Thora Gehl, Head of IMS' Arab programme speaks at the conference on investigative journalism in Amman. Photo: Alaa Al-Sukhni/ARIJ

Around 200 journalists took part in the second conference for Arab investigative reporters in Amman in November. Although investigative journalism is developing steadily in some Arab countries, much work remains to be done to establish this core genre of journalism in the Middle East

 

By Antti Kuusi, IMS

In a bid to continue their campaign to engage Arab reporters and chief editors in investigative journalism, the non-profit organisation Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), supported by IMS, invited a star-studded line-up of speakers including the likes of former BBC Hardtalk presenter Tim Sebastian to their second conference about investigative journalism from 20 – 22 November.

Nervous editors

During a roundtable for Arab chief editors, Egyptian editor and journalist Yousri Fouda estimated that it would take 10-15 years to reach western levels of investigative journalism in the region. In the Middle East editors are also often worried about the reactions of the governments and business people that are targeted in investigations.

- Investigative stories can also be economically beneficial for newspapers, Mark Hunter, Adjunct Professor at INSEAD Business School, emphasised, using the British Daily Telegraph story on the House of Commons expense scandal as an example of this.

The global economic crisis also means that less funds are available for Western media to carry out the necessary research behind the stories.

Climate change - a good story

Investigating climate change is another prominent topic amongst Arab media, one which journalists find difficult to cover because of the many differing scientific opinions circulating about the causes and effects of climate change.   

- All media are doing poorly in this area, says Mike Shanahan from International Institute of Environment and Development.  

- Editors are not interested in these matters because they seem to be revolving around the same issues day after day. They should not forget that climate journalism is about money, power and lies, Mike Shanahan continued.  

- These are of course the ingredients of a good story, and they can be found behind the climate change issues.

New manual for investigative journalism

The first ever manual for investigative journalism tailored for the Arab region titled, “A Story Based Inquiry” was launched by ARIJ at the conference. The manual comes in three languages: Arabic, English and French.

In the manual, Egyptian Journalist Yousri Fouda describes the challenges for investigative journalism in the Arab world in the following way:

- From a cultural point of view, it is not easy for serious investigative journalism to flourish in a predominantly oral culture. Our culture does not appreciate numbers, figures and statistics as much as it is moved by words, rhythm and structure. Fortunately, this does not have to get in the way. On the contrary, mastering your tools can help turn it into a huge advantage. Where the real problem lies is in the general understanding – or lack of it - in our societies of what investigative journalism is all about. We still have some educating to do in order to have the general public on our side.

 ARIJ, Arab reporters for Investigative Journalism was launched four years ago with the support of IMS and has engaged in scores of investigations in this period of time. For more information on ARIJ, visit the ARIJ website.