On the ground training helps build local reporter capacity in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
Along the placid waters of the Niger River, overlooking a vast expanse of apartment buildings and offices dotting Bamako's sprawling cityscape, a group of Malian journalists stand huddled around a camera. Rhissa walks back to the end of restaurant, spins on his leather sandal, readjusts his headscarf and begins walking back towards the camera. "And stop there," says Noel. "That's the long shot, now we need to refocus and zoom in." Seven heads nod in agreement. Moussa recalibrates the camera lens.
It is day two of a five-day training for this group of journalists, ranging in age from 24 to upwards of 45. Even though they are technically working together, it is the first time many of them have actually met face to face. Nearly each one comes from a different corner of the country - conflict zones such as Kidal, Gao, Timbuktu, Tessalit and, of course, Bamako. Each journalist is a correspondent, gathering print or video reports on the ground for a website known as Sahelien.com. The idea was launched in 2014, by American photographer Joe Penney and Malian journalist Abdul Salam Hama, nearly two years after the March 2012 coup d'etat that saw the overthrow of longstanding Malian leader Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT).
International interest in Sahel
"Events here have great impact on Mali, Niger and Burkina, but also on other countries like France, China, Germany and America, " explains Penney, a 26-year old who has been living in West Africa since 2010. "We thought there was not enough credible information on what was happening in these countries and wanted to shift the production of news from France, in particular, and the US to the countries where this news is actually happening."
Since the political crisis in Mali, coupled with the jihadist insurgents who continue to occupy much of the north, and the recent coup d'etat in Burkina, West Africa's Sahel region has figured prominently in international news. Many of the Sahelien.com reporters have been working as stringers, filling news and video clips for the likes of the New York Times, Reuters and Associated Press.
The benefits of local reporting
Souleymane Ag Anara, is a 24-year old Sahelien.com video journalist based in Kidal and who has worked with Reuters and RFI. "Most western reports I see miss a lot of the context, simply because they don't know," says Anara. "We just end up having to tell these international reporters where to go, who to talk to, what the issues are. There is no reason why we can't start doing our own reports."
Filling the information gap from on the ground reports is crucial, but so is ensuring the credibility and veracity of these reports. This recent five day training in Bamako is one way the Sahelien.com journalists can learn how to maintain ethics and objectivity in their work.
"The advantage of someone coming from Paris, for example, is that they are trained, they have the experience and they have the equipment," says Penney. "But with Sahelien.com if we can bridge those three gaps there is no reason why someone from Gao can't tell someone in Paris what is happening. And in more subtle ways and with more context."
The perils of parachute journalism
One of the longstanding problems with 'parachute journalism' - a term to describe western media who drop their journalists into a foreign land to report - is that the incoming reporter may not have the nuanced understanding of the region, topic and culture. Often times they may not even speak the local language or have the right contacts. As a result, the story can be oversimplified, distorted or biased. This is problematic not only for how the international community may understand events in places like the Sahel, but can also negate the valuable information from on-the-ground local reporters.
"This type of journalism can be dangerous," explains Noel, a Togolese journalist and media trainer with over 21 years of experience reporting across the continent. "A journalist who goes on the ground without any understanding of the realities can never know the sociological or cultural issues in which he is working. This makes it difficult to treat any topic at great depth."
Sharpening editorial skills
Aside from the journalist workshops, a parallel session took place for the Sahel.com editors. This group of four seasoned Malian journalists, including two females, were trained in practical writing and editing tips, and introduced to online tools for filing print and video reports.
Aissata Ahamadou is a 27-year old journalist who has joined the Sahelien.com editorial team and oversees the print and video edits and provide voice-overs.
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"The originality of our site is the most important thing for me," says Aissata. "Many news outlets here are used to the copy and paste format of journalism, without getting directly to the source. Our goal is to get directly to the source and to provide information without giving an opinion. Then it's up to others to take these facts forward."
Siddhartha Mitter is a French-American journalist who helped train the Sahelien journalists in both Mali and Niger.
"At present, Sahelien is very much in start-up mode, with a promising start on both developing the network of correspondents and building a professional central newsroom," explains Siddhartha. "From my perspective much of the value of the training resides in supporting both of these processes at the same time : not only showing the correspondents the best and most effective ways to work in the field, often under complicated conditions, but also working with the central team to enshrine editorial values and set up work flow processes."
The Bamako training is the first of two sessions Sahelien.com carried out with OSIWA's support. The second training catered to Niger and Burkina-based journalists and took place in Niger's capital city, Niamey.
