Unpacking key issues within the Sustainable Journalism Conference 2023

For journalism to be socially sustainable in our daily lives, it requires multiple sources of revenue, interconnectedness, factual reporting, engagement and a closer relationship with audiences. This message solidified as a subject matter during the three-day Sustainable Journalism in Practice Conference, held between 23 and 25 March 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The in-depth conference discussions unpacked relevant topics that fall under the umbrella of sustainable journalism.  The conference was hosted by the Aga Khan University and held in collaboration with the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ), and the international media development organisation, Fojo Media Institute.

This proud flagship of an informative and packed conference programme kicked off with the task of developing innovative ideas on how to place the sustainability concepts of content and representation, business, production and distribution, gender inequalities, research and education into practice.

As part of examining ways of how journalism can be sustainable in itself and contribute to democratic, resilient and sustainable societies, various thought-provoking sessions were presented, including; the need for sustainable journalism, findings on Climate Journalism: what contributes to sustainable societies and media viability, and running of the independent media on sustainability, targeting the business community and the public sector.

Challenges facing journalism stem from disinformation, deteriorating public trust in the media, media capture, boundaries in freedom of the press, media capture, erosion of revenue streams and poor knowledge of climate crisis reporting.

During the opening remarks at the widely attended conference, Dr Dinesh Balliah, Director of the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ) emphasised that this forum gives the opportunity to deal with challenges that stand in the way of sustainability, “challenges that are simply entry points to new narrative and not just permanent roadblock,” she said.

“This conference is a gesture of an international commitment to make journalism sustainable financially, socially and culturally, and to ensure that journalism provides evidence and fact-based content to set the agenda on sustainability,” said Dr Balliah.

Adding that WCJ is proud to participate and to co-host the first African Sustainable Journalism Conference, and to realising the need to develop strategies to improve journalism sustainability and the viability of the media. 

Key issues facing journalism hinder the progress of journalism to obtain a media ecosystem that is financially viable and contributes significantly to sustainable societies.

While addressing this pattern, Lars Tallert, founder and president of the Sustainable Journalism Partnership echoed that the concept of sustainable journalism accentuates the interconnectedness of various crises, highlighting the need for a form of journalism that confronts the sustainability issues confronting our society, including economic, ecological, and social challenges.

“In order for journalism to have a sustainable future as a profession and a business, it must address these challenges effectively,” Tallert said.

According to Tallert, this serves as a concrete illustration of how the media sector is addressing sustainability challenges, and it also emphasizes the significance of having a unified effort from all stakeholders working together to support the media sector.

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Seasonal reporting of climate change

Another major concern raised during critical conversations was a skills gap among journalists reporting on climate change issues. It was revealed that many journalists are averse to reporting on climate change as they believe it is scientific.

During a panel discussion on findings on climate journalism, Researcher and Lecturer at the Wits Centre for Journalism, Enoch Sithole, said “Reporting at conferences is not the best way to report about climate change, reporting is usually from a high-level perspective and often ordinary people miss important information.

Conference reporting neglects the day-to-day reporting on climate change, 95% of the articles after COP17 addressed stories from a high-level perspective,” added Sithole.

Touching on the freedom of the press and climate reporting, Zeynab Wandati, Climate Editor at Nation Media Group, said editors at newsrooms often restrict constant reporting on climate change, and this poses an attack on freedom of press and expression.

“For instance, here in our country [Kenya], Nation Media Group has been covering a collection of climate change stories relating to the current drought haunting Kenya.

Once the drought ends, our stories are knocked out of the headlines, we have to fight with editors to include climate change stories,” Wandati said.

According to Wandati, this shows how quality journalism is under threat from political repression, as informing the public about climate reporting remains a challenge.

The quality of journalism influences its quality of life

The conference discussions further presented the increasing polarisation in society, combined with large groups not having access to quality journalism that is increasing gaps in society.

This narrow focus presents difficulties for journalists as they face various setbacks such as having access to information, gender inequalities and bridging gaps in society.

The conference further included breakout sessions where attendees were divided into working groups in order to practically develop sustainable journalism under the six sustainability concepts.  Each of the working groups developed its own assessments and suggestions, including the need to develop qualitative, independent education institutions and long-term in-house training programmes for journalists.

Economic development and sustainability go hand in hand

“Journalism that works requires high-quality content, independent journalism, credible and transparency journalism to run independent media on sustainability, targeting the business community and public sector,” said Kenyan award-winning journalist Linus Kaikai during his presentation. `

Kaikai said it was important for journalists to always adhere to Journalism 101, painting a picture of the 5W’s and H to ensure that journalism practice is sustainable.

He said for journalism to be sustainable, media professionals have to question the purpose it serves and why it was founded. “Journalism was founded to keep the public informed by reporting on government activities,” said Kaikai.

Kaikai painted a picture of the media landscape in Kenya and the way it has evolved to its current state where it boasts 200 radio stations, 135 TV stations and 100 print publications.

Rishad Patel, the co-founder of Splice Media, said to maintain journalism and for it to be economically sustainable, is not only about generating content but helping people make better decisions.

“Maybe media business needs to stop being the content business and start being the help that people need to be able to solve their problems,” said Patel.

Patel said with this concept journalists will know how to make informed decisions in society and the role they serve, and this will help media companies to be financially sustainable.

Based on generating revenue without running over to advertisers who will oftentimes ask for analytics, prioritising the purpose journalism serves in the community, will make it affluent for media companies to generate revenue.  

The essence of Sustainable Journalism Conference

Speaking on the spirit of the conference, the business development and marketing lead at Atkins, Dharma Charana told WCJ journalist that, the idea behind the conference was to find a deliberate gesture illustrating international commitment to make journalism sustainable financially, socially and culturally.

“Undeniably, as journalists, we need to strive for sustainability within different spheres in a media landscape that is financially viable and contributes significantly to sustainable societies,” said Charana.

To facilitate this statement, we had interactive discussions on how to develop innovative ideas that will put sustainability into practice,” she added.

Interactive dialogues and key outcomes emanating from all the themes at this conference provided based knowledge and business growth opportunities for African media companies and inspire the necessary transformation within this realm.

[IN PICTURES: Sustainable Journalism in Practice Conference]

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