Premium Times journalists, others to speak as African Investigative Journalism Conference starts

The African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC) is set to begin on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The three-day conference, which is in its 13th edition, is expected to attract participants, mainly journalists and journalism teachers, from various African countries and beyond.

The conference is organised by the Wit Journalism, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Dapo Olorunyomi and Musikilu Mojeed, the publisher and the editor-in-chief of Premium Times newspaper respectively, are among the journalists scheduled to speak at the conference.

Both Messrs Olorunyomi and Mojeed have been regular speakers at the annual conference.

Some other Nigerian journalists expected to speak at the conference include Juliana Francis, the crime editor of New Telegraph and ‘Fisayo Soyombo, former editor of the Cable newspaper.

Mr Olorunyomi will be speaking on ideas and practice for financial sustainability of newsroom, for media organisations in Africa, while Mr Mojeed, together with Emmanuel Mayah, multiple award-winning investigative reporter, is expected to take the conference participants through the investigative skill and effort in a story that won for the newspaper the Global Shining Light Award in 2017.

Premium Times had won the award with a two-part story which investigated the extrajudicial killings of IPOB protesters: ‘Inside theMassive Extrajudicial Killings in Nigeria’s South-East’‎ and ‎’How the OnitshaMassacre of Pro-Biafra Supporters was Coordinated.’‎

Anas Aremeyaw Anas, a popular undercover journalist in Ghana, is also expected to speak at the conference.

“AIJC has done so much to revive and sustain investigative journalism in Africa. You know, before now there was a dearth of investigative reporters and reports around the continent. Today, we can see the impact of investigative journalism not only in Nigeria but in various African countries,” Muyiwa Popoola, a professor of mass communication, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, told PREMIUM TIMES in Johannesburg.

The conference is supported by MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC), Absa Group Limited, among other partners.

Mr Popoola, who is attending the conference for the fifth time, called for more support for it to enable “investigative journalism to thrive for the good of democracy and good governance in Africa.”