Rana Sabbagh-Gargour, executive director of ARIJ. Photo: Lotte Dahlmann/IMS

Despite heavy odds, executive director of 'Arab Reporters for Investigative Jounalism' (ARIJ) Rana Sabbagh is convinced that investigative journalism will thrive in the Arab media in the future. But the road is long, she says in an interview with IMS

Not many journalists have achieved such an outstanding and diversified career as Rana Sabbagh. As one of the founders of the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghalad, correspondent in many countries and former editor-in-chief of the Jordan Times, she is an experienced and skilled journalist and appointed as one of the most powerful persons in Jordan.

After many years on the media beat, the Jordanian executive director of ARIJ now passes on her experience and knowledge to a new generation of Arab journalists by training and coaching journalists in the discipline of investigative journalism; a journalistic category which is almost non-existent in the Arab world.

- Investigative journalism is the cream of the cream of journalism because it is uncovering facts. No matter how ugly they are, you can't shoot down the facts if they are well-documented. It's very important in our part of the world because most of the Arab press is based on opinion, she says, and points to the fact that a change is necessary if journalism is to play a vital role in society.

Fighting for change

Along with other journalists and six board members of ARIJ, Rana Sabbagh is set on changing the journalistic tradition in the region towards a more fact-based reporting.

- We are teaching journalists that if they have their facts clear, they will make it difficult for the authorities to crack down on them. We tell them that sometimes they have to go to court, but if they have their documents they will win their case versus if they go and shoot from the hip, she says.

(Photo: ARIJ board, standing from left: Anders Jerichow, Rana Sabbagh, Daoud Kuttab, Pia Thordsen, Omar Rifaj; in front: Yosri Fouda and Hanadi Gharaibeh. Photo Lotte Dahlmann/IMS)

The organisation of ARIJ was established in 2005 within the framework of IMS Media Cooperation with the Arab workd And Iran in collaboration with Arab media experts and the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism (FUJ). It conducts training and coaching in investigative reporting. The journalists come up with an idea for a story, and ARIJ teaches the method and provides coaching and support throughout the work process. Furthermore, the organisation assists the journalists in establishing contact with publishers and in providing legal screenings of the articles to protect them for law suits when filing their reports.

Setting good examples

Rana Sabbagh says that ARIJ is fighting against heavy odds, building up a tradition on a poor breeding ground.

- We don't have the legal structure, we don't have the professional pre-structure and we don't have the societal support, she says.

Yet she is optimistic that with time and patience things can be changed.

By coaching journalists in the production of a fact-based, investigative journalism, ARIJ forms reporters that may inspire other journalists. And creating inspiration is exactly the intention behind the organisation, Rana Sabbagh explains.

- If you have five good investigative journalists, then other journalists - especially the younger ones -  want to copy them. So let's have five good journalists in every Arab country who form the benchmark for professional media, she says.

But she stresses that changing journalism in this way is a long term strategy:

- It's an accumulative process - it does not come over night. With time journalists will present themselves in a more professional manner, and people will have confidence in them. When people see that the journalists aren't mouthpieces of the government, they will learn to trust them and vice versa, she says.

Alternative ways to sources

When the journalists train with ARIJ their stories have to be chosen with care because they work in countries where the regimes are often repressive, where critical journalists are under pressure, and where access to information is often limited. Besides, ARIJ stresses the importance of helping journalists to master the tools of investigative reporting to completion rather than breaking their neck inthe first go. Therefore ARIJ recommends first-timers to look to uncovering everyday problems and sufferings with a broad popular appeal.

But the limited access to factual information does not always prevent journalists from getting their information, Rana Sabbagh says. Even though limited access to information is one of the biggest challenges for the journalists, access to sources can be achieved in alternative ways.

- To compensate for the major legal information-problem, we use our private connections as mediators between us and the sources. There are excellent connections between people here, and we all know who can do what at which ministry, she explains.

In addition to that, spin doctoring is still undiscovered in the official system in most Arab countries, so if a journalist gets access to a source, the source will probably share his information.

- Nothing is impossible - you just have to find the right openings, Rana Sabbagh says.

Change is possible

Rana Sabbagh is convinced that she can change society through journalism and through her work in ARIJ.

- It's a battle, it's uphill and it's not easy, but if we believe in it we will succeed.

To her, reforming journalism is a vital step towards a more open and democratic society. But she is aware that change doesn't come over night.

- Journalism and democracy go hand in hand. But media is also a reflection of society at a given moment, and societies here in the region are in transition. They are moving from a tribal, patriarchal way of looking at things to a more modern approach to things. It's going to take time, but everything can happen. It happened in the East European countries, so why shouldn't it be possible in the Middle East. You just need to have the will, she says.