Training – African Institute for Investigative Journalism

The 2022 Open Climate reporting initiative training

A group of 10 journalists went through a 3 day residential training in Kampala on reporting on climate change and environmental crime with support from the Centre for Investigative journalism.

The Fellows in this year’s fellowship were;

Chowoo Willy
Racheal pAKRWOTH from News 24/7
Gerald Tenywa from New vISION
Okello Jesus Ojara
Jamila Mulindwa Nuwaha
Kei Emmanuel Duku
Patrick Jaramogi a freelance investigative journalist
Gloria Atuhairwe
Joel Kaguta
Stuart Tibaweswa

These 10 reporters were selected on the basis of their story pitches out of a pool of over 70 that applied for this fellowship.

The fellows were first taken through an introductory lecture on climate change and environmental crime by Dr. Daniel Dumba, a seasoned climate change, and environmental Science Specialist.

This was a crucial first stage of the training process so the fellows could understand the intricate nature of climate change statistics and data.

Because a lot of the reporting on climate change involves data, the fellows were taken through a practical lesson on the latest data gathering and analysis tools available on the internet. This session was led by Deputy Executive director of the African Institute for Investigative journalism Raymond Mujuni.

Raymond mujuni takes the journalists through a practical session on data journalism

Senior Investigative journalists then put on their trainer’s hats and joined us to take the fellows through various topics, among them; the art of storytelling, Investigative filmmaking, Story writing, Editing, Fact-checking, and Solution based journalism among others.

On top of speaking to senior investigative journalists, the fellows got a chance to interact with celebrated environmentalists William Amanzuru and Rebecca Sandoval who shared their experiences in the field of conservation.

Just as learning never stops, the learning went on into the night but this time in a more relaxed atmosphere, under the stars around a fire.

A fireplace dinner that gave the fellows an opportunity to interact with one another and also hear from senior journalists while enjoying a meal together.

The annual investigative journalism fellowship

July 27, 20220

The annual investigative journalism fellowship kicked off on 12^th July 2022 week with a three-day intense training for selected fellows from across the country.

The training focused on skills-based learning centered on data journalism, mobile journalism, introduction to investigative reporting and producing compelling investigative journalism among others.

The 15 fellows who graduated into the fellowship were selected from a large pool of applicants who demonstrated through their story pitches a keen interest to produce compelling investigative reporting in the areas of corruption and accountability, climate change and environmental crime, human rights violations and access to justice.

The Executive Director for the African Institute For Investigative Journalism Solomon Serwanjja congratulated the fellows who started the year-long fellowship upon their selection and urged them to do investigative journalism in public interest.

Solomon Serwanjja Executive Director AIIJ

“All good investigative journalism is done in the defense of public interest.
We need to increase our ability to bring the powerful to account through our stories and to offer the voiceless a voice”
he said as he opened the training.

The fellows were given an introduction to investigative journalism toolkit by Raymond Mujuni, the Deputy Executive Director of AIIJ. He took them through the features of investigative journalism and the considerations the fellows would take for writing and producing compelling reporting. He also taught the fellows on how to research for investigative journalism.

The fellows also interacted with rekonwned investigative journalists like Frederick Musisi, Canary Mugume and Joseph Beyanga.

After the three-day training, the fellows will now competitively pitch to have their stories funded and executed.

The Annual Investigative Journalism Fellowship is the first of its kind boutique training centered on improving investigative reporting in newsrooms and local communities. It centers on equipping journalists with both skills, training and exposure combined with grants to pursue dedicated investigative reporting.

The Institute is conducting the training in partnership with the Media Innovation Centre of the Aga Khan University.

The fellowship in Pictures