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TOWARDSSUSTAINABLE
JOURNALISM
IN SUBSAHARAN
AFRICA

CONTENTS
About this policy brief

3

About CHARM

4

Acronyms and abbreviations

5

INTRODUCTION

6SUMMARY OF INTERVIEWS,EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN
PRACTITIONERS ANDRESEARCHERS
17

THEORETICAL OVERVIEW –SUSTAINABLE JOURNALISM 7
Towards a practical applicationof sustainable journalism in media work

HOW CAN SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICAN JOURNALISM BE
MADE SUSTAINABLE?
21

a. Sustainable journalism as professional reflexivityb. Sustainable journalism as connectedto the external world and its challenges

Meeting the challenges of social
sustainability in sub-Saharan African journalism

A CASE FOR SUSTAINABLE
JOURNALISM PRACTICE
12THE MEDIA CONTEXT IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Meeting the challenges of economic
sustainability in sub-Saharan African journalism
Meeting the challenges of environmental
sustainability in sub-Saharan African journalism

14

In summary

The environmental dimension
The social dimension

RECOMMENDATIONS25

APPENDIX

26

ENDNOTES29

The economic dimension

Suggested Citation: Adjin-Tettey, T.D, Garman, A., Kruger, F., Olausson, U., Berglez, P., Tallert, L., Fritzon, V. (2021).
Towards sustainable journalism in sub-Saharan Africa: Policy brief. Sweden: Fojo Media Institute.
ISBN: 978-91-89283-76-3
April 2021
The content of this publication is copyright protected.
The CHARM project and Fojo Media Institute are happy to share the text in the publication withyou under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.
Design: the earth is round, Cape Town, South Africa
Funded by:science & innovation
Department:
Science and Innovation
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICAABOUT THISPOLICY BRIEF
In sub-Saharan Africa, Fojo Media Institute and five other organisations arejointly promoting independent journalism and protecting the space for civilsociety organisations and human rights defenders. Bringing together academics
and researchers in four universities in South Africa and Sweden, this projectis part of the project: Consortium to Promote Human Rights, Civic Freedoms
and Media Development (CHARM) project. The main objective is to introduce
the concept of sustainable journalism, define what the concept could entail ina sub-Saharan context and investigate the implications for media developmentin sub-Saharan Africa. Stakeholder discussions were held with relevant media
actors in four countries within sub-Saharan Africa on the subject matter. The
findings, which provide clear policy directions, are shared in this report.

Project Team
Theodora Dame Adjin-TetteyPeter Berglez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Licenceto Talk Research Project, School of
Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes
University, South Africa.

Professor of Media andCommunication Studies, School of
Education and Communication Studies,
Jönköping University, Sweden.

Anthea Garman

Lars Tallert

Professor of Journalism and Media
Studies; Head of School, Journalism
and Media Studies and Project Lead,
Licence to Talk Research, Rhodes
University, South Africa.

Head of Policy and International
Development at Fojo Media Institute,
Linnaeus University, and Sweden’s
representative to the UNESCO IPDCIntergovernmental Council.

Franz Krüger

Vilhelm Fritzon

Adjunct Professor; Head of
Department, Wits Journalism, andDirector, Wits Radio Academy,
University of the Witwatersrand, South
Africa.

Holds a Bachelor’s degree in politics
from Lund University and a Master’s
degree in politics and communicationfrom the London School of Economics.
He is currently working for the Folke
Bernadotte Academy (FBA) - Swedish
agency for peace, security anddevelopment.

Ulrika Olausson
Professor of Media andCommunication Studies, School of
Education and Communication Studies,
Jönköping University, Sweden.

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ABOUT CHARM
The Consortium to Promote Human Rights, Civic Freedoms and Media Development(CHARM) in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to protect and expand the civic space for civilsociety organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance theeffectiveness of independent media and journalism in the region.
To do so, it facilitates collective action both within and across countries, bolster
existing coalitions and campaigns, and where necessary, supports the creation of
new ones. CHARM is currently in its pilot phase set to run from October 2019 toJune 2022, and the consortium intends on continuing the project after this period.
Due to increasing restrictions to the exercise of fundamental freedoms(association, assembly, and expression), the project works with a range ofstakeholders across the spectrum of Sub-Saharan African civil society and media
actors with a special emphasis on frontline actors working on issues related togender, labour, LGBTQI+, and environmental and indigenous rights, as thesegroups are most likely to bear the brunt of closing civic space.
The project is designed and implemented by a consortium of six regional
partners: CIVICUS, Civil Rights Defenders, Defend Defenders, Fojo Media
Institute, Hub Afrique, and Wits Journalism who work closely with multiple
broader networks, leveraging on regional and international human rights
mechanisms to engage target stakeholders and collaboratively develop solutions
to these complex challenges.

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4

ACRONYMS ANDABBREVIATIONSFOI 		

Freedom of information

MFWAMedia Foundation for West Africa

NGOs

Non-Governmental Organisations

RTI 		

Right to Information

SABC

South African Broadcasting Corporation

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

SJ 		

Sustainable Journalism

SSA

Sub-Saharan Africa

UN 		

United Nations

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5

INTRODUCTION
Today, there is hardly any dispute about the need for the sustainable development ofsociety. The rampant changes in the climate are resulting in social problems such as
poverty and conflicts, and the urgency to address environmental and social risks andcrises as sustainability issues is explicit in Agenda 2030 and its 17 sustainability goals.
The concept of sustainability is, however, contested and contextuallydependent. As Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz[i] argue, sustainable development
involves a “creative tension between some core principles and an openness
to reinterpretation and adaptation of different social, economic and ecologicalcontexts.” Some scholars have claimed it to be an overused, watered down,
and, not least, misunderstood phrase, and others say that there is hardly any
consensus on sustainability beyond the very notion that there is no sharedunderstanding. But the ambiguous character of the sustainability concept could
also be viewed as an advantage. Its open nature allows for exploring perhaps
unforeseen but still sustainability-relevant ideas and interests.
However, the role of the news media and professional journalism in sustainable
development is not very prominent in these UN documents. Nonetheless, they
do have a pivotal role to play in informing the public and spurring engagement invarious issues of sustainability. Furthermore, journalism needs to look to its own
sustainability, as the media globally is facing a viability crisis.
Thus, sustainable journalism[ii] is a relevant concept that holds a useful potential injournalism practice in contemporary times. Though sustainability, and specificallysustainable journalism, is still in its conceptual infancy, there is a need to explore
its various dimensions and applications further.

In this policy brief we critically explore the following
questions related to sustainability in journalism:
What is sustainable journalism? How should it
be defined in a specific context, such as in subSaharan Africa? Is it relevant? What happens
when we apply sustainable journalism in subSaharan Africa (SSA) based upon how media
stakeholders in that region reason around thesustainable journalism concept? What kind of
conclusions and recommendations can be drawn?
It is expected that these questions form a
critical base on which sustainable journalism
can be contextualised and practised in SSA.

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THEORETICALOVERVIEW –SUSTAINABLE
JOURNALISM (SJ)The attractiveness of the concept of sustainable development lies in the varied
ways it can be interpreted, enabling diverse and possibly incompatible interests to“sign up” to sustainable development and its core principles: environmental, social,and economic sustainability, often called “the triple bottom line”. The following brief
description of these three sustainability dimensions will pave the way for a general
understanding of the concept and for the practice of sustainable journalism.
~ Environmental sustainability is probably what comes first to mind when
thinking about sustainable development, and the contributions from theenvironmental disciplines came early and are substantial. The environmental
dimension forms the overall framework within which the other two dimensions
are included and to which they are subordinate, and mainly refers to theresilience and robustness of biological and physical systems. It is theecological carrying capacity of the Earth that determines what it is possible toachieve, economically and socially.
~ Economic sustainability within the sustainability framework implies moving
beyond a narrow focus on economic development. Sustainable economic
strategies and technological development take into consideration not only
economic growth but also the environmental damage, resource depletion,and social inequality it causes. It aims to “improve human well-being andsocial equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecologicalscarcities”[iii]. In this way, sustainability intersects with economics throughthe social and environmental consequences of economic activity and market
behaviour.
~ Social sustainability is the most recent of the sustainability “pillars”. It wasadded to the environment-economy relationship when it successively was
acknowledged that nature and culture cannot be viewed as separate entities– people and the environment do not exist in isolation from each other. Any
significant changes introduced into the environment, changes in the climate,for instance, will likely affect people’s lives, Likewise, changes in society, suchas increased urbanisation, have obvious impacts on the natural environment.
So, an integral sustainability approach emphasises the need for a longterm balancing of not only the economic but also the social needs with theenvironmental carrying capacity. In this way, social sustainability addresses
issues such as peace, security, social and environmental justice, poverty,
human rights, political participation, democracy, and equality, and is central to
the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030.

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7

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The hierarchy between the three sustainability dimensions is important to keep inmind when approaching sustainable development in an integrated way. A robust
and resilient economy is at the core of sustainability, but it is still subordinate tosocial sustainability which in turn is subordinate to environmental sustainability
within which carrying capacity society and the economy can continue to grow.
Thus, in an integrated sustainability approach, social and environmental stresses
are not regarded as economic externalities. Instead, the economy’s overarching
aim is to function in the service of social and environmental sustainability.
The relevance and contribution of sustainable journalism as a concept andpractice is twofold. First, the integrated approach to sustainable development
described above is reflected in it. The concept refers to journalism that
integrates the three sustainability dimensions and does not isolate, for instance,
environmental issues from social and economic conditions. Examples of thiskind of integrated approach could be journalism that:~ reflects the economic aspects of an increasingly globalising society at thesame time as it acknowledges the social and environmental consequences ofthese aspects,~ generates value from new advertising formats that doesn’t jeopardise theintegrity and trust of citizens, and~ interlinks local and national consequences of, for instance, climate change with
their economic and social ramifications on a global scale.
Arguably, the complex reality of today requires such an integrated journalistic
approach in order to uphold the democratic function and not least legitimacy ofprofessional journalism.

Sustainable journalism is thus located at thejuncture of environmental journalism (reporting
about climate change, loss of biodiversity,
acidification of the world’s oceans etc.), social
journalism (reporting about peace, security, justice,poverty, human rights, political participation,
democracy, equality etc.), and economic
journalism (issues related to the economy andthe financial sector, business, stock market etc.).
In addition, just as environmental sustainability has posed systemic questions
about the way economics, markets, societies and politics are structured,sustainable journalism also poses systemic questions about how journalism as anindustry within specific media ecosystems and contexts is structured.
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8

Photo: Alex Radelich

The second main contribution of sustainable journalism is its inherently double
significance, which means that it addresses two intertwined challenges of ourtime:~ The sustainability crisis of society, e.g. environmental crises, democratic crises,
poverty, financial crises, armed conflicts etc. Obviously, journalism has a crucialrole to play here since it contributes greatly to the understanding, and hence
the handling, of such challenges.
~ The sustainability crisis of journalism itself, which stems from lower
advertising, falling consumption, lack of trust in traditional media among
citizens, and fierce competition from online information brokers.
To respond seriously to the sustainability challenges – current as well as future– could be seen as a prerequisite for the future sustainability of journalism
itself. Such responses range from high-quality, in-depth coverage to robust
business models, but also extend (within the sub-Saharan African context) into
considerations of media systems and relations with governments and businessinterests.
In this way, sustainable journalism attempts to counter the obvious risk that theefforts to maintain economic sustainability of the journalistic enterprise takeplace at the expense of professional journalism’s social/democratic mission– to inform citizens and to spur public engagement about current and future
economic, social, and environmental challenges.

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9

Towards a practical application ofsustainable journalism in media work
To apply sustainable journalism, professionally speaking, in everyday work, interms of implementing sustainability-oriented news angles, perspectives, sources,
etc. seems like a challenge in several respects. Journalism is not known for its
ability to transform quickly, but rather for its professional integrity, which can
express itself in the form of conservatism and a “business as usual” mode of
thinking. But due to the crises and problems that the SDGs tend to emphasise,and the urgency to solve them, this places emphasis on the need for journalism
also to become sustainable in its everyday practice. Actually, does journalism
have a choice?
If the concept becomes too broadly interpreted, in terms of understanding that
all news, in one way or another, could be linked to sustainable development
as examples of sustainable journalism, it makes it difficult to apply sustainable
journalism in a meaningful way. Nevertheless, a too-narrow perspective might
become problematic as well if it would only include the environment and theclimate crisis as topics for sustainable journalism, but not the other dimensions
and thus the relational perspective. Furthermore, the concept might become
too theoretical and therefore more difficult to apply in concrete fieldwork andin accordance with the professional conditions of everyday media work. Finally,
the concept of sustainable journalism could also become too banal, in terms of
simply representing “good” journalism, whatever that might be. Thus, one of themain purposes of this policy brief is to transform “sustainable journalism” into an
applicable concept for practitioners.
To overcome these pitfalls, our suggestion is to make a start with a concrete,already-defined principle of sustainable development. One way to make theconcept applicable in journalistic practice and fieldwork is to return to theBrundtland Report[iv] and one of its seminal formulations, which very muchembodies the entire idea of sustainable development:

Sustainable development is development that meetsthe needs of the present without compromising theability of future generations to meet their own needs.
More precisely, the idea would be to pay attention to the temporal aspects of thisdefinition:~ The relationship between the past and the present: What individuals,
institutions and societies did in the past (their actions and decisions) haveconsequences for the present.
~ The relationship between the present and the future: What individuals,
institutions, and societies “do” (their actions and decisions) in the present time
have future consequences.
What is emphasised is the obvious idea that taking account of actions in thepresent is a way to develop a better future society – that there is a need of thepresent that must be balanced with future needs. It is quite easy to understandthe meaning and ethical principle of the sentence, but is there a communicative
and thus journalistic version to be suggested? As a journalistic style, maxim,
routine, and so forth? Can we do exactly this in the context of news reporting orinvestigative journalism, including different kinds of editorial work? Below, we
present two options, which do not exclude but rather presuppose each other.

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10

a. Sustainable journalism as professional reflexivity
The first perspective would be to view the implementation of sustainable
journalism as a media/news organisational challenge guided by the following
ethical principle:
Sustainable journalism is journalism that meets the information needs of thepresent without compromising the ability of a future generation of media
workers to meet their information needs.

SJ

This is connected to media organisations’ but also individual journalists’/
freelancers’ capacity to reflect upon how their own actions, practices, and routines
here and now shape tomorrow’s journalism. Contemporary journalists to a great
extent inherit their language, modes of thinking, ideals, topical frameworks,etc. from previous generations of media workers, and in the same way, future
journalists’ work will very much be influenced by contemporary acts. For example,
if journalism strongly reproduces conflicts/antagonisms as a news value (the “us”
vs. “them” rationale), rather than contributing to constructive peacebuilding, thisantagonistic form of communication will probably prevail in future journalism andbe in-built in its economic business models. If journalism predominantly skips
the problem of climate change, this will make it more difficult for future media
practitioners to practise climate reporting, and so forth. Consequently, it will limit
or even hinder future journalists’ ability to meet their own information needs about
important topics or angles that the public deserves to be informed about.

b. Sustainable journalism as connected to theexternal world and its challenges
In this version, emphasis is rather on journalism’s more active role concerning
existing needs in society and thus their potential positive contribution tosustainable development:
Sustainable journalism is journalism that meets the information needs of thepresent without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirown needs.

SJ

This sentence is formulated in accordance with the assumption that
contemporary journalism and its production of information has consequences
for tomorrow’s ecological, social, material, etc. conditions (involving the relation
between the rich and the poor, energy transition processes, the climate, and soforth). If contemporary media workers and media owners look away from thekinds of urgent problems that are outlined in the SDGs, and instead stick to oreven expand their production of “quick and dirty news”[vi], they will be running therisk of compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Journalism then becomes sustainable by balancing or ideally exchanging the
production of “quick and dirty news” with information that enables future
generations to meet their own needs. In practice, this would mean that:~ ever more, events become interpreted and covered within the framework of theSDGs;~ that it becomes more natural and common to cover the very institution of the
UN – including the relationship between the UN and other organisations andnation-states;~ that the coverage of present events (which is fundamental for everyday news
reporting) should routinely be connected to their historical origins/contexts
and future consequences;~ that it becomes standard practice to identify and include sources and voicesthat can comment and analyse events from a sustainability perspective.

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A CASE FORSUSTAINABLE
JOURNALISM
PRACTICE
When turning sustainable journalism into practice we are inspired by several
journalistic concepts: slow journalism, solutions-oriented, constructive, peace,
gender- and conflict-sensitive, global-local, entrepreneurial and ethical; as well as theconcept “factfulness”, invented by the Swedish statistician Hans Rosling.
Another suggestive approach, global journalism, recognises the interdependenceof countries and calls for the inclusion of global perspectives in news reportage.
It acknowledges that issues that confront other nations have cross-border
implications[vii]. Engaged journalism turns attention to engaging and collaboratingwith audiences. It is seen as a moral obligation as well as an economic imperativein the face of dwindling revenues of media organisations.
At the core of the above, and many other concepts of journalism practice, is theneed for journalism to remain relevant and responsive to the needs of society.
However, none of the proposed concepts has been able to tie in the sustainable
development goals together with enhanced journalistic approaches as a concept
for journalism practice. The SDGs or global goals are a carefully designed
collection of 17 interlinked goals[viii] whose accomplishments are regarded as
critical to the survival of humanity and to guarantee a more sustainable future
for all. These goals are tied to our present needs, which when ignored willcompromise our survival and sanity and that of future generations. On the otherside is the responsibility of sustainable journalism to carefully scrutinise the SDGs
and Agenda 2030 and to expose the sustainability challenges associated withthem, in order for more sustainable solutions to be found to current global andlocal challenges.
Journalism practice and societal expectations of journalists have evolved over
the years. It is expected that journalists not only inform, educate and entertain.
They also need to ensure issues that adversely affect societal development are
addressed. Often, media development organisations focus narrowly on goal
16, target 10 of the SDGs which advocates the guarantee of public access to
information and the protection of fundamental freedoms. But there is the need tobroaden the journalistic link to all 17 SDGs.

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So, the idea of bringing together the three legsof global sustainability (environmental, socialand economic), under which the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals fall, is to ensure that issues
that affect our day-to-day sustainability areincorporated into journalistic norms to be given
the needed attention. The global goals recognise
the developmental issues that need to beaddressed and the fact that future sustainability
depends on what is done now. By applying
sustainable journalism, all aspects of issues
that affect our sustainability are likely to beaddressed for our current and future well-being.
Sustainable journalism is related to the two most important international treatiesof our time: The Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement, both indebted to the1987 UN report Our Common Future, known as the Brundtland Report1. The
treaties include both global and national commitments, and are followed up byinitiatives by municipalities, private companies, civil society organisations andothers, making them an ideal arena for journalistic coverage. While most media
development organisations have focused on how journalism could be seen as
part of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable
journalism can turn the tables and ask: “How can journalism make sure that ourleaders keep their promises and deliver, not only in relation to the SDGs and theParis Agreement, but on any commitment related to sustainability? How canjournalism inform the public and hold power to account when it comes to themost important challenges and the biggest story of our time – the well-being andultimately the survival of humanity?”
1. This report was published by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. The
Brundtland Report put environmental issues on the political agenda; it aimed to connect theenvironment to development; it also recognised that human resource development, in the formof gender equity, poverty reduction and wealth redistribution, was key to mapping out strategies
for environmental conservation. The report also acknowledged environmental limits to economic
growth in industrialised and industrialising societies.

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THE MEDIACONTEXT IN
SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA (SSA)
Sustainable journalism may not be practised in the same way in all countries and byeach publisher, as each country and publisher have unique challenges that confront
their sustainability. In order to appreciate how sustainable journalism is to be practisedin the sub-Saharan African (SSA) context, it is important to establish the setting within
which media organisations and journalists carry out their informational mandate. It
is equally important to explore the issues that confront the social, environmental andeconomic sustainability of media within sub-Saharan Africa. This section provides an
overview of the ecosystem within which journalism is practised in sub-Saharan Africa
and introduces the dimension of media as a larger system, rather than focus on just thelevel at which individual media organisations operate.

The environmental dimension
The African continent is home to an enormous share of the world’s renewable andnon-renewable resources. The continent is rich in minerals, forests, natural gas,arable land, oil and wildlife. With natural capital constituting between 30% and
50% of the total wealth of Africa, over 70% of people living in sub-Saharan Africa
depend on forests, woodlands and agriculture for their livelihoods[ix]. However,while a substantial portion of these resources is unsustainably utilised, others are
depleted through unlawful activities.
According to the GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Africa, the environment isdeteriorating more rapidly than previously projected[x]. It is estimated that $195
billion of Africa’s natural capital is lost annually through the unlawful wildlife trade,illegal logging, illegal mining, unregulated fishing and environmental degradation[xi].
This points to the need for governments to act swiftly to reverse the trend. The
news media indisputably have a role to play in setting the agenda for environmental
issues to be given the needed attention. They can do this by informing the public,raising awareness, educating and shedding light on environmental issues. Sadly,
though, environmental issues are mostly not part of the news agenda or are poorly
covered in most sub-Saharan African countries[xii].
Coverage of environmental stories is largely limited to natural disasters. Thereis hardly any discussion of the context within which the event occurred, or its
implications, or any broader analysis. Rather, in their efforts to shed light on thepeople affected by environmental phenomena, journalists often present thesevictims as helpless. No information is provided to empower them on the role they
can play in contributing to addressing those environmental concerns, neither are
they empowered with information on what they can do to preserve or sustain theenvironment for the benefit of future generations[xiii]. While the media, more often thannot, report weather events and their effects, there is little education and advocacy by
the media in sub-Saharan Africa to promote environmental sustainability.

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The social dimension
The news media is an institution mandated to ensure the promotion of democratic
principles (transparency, accountability and freedom of speech and expression).
For this reason, journalists should ideally work in an environment where they
have unhindered access to information, characterised by freedom of expression,pluralism and diversity, with laws restricting media freedom narrowly defined andlimited only to those necessary in a democracy, and with legal provisions that
ensure a level economic playing field 2.
Public and private influences on journalism can limit the accountability andscrutiny society expects of the media. Until the early 1990s, most Africancountries had state-funded media systems. No room was created for independent
critical media. These state-funded media organisations were typically the public
relations arm of governments and could not uphold probity and accountability.
However, after the Windhoek Declaration in 1991, calling for free, independentand pluralistic media, most African countries made room for diverse outlets andopinions to boost accountability, good governance and independent media[xiv].
At present, with a few exceptions, most constitutions in democratic nations
in sub-Saharan Africa promise media freedom and unhindered accessto information. However, despite these constitutional guarantees, media
practitioners frequently contend with serious obstacles which negatively
affect their role as the fourth estate, such as: attacks on journalists and media
organisations[xv], imprisonment, debilitating lawsuits, closure of media houses,
selective enforcement of laws and internet shutdowns.
Ironically, most African nations have regulations to ensure unhindered access to
information in the form of Right to Information (RTI) and Freedom of Information(FOI) laws. Nevertheless, there is either slow or non-implementation of suchlaws, or no clear roadmap for their implementation[xviii]. Hostile and unsupportive
workplaces also impact on the informational mandate; media organisations do
not provide protection and insurance cover for their journalists even when they
cover dangerous stories. So, although there is a putative free media environmentin Africa, this is often more on paper than in reality.
There are also challenges to do with the capacity of journalists themselves. Manyjournalists do not have the required training or education to practise as journalists[xix].
Media organisations themselves seldom offer training or refresher courses. New
journalists are simply socialised into a profession which may already be deep into
unprofessional practices. When journalists do not apply codes of conduct andprofessional ethics, they become easy prey to all manner of influences which rob
them of their independence and credibility. This results in a loss of power to seek
accountability from public officials and hold up their public advocacy mandate.
Journalism is not only a commercial endeavour but also a socio-technologicalphenomenon[xx]. As channels evolve, resulting from new technologies entering
into media use, journalists have to navigate the attendant challenges. Most
recently, social media have paved the way for the dissemination of journalistic
content by various non-journalistic information brokers. This has blurred thelines between consumers, creators and disseminators of information, as well as
between journalism as a profession and other purveyors of news.

2.  These are based on Media Development Indicators (MDIs) launched by the International
Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) Intergovernmental Council, in 2006.
The MDIs set out the framework within which the media can best contribute to, and benefit from,good governance and democratic development. The MDIs are structured around five categories:(1) A system of regulation conducive to freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity of the media;(2) Plurality and diversity of media, a level economic playing field and transparency of ownership;(3) Media as a platform for democratic discourse; (4) Professional capacity building and supporting
institutions that underpins freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity; and (5) Infrastructural
capacity is sufficient to support independent and pluralistic media.

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As the how, the what and the who of journalism evolve, media organisationsin Africa and elsewhere must also contend with fake news, disinformation andmisinformation. As one example of the pervasiveness of disinformation in Africa,
the European Union Election Observation Mission’s preliminary report on Ghana’s2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections said that political campaigns in
online media were characterised by misinformation, which confused rather thaninformed voters[xxi].

The economic dimension
Media organisations in SSA suffer the global trend of losing advertising revenue
to social media and other digital media platforms. Typically, commercial media
organisations depend on sponsors and advertisers to fund their programmes andto pay their employees. Many public broadcasters also depend on commercial
revenue[xxii]. African publishers have had to find new income streams, but manyjobs have still been lost. This trend has escalated under the Covid-19 crisis.
Media organisations need to have a firm financial footing to carry out theirmandate. Economic constraints undoubtedly affect the social and political
functions of the media[xxiii]. Lack of resources narrows the news agenda as it costs
money to produce high-quality content. Where the state is the biggest advertiser– as is the case in many African countries – public officials can too easily close
the income tap if they are faced with coverage they do not like.
In order to deal with their financial challenges, some media organisations in Africa
turn to funding from international donor agencies as alternative forms of revenue,
including from development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
and religious organisations. In Tanzania, most radio stations rely on NGO support tokeep their operations running[xxiv]. Many investigative stories in Nigeria, Kenya andGhana, as well as health reporting in South Africa, have been sponsored by foreign
aid funds[xxv]. Although donor funding or private investment in the media in Africa
has led to reportage and investigative stories in areas such as health, social justice,education and the environment, which are often neglected because of lack of
capacity within newsrooms, donor-funded journalism can sometimes compromise
media independence. Sponsors of foreign development assistance coming into
Africa for media development tend to set the agenda for the media coverage theywant prioritised through funding criteria. This can pose a threat not only to media
freedom, but also to local media determining their own priorities[xxvi] [xxvii].
The economic weakness of much of Africa’s media results in poor remunerationand poor conditions of service for journalists. Some journalists are driven to pay
their own transport, communication and other costs. The generally poor conditionsof service of journalists is a great disincentive and impacts the independence thatis required of them in carrying out their duties[xxviii]. In Guinea Bissau, as an example,
journalists are compelled to join political parties to be able to continue to work as
professional journalists[xxix]. Poor remuneration also means media organisations
lose good journalists who leave the profession to take up better-paid work inother sectors[xxx]. Those who stay in the profession often become susceptible toinfluences that impact their independence.
In addition, even in contexts where the media environment is free, diverse andvibrant, there is also the trend of political actors dominating ownership of media
organisations which often leads to a polarised media environment. Typically,journalists in such media organisations put aside best practices and professional
standards as they work to push the agenda of their owners rather than serve
the public interest. A polarised media environment provides a fertile ground forwatering down independent critical media.

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SUMMARY OF
INTERVIEWS,EXPERIENCES
OF AFRICAN
PRACTITIONERSANDRESEARCHERS
Three different sets of discussions were held over a two-week period with reporters,
news editors and representatives of media development organisations in Nigeria,
Ghana, Liberia, and Kenya. They were meant to ascertain what these key stakeholders
made of sustainable journalism and its application in SSA. This section provides an
overview of participants’ thoughts on the concept and how they think that sustainable
journalism could be applied in journalistic and media management practices.
The golden thread that ran through discussions was that sustainable journalism
connects critical developmental issues in sub-Saharan Africa to the practice ofjournalism. Participants were of the view that there is a general trend of slow
social and economic development within sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with alooming environmental crisis, due to poor environmental governance. They also
agreed that what uniquely sets sustainable journalism apart from other newjournalistic approaches is the provision of a model or framework for journalists
to address contemporary issues that are tied to sustainable development.
While SJ provides a framework, it also obliges journalists to concentrate on
local contexts. This steers SJ away from the typical critique that often comeswith journalism concepts emanating from the global north and intended to be
applied in African countries.

To combine sustainability in reporting with sustainability inthe business model sense, as is done in this very concept,
is indeed very interesting; it provides a theory upon whichjournalism can report sustainably and be sustainable
without government influence – Participant from Nigeria.

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With SJ as a framework for the practice of journalism, owners, content producers,
media managers, news editors and reporters are set on a path that scrutinises
and investigates critical local issues that have implications for development.
Participants were also of the view that there are many social, economic andenvironmental challenges that need media attention but are not getting it.

Climate change is a key issue in Liberia that could
be connected to sustainable journalism. Flooding
is one specific problem, pollution is another.
Security is another – Participant from Liberia.

The climate crisis heavily impacts Nigeria, but this is notreported in the media. There is a clear opportunity tocreate an interest around these issues. Desertification
is another example that is affecting the country. To
introduce sustainable journalism as a central part of thejournalistic curriculum could be one step toward moresustainable reporting – Participant from Nigeria.
Moreover, SJ offers a framework to ensure that journalism contributes to fulfilling
Agenda 2030. Participants agreed that this moves the SJ concept away fromabstraction and towards workable practice. They concurred that connecting
Agenda 2030 to the day-to-day practice of journalism is a viable way ofguaranteeing that issues which have implications on commitments made by subSaharan African governments, who are members of the United Nations, are given
the required attention. SJ weaves together pertinent developmental issues thatare tied to the very survival of humanity. It also helps to answer the question ofwhat journalism does in society. Thus, participants believed that it would compel
sub-Saharan African governments to realise the global development agenda,
beginning with local issues.
Intrinsic to SJ is the need to make relevant actors accountable and responsive
to issues covered in the media, while at the same time ensuring that journalism
empowers the general public with critical information for them to make informed
choices about the environment as well as matters related to their economic andsocial well-being.
However, participants also expressed concerns over media independence intheir countries. They were concerned about financial sustainability of media
organisations, which has implications on quality of reportage. Participants agreed
that the backbone of the practice of SJ is an independent media. Various formsof control of the media which do not allow journalists to effectively practise werediscussed. Individuals (often politicians) and organisations who provide financial
backing to media organisations often influence what is given attention and how
stories are covered.
With ownership comes control, and news media are often owned by a
combination of politicians and business people with political interests, whichskews coverage to their political and economic advantage. This also leads to apolarised media system and results in weak journalism that is not in the public
interest. Consequently, the accountability function of the media suffers. Tied
to this, journalists who make efforts to work in accord with ethical journalistic
practices get frustrated and leave the profession. Besides, related to media

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independence, are attacks and revenue losses certain media organisations
have to contend with because of the work they do. In order to avert closure bygovernments, crackdowns, attacks or withdrawal of advertising or funding, media
organisations engage in self-censorship. This is averse to SJ practice.
Participants were also pleased with the business model that is integral to the
SJ concept. SJ provides a theory upon which journalism can independently
and accurately report sustainably, while also being conscious of their own
sustainability as media outlets and contributing to global sustainability. A strong
theme that emerged from the discussions was the need for media organisations
to be financially autonomous to ensure editorial independence.
Participants were of the view that companies financing media organisations
through advertisements often exert influence on how and what stories arecovered in the media.

How do we keep newspapers in the newsstands and news
radio in the soundwaves? To keep journalism economicallysustainable and uncompromised is what comes to mind. In
Liberia, journalism is threatened by media institutions not
being financially sustainable. Without financial stability,
journalism is easily compromised by people trying to bend
truth or influence analysis – Participant from Liberia.

“Government funding has traditionally been met
with scepticism in sub-Saharan Africa – it is illogicalthat the government would fund journalism which is
supposed to keep them accountable without trying tosteer reporting. This can be clearly seen in francophonecountries, where the government funds and controls
the media. However, Cote d’Ivoire set up a public fundfor media a couple of years back that provides loans(4% interest rate) to the media and so far, it has beenworking well without major government influence.
A similar scheme has been set up in Nigeria during
the pandemic – the central bank has introduced aloan scheme directed at the media (8% interest rate –contrasted with the general interest rate of over 20%)
but let’s see, it might work” – Participant from Nigeria.
There are also instances when journalists self-censor when “commercial interest”
companies are involved in stories.
Participants, on the other hand, recognised the fact that independent media
in certain SSA countries often struggle with minimal funding to carry out theirduties. Covering SDG-related issues can be difficult when there is limited financial
strength. Many media organisations are not able to cover human-interest and/or
SDG-related stories, even when they have the resolve to do so. Many journalists
in Ghana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa are not paid salaries, but are paid

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on a commission basis – by the number of stories produced. Given the almost
non-existent financial capacity, minimal refresher training and generally poor
remuneration, it is hard to get journalists to develop themselves and build therequisite skills to competently report on SDGs.

On journalist’s capacity: capacity means skills, but alsofinancial capacity. To fully do a quality story from start toend, journalists often need to fund transport and otherexpenses themselves. Many award-winning stories in
Ghana were funded by the journalists themselves. Regulartraining and retraining is also important, but seldom
funded by the media houses – Participant from Ghana.
On occasions when refresher training is provided, key gatekeepers in media
organisations are, more often than not, left out.

It is important to win the hearts and minds of thegatekeepers in news organisations (editors, managers)– journalists get training and are confronted by new
types of issues, but editors and managers are usually
stuck in the office. These are the gatekeepers, and they
are very important to educate, because without them
being plugged into issues like the SDGs, those stories
will never be highlighted – Participant from Ghana
In addition, there are also instances when certain governments attack businesses
that fund independent media, forcing them into bankruptcy in a bid to compel
funders to halt their independent critical media support. Furthermore, in contexts
where the government is the biggest advertiser, critical media risk losing funding
when they do not produce favourable reportage.
Even if a media organisation diversifies, in a bid to make them financiallysustainable, sometimes the powers that be cripple these subsidiary businesses,
depriving them of their ability to support the media houses to effectively carry out
their mandate – Participant from Liberia.
There was consensus that SJ can build confidence among audiences if stories
are not carried superficially but are followed through to hold people in power toaccount. Following through on stories is one of the biggest shortfalls in attempts byjournalists to cover sustainable development-related stories in sub-Saharan Africa.
In light of the unique challenges journalism faces in SSA, as well as theopportunities that exist for SJ practice, participants were of the view that SJ in
sub-Saharan Africa can be defined as: well-researched, independent, fearlessprofessional journalism, which is grounded in sustainable business models, that
focuses on the social, economic, and environmental issues that are unfolding insociety, without compromising media independence. Sustainable journalism mustalso be entrenched in the following tenets: accuracy, public interest, fairness,balance, truth and facts.

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HOW CAN
SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICANJOURNALISM
BE MADESUSTAINABLE?
The challenge faced in sub-Saharan African countries, as elsewhere, is how to makejournalism sustainable in all three dimensions, social, economic and environmental.
It is not a new question, and variants have been asked by everyone interested in thehealth of journalism. But asking it in this way does a few useful things.
First, the notion of sustainability draws attention to the current generation’s
responsibility to the future. As we have argued above, journalism – like any social
practice – must test itself against the future. It must always operate in a way thatguarantees the rights of future generations.
Secondly, the notion of sustainability provides a common ethical reference point
for discussion in the three dimensions. When we ask about the impact of ourcurrent actions on the quality of the information ecosystems in times to come, weare pointing to an ethical duty to the future. We should consider the long-term
impact of our business practices, not just because we would like to preserve ourjobs, but also because our children will need reliable information.
Finally, the common reference point invites consideration of the ways in which thethree different dimensions – environmental, social and economic – ­relate to eachother. This, we believe, is the only way to “follow through”, as one respondent put
it, and to capture the bigger picture. For instance, one might consider the impactof the loss of trust by audiences (a social issue) on financial sustainability. Thisis an area with much potential for future research as these interconnections are
rarely explored.
The lens of sustainability requires journalists and everyone who has someinfluence over the health of journalism, to become much more willing to reflect on
their own practices, and how they will shape the future. Journalists are socialised
into a public-minded practice that faces outwards towards society. The mantra“don’t become the story” is a good indication of how averse journalists are
involving themselves in the reportage they do. But the concept of sustainable
journalism requires a particular kind of reflexivity involving the workings ofjournalism which goes beyond just an attention to the routines and norms ofreportage. The self-reflection required by sustainable journalism needs to involvean inward-facing look within media industries about their own commitments to

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the carrying-capacity of the Earth and the impacts they have environmentally.
Socially, new movements like #Metoo, #BlackLivesMatter and the wave of student
protests around #Rhodesmustfall have drawn attention to the impacts of media
messages and sensitised media makers to vulnerable members of society andtheir rights to be treated in the media with respect, voice and attention.
Questions of sustainability need to be considered at three levels. At the highest
level, there are systemic questions. It has become commonplace to point at theway the internet giants such as Facebook and Google have sucked the financial
lifeblood from newspapers and other traditional news media. Australia hasrecently taken on the problem, and has legislated to force these companies toshare advertising revenue with local publishers. Similar ideas are being floatedin parts of Europe. This is clearly a systemic issue – it is far beyond the powers of
any individual journalist or any publisher to address such issues. These issues areevidently crucial. Future sustainability can be guaranteed only if we change thesystems that undermine it. The media systems of sub-Saharan Africa, interwoven
as they are with governments’ largesse and regulatory powers and elite businessinterests, also pose a significant challenge to the theorisation and practice ofsustainable journalism for this context. It does not help that media systems
analysis studies have based their work on the US and Western democracies andmostly treat the countries of Africa as deficient cases. These studies normalise
media systems in hyper-capitalised, hyper-marketised media economies aimed
at consumers and not necessarily citizens. There is a need to study the media
systems of the SSA countries on their own terms.
Second, questions about sustainability need to be asked at the organisational
level. Publishers must be held to account for the impact their practices haveon the future. While working on this study, we were told about cases where
employers employ journalists only on a casual, freelance basis. This causes clear
harm in the long run, often encouraging journalists to adopt undesirable practices
like accepting brown envelopes simply to stay alive. The primary responsibility
here is clearly the organisation’s. But it is not only employers who need to be heldto account. Other organisations also have a powerful impact on the sustainabilityof journalism. Broadcast regulators are a good example, whose policies andapproach to enforcement has a significant impact on media landscapes. We
argue that media development groups are also organisations that need to bechallenged to address questions of sustainability. In this context, the notion ofsustainability becomes a useful test to ensure the worth of the countless plans
and interventions to which African countries are subjected.
Third, questions need to be asked at the individual level. Individual reporters
and editors are constrained by systemic and organisational issues, but still havecapacity to take decisions that have a profound impact on the sustainability ofjournalism and on the reportage of sustainability. It is clear that the impact of theenvironmental crisis on sub-Saharan African countries gets too little attention
in the media. Individual reporters and editors could do a lot to ensure that theiraudiences are properly informed.
So, what are some of the specific ways in which these issues confront
journalism in sub-Saharan Africa? Many of the challenges faced in the region
are the same as elsewhere, but as we have argued above, there are specificfeatures that have to be taken into account. The following should not be seen as
an exhaustive list, but as largely indicative of a way the idea of sustainability canbe used to organise a number of concerns. Most of them are well-known, but
we are suggesting a different way of thinking about them and understanding
their relationship to each other.

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Meeting the challenges of social sustainability
in sub-Saharan African journalism
We argue that journalism is socially sustainable where it plays its proper socialrole of ensuring that audiences are sufficiently well informed to exercise theirrights as citizens and enabling full participation in important conversations.
It involves holding the powerful to account and requires independence and a
relationship of trust with audiences.
In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, several systemic issues stand in the way ofthis ideal, as outlined in section 3. Issues of media freedom, information inequality
and misinformation must be tackled in order to guarantee socially sustainable
journalism. This requires a wide set of measures, from campaigning to reengineering a country’s information system. Above all, it requires an integrated
approach.
At an organisational level, questions must be asked about business andemployment practices. Short-term profit cannot be allowed to jeopardise
long-term sustainability. Publishers need to be held to professional standards
that boost the trust of audiences, emphasising responsibility, ethics andaccountability.
Individual journalists have a responsibility to behave ethically and conscientiously,as this guarantees the trust of audiences. They have a responsibility to seek out
marginalised voices and draw them into the conversation. They should cover thefull range of important social issues. The Sustainable Development Goals are auseful checklist of the important issues that need attention.

Meeting the challenges of
economic sustainability in subSaharan African journalism
At a systemic level, the core issue revolves around the decline of the traditional
business model that has sustained journalism for many decades, as describedin section 3. However, several factors have an impact in sub-Saharan Africa. The
weakness of many national economies has bedevilled the news media sincelong before the rise of the internet, while internet penetration remains lower
than in other parts of the world. At the same time, governments have retained
a much larger involvement in the media than elsewhere. And foreign donors
play a significant role in media landscapes. These dynamics need to be better
understood before one can be definitive about how global dynamics are playingout in African media. Nevertheless, it is clear that economic weakness plays a keyrole in undermining the sustainability of African media enterprises.
At an organisational level, media enterprises are often weakened by the fragilityof their business models. This can lead to a loss of independence as interested
parties seek to buy influence, which in turn damages their ability to serve
audiences. They need to find new ways of ensuring their own viability. Interesting
experiments are being undertaken in various countries, from membership models
to paywalls and cross-subsidisation. These need to be supported, encouraged
and studied, so that new models for financing journalism can be found.
Individual journalists are often forced into the gig economy in order to survive.
Few are able to stay in a fixed job for extended periods. Instead, career paths
are likely to include short-term contracts, freelancing and periods outside ofjournalism. This is not in itself unsustainable, though it does require new skill sets,such as flexibility and innovation. Journalists need to learn the necessary skills to
operate in this difficult environment.

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Meeting the challenges ofenvironmental sustainability in subSaharan African journalism
The environmental challenge is the most fundamental of all, as it affects all of
humankind. This is not an issue that journalists can report “from the outside” – weare all inhabitants of this fragile planet. Systemically, the media need to consider
their own environmental impact as an industry. The decline of print has reduced
the use of paper and carbon fuels to distribute newspapers, but it remains afactor. And other practices that have arisen need to be considered.
Individual reporters and editors need to focus strongly on reporting theimportant environmental stories as they affect their audiences. Sub-SaharanAfrica is disproportionately affected by climate change and other aspects of theenvironmental crisis. Reporting of the details of this reality is important not only
for African audiences, but also for the rest of the world. The African environmental
story and how it connects to the global economy as well as its social implications
needs to be heard.

In summary
In this section, we have tried to discuss the specific sustainability challenges
faced by sub-Saharan African journalism. It is a first attempt to tease out thedifferent aspects of the challenge in relation to the unifying idea of sustainability,
in this particular geographic context. Undoubtedly, others will disagree with some
aspects or approaches, and we welcome discussion that will further refine thisline of thinking.

The approach should be of interest to everyone
who has an interest in the health of journalism. Thatwould include individual practitioners, publishers,
regulators, governments and others. We feel thatit should particularly be taken into account by
the media development community. We believethat the development of intervention and support
strategies and plans can profit from using thenotion of sustainability as a unifying principle.

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RECOMMENDATIONSSYSTEMIC
1.

Media viability is a great challenge in all the countries covered in this study. Media environments
should be given support to ensure that operations can be financially viable, while at the same timeincreasing the professional level of the content, as this is a prerequisite for editorial independence.

2. Sustainable journalism should be developed in different ways, depending on the national context andthe ability of the publisher. For example, it can depend on available financial resources, technologicalresources and size and capacity of the workforce. All media environments should be encouraged to
tailor their own way of practising sustainable journalism.

ORGANISATIONAL
3. We suggest the establishment of a sustainable journalism partnership in sub-Saharan Africa where
media, civil society and government can develop and implement the concept, thus furthering
sustainability of both journalism and society. This partnership should ideally be connected to a global
partnership. This would provide a forum for an ongoing discussion and exploration of the idea ofsustainable journalism and how state institutions can support media organisations to do sustainable
journalism, supported by the international community.
4. International and other media support organisations should apply the SJ approach to their work,
ensuring that it serves the three dimensions of sustainability.
5. A university curriculum at Master’s level in sustainable journalism, specially adapted to the sub-SaharanAfrican context, should be developed and made available for journalism schools on the continent.
6. Universities and other research bodies should conduct ongoing research into SJ in the SSA context.
7.

Media producers should be given support to produce and distribute news in an environmentally
sustainable way.

INDIVIDUAL
8. Publishers and news editors and other key gatekeepers should be offered training and mentoring
programmes to explore how sustainable journalism can be put into publishing practices.
9. Editors, reporters and other media practitioners should be given opportunities to develop skills
to produce environmental, economic and social stories that have relevance to their audiences,connected to local and global sustainability.
10. Climate change sets more than anything else the limits within which all dimensions are included andare subordinate to. Training and mentoring programmes at all levels on how climate change influences
our societies is hence instrumental to ensure sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.
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APPENDIX
Excerpts from Stakeholder discussions on how sustainable journalism should work in SSA~ Most stories covered in the media are generated from urban areas. This issometimes due to short deadlines journalists must meet as well as limited
resources that do not allow journalists to give attention to stories from lessdeveloped rural communities.
~ Often, the voices of ordinary citizens, who are affected by stories, are notheard. The spotlight is, instead, put on the government/political actors who
respond to issues in a way that only justifies their actions or attributes blame to
one political party or another. There is minimal effort to go beyond those voices
and to uncover how stories affect ordinary citizens, the chain of economic,
environmental and social connections that can be made (even though there
are glaring indications for such associations to be made), what workable
solutions are available and what relevant actors are doing.
~ Many journalists (for example, in Ghana) do stories on events that they areinvited to – over 50% of stories on TV are such features. There is the needto increase independent, development-focused journalistic work initiated byjournalists themselves.
~ There are few women in decision-making positions in newsrooms in Liberia.
This has implications on the reportage of issues related to women andchildren.
~ There are few specialised journalists, or those with relevant training, toeffectively cover SDGs-related issues such as gender, environment and social
justice.
~ On occasions when there are attempts to do independent sustainable
journalism, stories end up being told the same way as event-related stories.
For example, some journalists have attempted to tell social justice stories.
However, while doing so, they have often focused on mere accounts ofcourtroom proceedings, with minimal analysis of immediate and long-term
implications as well as what factors in the social and the economic system
may have accounted for such incidents. In the same way, environmental
stories are often presented as events-related and not critical research-based
stories initiated by journalists. Also, healthcare stories are told from the narrow
viewpoint of, say, poor quality of healthcare - without giving attention to therelated economic, human resource and social justice aspects that apply. Thismay be due to lack of the mindfulness to make those associations, or simply
the lack of the capacity to do so.
~ The media landscape in sub-Saharan Africa is replete with news stories thatplay out along political lines, leading to polarisation in the media. Given this, inGhana, for example, the media is very polarised, as financiers and their politicalaffiliates steer the news agenda of different media houses.
~ Imperative to the practice of sustainable journalism in sub-Saharan Africa
is editorial independence of the media. Tied to this independence is theneed for media organisations to be financially sustainable in a way that does
not allow news coverage to be steered by funders or advertisers. Financial
sustainability is also likely to lead to good remuneration for journalists so they
do not succumb to monetary influence that neutralises their resolve or will toeffectively do sustainable journalism. With adequate resources, journalists canbe give n the monetary support required to do stories related to sustainable

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journalism. Without financial sustainability, there could be some influences that
could affect editorial independence. When financial independence is achieved,journalists can carry out their constitutional mandate without fear of losing
revenue and without favour.
~ Additionally, depending mainly on advertising revenue has its downsides. Ina country like Liberia, many companies hardly advertise in newspapers. Thus,
media organisations must begin to be innovative about revenue generation.
~ Funding from media consumers may be a better alternative in contexts where
media organisations rely on government funding. This can be clearly seen in
francophone countries, where governments fund and control the media.
~ Where media organisations require funding, building journalism on grants
could be a more workable means of funding sustainable journalism enterprises
if media organisations’ or journalists’ ambitions are aligned with grantconditions. There are sustainable journalism projects in Africa that haveyielded good results with funding from grants. For example, the OpenSociety
provided grants to some media institutions in Nigeria to do investigative
stories on the Nigerian parliament and make them more accountable to the
public. The OpenSociety had conditions that were aligned to the objectivesof the media organisations. Connected to reporting on the SDGs, a media
development organisation, the New Narratives, has also provided funding by
way of fellowship (mentorship) and funding for journalists to report on landrelated issues, mining and war crimes. This opportunity has allowed interested
journalists to research, investigate and focus on particular issues over a periodof time until lasting solutions are found. This endeavour could not have beenpossible without the grants and fellowships, as media organisations did not
gain financially and could have thus abandoned such stories midway.
~ Media regulatory institutions should maintain professional independence, so
governments and political actors do not use them as a channel to clamp down
on critical media. They must, rather, work in the interest of media development
so that sustainable journalism can thrive.
~ Creative storytelling is an important part of making journalism sustainable. This
must be done by giving attention to the voices and faces behind stories as wellas making relevant social, environmental and economic associations to them;looking out for the multi-level solutions attached to them and holding relevant
stakeholders accountable.
~ Involvement of citizens in journalistic work is important when sustainable
journalism is impeded by financial constraints. With the guidance of trained
journalists, ordinary citizens will be able to identify and tell social-economicand environmental stories found in hard-to-reach areas in order to findworkable solutions to them.
~ Collaborative data journalism is also one possible way forward regarding
media innovation. Media organisations can collaborate with research
institutions and individual researchers to understand trends based on researchand delve into the practical implications of those trends. Example: some media
institutions partner with the environmental protection agency in Liberia, which
has helped them to understand the issue of climate change and how each
citizen can be a part of the solution. Such examples are important – to partner
journalists with experts helps the media to have a good understanding ofissues and the public can then be educated.
~ Strong editorials are very valuable in tackling developmental issues. News
media in sub-Saharan Africa must consider this as a viable way of doingsustainable journalism where resource constraints may exist. Such editorials
must critically make economic, social and environmental associations in asingle story.

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~ Introducing sustainable journalism as a central part of the journalistic
curriculum could be one step towards more sustainable reporting.
~ There should be a conscious effort to build journalists’ capacity in sustainable
journalism.
~ Inclusion of news editors (gatekeepers) in capacity building activities isimportant because they are key stakeholders who make decisions about news
stories.
~ Tackling fake news and arming the public with credible information for
decision-making must be part of sustainable journalism.
~ Journalists must follow through reporting to ensure stories which require
action and solutions are not swept under the carpet. Sustainable journalismrisks being a mere abstraction if accountability and solutions related to issues
reported on are not achieved.
~ Sustainable journalism reaches its full capacity only when it brings aboutchange or solutions.
~ There needs to be capacity building on how to intertwine the more classic
political reporting with the SDGs - sustainable journalism consciously mustfind the inter-related social, economic and environmental connectionsof issues of stories that are covered. While combining the three pillars ofsustainable journalism, it is important to be as detailed and comprehensive as
possible. The capacity to do this needs to be built among journalists.
~ There are serious environmental issues that need to be given attention, suchas flooding, desertification and pollution. Social issues that need attention are
security, gender, equal opportunities and equitable distribution of resources.
~ Journalists need to be stimulated to appreciate the need to focus on the SDGs
through workshops and other interactive arenas.

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ENDNOTES
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[ii]

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Brundtland Commission. (1987). Report of the World
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[iv]

Giddens, A. (1997) The Consequences of Modernity.
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Lewis, J. (2017). Quick and dirty news: the prospectfor more sustainable journalism. In Berglez, P., Olausson,
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Berglez, P. (2013). Global journalism: Theory and practice.
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[vii]

The 17 SDGs are: (1) no poverty; (2) zero hunger; (3) good
health and well-being; (4) quality education; (5) genderequality; (6) clean water and sanitation; (7) affordable
and clean energy; (8) decent work and economic growth;(9) industry, innovation and infrastructure; (10) reduced
inequality; (11) sustainable cities and communities; (12)responsible consumption and production; (13) climate action;(14) life below water; (15) life on land; (16) peace and justicestrong institutions; and (17) partnerships to achieve the goals.

[viii]

United Nations Environment Programme. (2020). Our workin Africa. Retrieved from https://www.unenvironment.org/
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[x]

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Conroy-Krutz, J. (2020). The squeeze on African media
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[xiv]

[xv]
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Gade, P. J., Nduka, E. L., & Dastgeer, S. (2017). Developing
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Spurk, C., & Dingerkus, F. (2017). The need and theopportunities for sustainability–The case of local radio
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[xxiii][xxiv]

Ibid

Wasserman, H., Gadzekpo, A. & Paterson, C. (2019, July).
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closer scrutiny. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/
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Nyarko, J., Mensah, E. O., & Hamusokwe, B. (2020).
Donor aid and private investment: Their interplay with media
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Wasserman, H., Gadzekpo, A. & Paterson, C. (2019, July).
Donor-funded journalism is on the rise in Africa: why it needs
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Mawindi Mabweazara, H. (2015). Charting theoreticalirections for examining African journalism in the “digital era”.
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MFWA. (2020, October). Guinea Bissau: New
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Finlay, A. (2018, June). State of the Newsroom 2018.
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