It pays to spend time with locals

The Finnish Broadcasting Company’s (Yle) Jerusalem correspondent Aishi Zidan is well acquainted with development organisations. She says that you can get up-to-date local information from the major international NGOs, and in some situations they will assist journalists in visiting trouble spots.

– Of course, you have to bear in mind that NGOs have their own objectives and motives. You need to have the same critical attitude with them as with other players.

Zidan says that development journalism often concentrates on what places have been bombed and how many people have died. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

The most interesting and refreshing topics and perspectives are usually to do with local people. And the best way to meet them is to be among them.

It’s also important to do preparatory background work. That way you’ll be able to find out the right things and ask the right questions.

Building trust takes time

Anna Palmén, spokesperson at World Vision Finland, stresses that journalists need to be constantly networking. She spent three years in Palestine almost wholly without contacts other than local inhabitants. She learnt Arabic and acquired a valuable insight into the situation in the region.

– You see many journalists there who rely solely on NGOs and established acquaintances. That way you easily end up only spending time in your own group, without having any interaction with day-to-day life in the region.

Before you do stories about local people it’s best to first earn their trust. Journalists should be bear in mind that building trust takes time.

But Palmén also recommends that you make use of various development NGOs.

– Such organisations are usually open and willing to cooperate but they always have their own agendas. Journalists should remember to look for other perspectives.

Differing views from organisations too

Salla Nazarenko, director of Physician’s for Social Responsibility, encourages journalists to cooperate with NGOs. NGO workers are well acquainted with day-to-day life in their area. They use the same modes of transport and live in the same places as local people. They can find local contacts and help with a variety of practical arrangements.

– It’s always worth using our network. If needed, I will help to see which of our projects to get stories from. Women’s magazines might be interested in the daily situation of women in Kathmandu or Nairobi. And you can publicise things by blog.

On issues concerning sexual minorities or sexual health, Nazaranko recommends cooperating with social welfare and health organisations such as the Family Federation of Finland, which operates throughout Finland.

– On the other hand, internationally, UN organisations have good and reliable information. Secular or non-religious organisations in general are good partners on issues to do with sexuality.

Nazarenko says she is also willing to hire journalists.

– If someone’s applying for a journalists’ grant, I’d be glad to provide recommendations. And if you visit our target areas and come up with a good story, I’ll happily buy it together with some photos.

Even a productive source can be a problem

Speaking at the journalists’ training course organised by the Finnish Foundation for Media and Development (Vikes) and the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation (KVS), Riitta Raatikainen, managing editor of the paper Savon Sanomat, stressed that transparency is essential when journalists offer stories about developing countries.

As a commissioning editor, she wants to know what organisations have been used as sources, who journalists have worked with, and who were their guides. Publishers want such information so as to be sure of the reliability of journalists’ sources.

No one wants to see a repeat of the “Aleppo toy smuggler” case. This involved Rami Adham, dubbed the Aleppo toy smuggler, who gained worldwide attention and was hailed as a hero in many media before it was revealed that there were irregularities in his assistance for orphaned Syrian children and that some of his good deeds were fabricated.