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NAMIBIAN AND
BENIN JOURNALISTS ARE FIRST WINNERS OF FAIR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM GRANTS
BY SEYI ODUYELA
The Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) has awarded its first two
small grants for independent journalistic investigations. The grants will enable
senior journalists in
Namibia
and Benin to undertake in-depth research and reportage into issues that are too
complex, too time consuming, or simply too expensive to be done otherwise.
Gerard Guedegbe will receive Euro 4,000 to explore the extent of and reasons for
ritual infanticide in
Benin, while John Grobler* will receive a similar grant to investigate
whether international fleets are overfishing territorial waters in
Namibia.
The results of both investigations will be published in their home countries and
in other FAIR partner media across the continent and in
Europe.
The small grants form part of FAIR's drive to improve the depth and breadth of
grassroots investigative journalism on the continent. The grants are funded by
the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa (NiZA).
Guedegbe and Grobler beat 19 other applicants for the inaugural grants,
including proposals from
Burkina
Faso, the
Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC),
Lesotho,
Ivory Coast,
Malawi,
Niger,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Uganda,
and
Zimbabwe. The two runners-up for the grants include a proposal to
investigate the systematic sexual abuse of schoolgirls in
Swaziland,
and the growth of child trafficking in Benin. Other applications included
proposals to investigate female circumcision, toxic dumping and pollution, the
use of rape and sexual abuse as a weapon of war, and the plight of child
refugees.
An independent and international FAIR advisory council selected the winners
using an impartial points-based evaluation system and blind ballot. The advisory
council included veteran investigative author and London-based academic Joe
Hanlon, African Economic Editors' Network chairman Nixon Kariithi,
Zimbabwe
journalism trainer and gender activist Patricia Made, International Press
Institute (IPI) laureate and Namibian editor Gwen Lister*, and former Kenyan
Anti Corruption Bureau chief John Githongo.
"We are thrilled at the calibre of the winners, and at the diversity and number
of the applications. This proves just how passionate many African journalists
are to go the extra mile and get to the truth - despite the very real dangers
and resource restraints they face," said FAIR chairman and award-winning
Malawian journalist, Hilary Mbobe. "In fact, many of the proposals were so
strong and of such pressing public interest that we would gladly have funded
them as well if only we had the money."
The success of the inaugural grants programme has prompted FAIR to consider
expanding its support for independent journalistic investigations.
FAIR is not an NGO. It is instead a non-profit pan-African network of working
investigative journalists that seeks to improve the quality, diversity, and
depth of reportage by supporting the independence of investigative journalists,
by improving their access to information and resources, and by providing support
in times of need.
FAIR's website can be found at
www.fairreporters. org.
* In the interests of disclosure, FAIR would like to note that John Grobler is
currently its elected deputy chairman. Neither FAIR's board nor its secretariat
played any role in the adjudication or shortlisting of applicants, and Grobler's
position played no role in deliberations by the independent advisory council.
* Advisory council member Gwen Lister recused herself from all deliberations on
Grobler's application due to the fact that her publication, The Namibian, often
publishes his work.
In the interests of transparency the procedural documentation on the Advisory
Council's adjudicative process will be made available by the FAIR Board upon
request
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