MEDIA experts have urged news organisations in Southern Africa to build sustainable business models that allow journalists to investigate powerful individuals and corporations without being compromised by the interests of funders.

Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) Founder and Director Zenzele Ndebele says media houses should be financially strong enough to investigate powerful individuals without worrying about losing investments or funding.

Meanwhile, Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) Programme Director Nolwazi Tusini says media organisations must address basic financial management challenges and develop clear business strategies if they are to become sustainable.

The two were speaking during a panel discussion titled “Sustainable Models and the Big Tech Question: Funding Journalism Without Funding Its Capture” at the Who Counts? Journalism and Accountability in a Disrupted Information Ecosystem conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The two-day conference, which was organised by MISA Malawi, the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE), NMT Media Foundation and DW Akademie, concluded yesterday after covering a wide range of issues which affect journalists and the media industry.

The conference, which ran from October 6 to 7, brought together journalism educators, journalists, academics, media freedom advocates and media literacy experts to discuss the future of journalism and journalism education in Southern Africa.

During the discussion, Ndebele argued that journalists should be able to investigate governments, mining companies and other powerful institutions without first having to consider whether an investigation would upset an investor or threaten the organisation’s financial survival.

“For us as CITE, sustainability is more than having money to pay salaries and running costs. It also has to be about the fact that we should choose the journalism that we want to produce and who we investigate or write about. Because we have realised that you can get one funder who gives a million bucks a year, but there are certain things that you are not able to do. I think being sustainable is not just about being able to operate, pay bills and be happy, but it should also be about running an operation where, as journalists, you decide that today we want to investigate a mining company, we want to investigate a government, or whoever, without the fear of saying, ‘if we do this, then we lose our business’,” said Ndebele.

“I think we have also learnt that being dependent on one source of income is a problem. USAID, for example, has shown us that people who depended on one kind of investment had problems. If it is also big businesses, if you then write a story that they are not happy with, then you are out of business. So, I think sustainability is more than just the finances. We have been trying to do a mix of both. Are we sustainable? I’m not sure, but we are existing”.

Meanwhile, Tusini urged media organisations to strengthen the business side of their operations by putting in place proper financial management systems and clear business strategies capable of sustaining their operations.

She argued that a newsroom could have great journalists but still struggle to survive if the organisation behind it did not understand its finances.

“Fundamentally, the thing that matters, and the thing that is almost always missing from media organisations is the basics: basic financial management systems, basic HR management. Just the basic building blocks of a business and a going concern are often not there. We will find media organisations that have incredible newsrooms, great journalists, but the basics are not there. Your organisation will work when you put the basics in place. What is your business strategy? What is your plan? What are you trying to achieve? And do you have the building blocks to get there?” said Tusini.

During the first day of the conference, media professionals focused mainly on the changing media environment and the challenges that many media organisations are facing, particularly how they can make enough money to survive without allowing funders or powerful technology companies to influence their work. The panelists highlighted that media organisations could explore other businesses and sources of income to complement revenue from journalism and reduce their dependence on funders.

The growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in journalism was also tackled, with a focus on how newsrooms and journalism schools can embrace the technology without abandoning the basic principles and skills of journalism, such as verifying information, checking facts and maintaining professional standards.

Other topics included access to information, the safety of journalists and cybercrime laws in Southern Africa. Participants also noted that audiences are now increasingly turning to social media rather than relying only on traditional newspapers, radio and television for news.

And on Wednesday, the media practitioners stressed the need for journalism schools to give students more practical newsroom experience so that they are better prepared for the demands of the profession.

Another matter that was addressed was the emotional pressure that comes with journalism, especially for journalists who cover stories relating to deaths and other traumatic events. Journalists and media stakeholders stressed the need for newsrooms to pay attention to reporters’ mental and emotional wellbeing instead of simply expecting them to move on from difficult assignments.