), is taking place in Belgium, Italy, Malta and Romania. The partner civil society organisations (CSO)* – one from each country – are all involved in activism and journalism. They bring their extensive experience to bear on an initiative that seeks to educate and empower both activists and journalists by guiding them in how to work together more effectively in producing high-quality information in the public interest.
The partners were motivated to act by some existential challenges facing independent journalism across Europe. Journalistic authority and legitimacy are increasingly challenged. Journalists in pursuit of truth must compete for attention with a flood of fake news, disinformation and propaganda, while the revenue on which they depend for resources and their livelihood is eaten away by monopolistic digital platforms. Meanwhile, journalists’ role as a watchdog is undermined by governments that restrict their access to information, political leaders who forment anti-press sentiment, and authorities and companies that harass, sue and threaten them. Investigative journalists sometimes face physical violence and threats to their lives, and those threats are occasionally carried out.
In this scenario, the partners saw that activists can have an important role to play in supporting independent journalists while at the same time gaining access to an important instrument to strengthen their voice and promote their cause among a wider public.
To this end, the S-Info project has been organising several activities of an educational nature for journalists and activists. The most important one is now gaining momentum. Working and aspiring journalists recently attended a training course in investigative journalism offered by S-Info in each of the four countries. The course also gave participants an opportunity to network with activists from civil society organisations keen to form partnerships with journalists.
But that was just the beginning. Each course attendee was then invited to submit a pitch for an investigative story to pursue in collaboration with a CSO. The story must target one or more of three fields: social justice, environmental protection and corruption. Two journalists from each country – who are adjudged by a S-Info panel as having the best and most viable story ideas – will win a grant of €5,000 each to conduct their joint investigation over the next few months. Those who win will also be mentored by experienced journalists from the S-Info national teams, and will be subject to a rigorous editorial process before their stories are published on the S-Info website and other channels.
This hands-on educational process will combine the idea of ‘slow’ investigative journalism with activist collaboration. It will result in valuable lessons learned and a working methodology created for eventual dissemination among a larger body of European journalists and activists.
‘Slow’ journalism lays emphasis on verification of sources, careful and reasoned selection of subject matter, independence from the timing of breaking news, analytical and in-depth approach to facts, attention to the audience, and sustainability. The collaboration aspect will provide benefits to journalists in the way of fresh ideas, research support, access to sources, first-hand information, broad context and expert knowledge, And also to activists in the way of increased visibility, public information aligned to their cause, and potential for follow-up activity such as legal action or public campaigns.
Among S-Info’s other activities, the partners first established a network of independent journalists and grassroots activists at the start of the project last January. These have their own platform for communication via the S-Info website.
In April 2024, S-Info held an online workshop conducted by experts on the subject of protection of sources and access to public-interest information, attended by many of those who had joined the S-Info network.
Three online discussions followed, with experts from civil society and academia giving journalists some deep insights into the trends of false narratives – and how activists can strengthen journalists’ hand as they fight back.
Safer Spaces was the title of the next activity, a therapy-like session that allowed journalists to share their experiences and problems, frustrations or fears, in a safe environment. The sessions revolved around subjects like unfair treatment and harassment, and offered solidarity and ideas for empowerment.
S-Info also produced a handbook on investigative journalism specifically aimed at activists – a primer on what journalists need and how to work with them.
* The four partners involved in S-Info are the following:
- Tele Radio City (TRC), the social cooperative behind Radio Sherwood in Italy which was founded in 1975. TRC, the S-Info project coordinator, is a reference point for alternative culture and social movements and is now involved in several multinational communication projects.
- S-Com, aninternational non-profit association created in Brussels by a group of European journalists to promote good communication in the field of sustainability, now involved in several European inclusivity and anti-corruption networks.
- Asociatia Jurnalistilor De Investigatii Context, an independent media start-up in Romania that aims to expand and cultivate the Romanian community of investigative journalists with a focus on exposing corruption, fraud and organised crime.
- Repubblika, a non-profit CSO focused on media freedom, the rule of law and democratic life in Malta, set up by activists campaigning for justice after investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination. It has since been the country’s main proponent of reform and has been instrumental in political change.
Author
Mark Wood, former editor at Times of Malta and now S-Info project coordinator for Maltese NGO Repubblika.
