TheCable

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on Thursday announced journalism and media funding to nine organisations to advance anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria.

Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), also known as the Cable Foundation, is among the grant winners and will “support investigative journalism in Nigeria and to educate the public and other important audiences about issues related to corruption, with a focus on the electricity and education sectors”, according to the statement.

CNJF is a partner organisation to TheCable, Nigeria’s independent online newspaper.

Also awarded grants are Bayero University Kano  (to enhance training, curriculum, teaching, and learning opportunities for the next generation of investigative journalists), Daily Trust Foundation (to strengthen the capacity of journalists, media professionals, and students to conduct high quality investigative and data-driven journalism), and International Centre for Investigative Reporting (to train journalists on investigative journalism techniques and to support in-depth field investigations).

Others are Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (to carry out investigations on financing, security, and terrorism; to create a fact checking website for journalists; and to build civic technology for citizens and journalists to collaboratively learn and produce multimedia reports related to corruption), Reboot, Brooklyn, NY (to provide technical assistance to journalism and media organizations in Nigeria, helping them to develop sustainable business models and strengthen their investigative and data-driven reporting), and Sahara Reporters (to launch a Lagos-based civic media laboratory to engage citizens in public dialogue on corruption and other social issues).

Tiger Eye Social Foundation, Ghana (to strengthen investigative capacity of Nigerian media by training journalists in investigative techniques and supporting field investigations on corruption) and Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (to pilot an initiative that will monitor regulatory agencies in Nigeria using media and investigative journalism) complete the list.

The grants, worth $5 million in all, are part of the MacArthur Foundation’s On Nigeria grantmaking “which seeks to create a new atmosphere of accountability, transparency, and good governance in the country by strengthening Nigerian-led anti-corruption efforts and reducing retail or ‘petty’ corruption in key sectors” – according to the statement.

The Chicago, US-based foundation said: “The nine grants announced today seek to strengthen investigative and data-driven journalism in Nigeria and to reinforce the role played by independent media and citizens in revealing and documenting corruption. The grants will support a range of projects, including trainings for journalists on investigative field work and data-driven reporting, assistance for independent media organizations working to develop sustainable business models, and initiatives to monitor and report on Nigerian regulatory agencies in key sectors. Additional funding in 2017 will support efforts to increase the capacity of citizens to use social media as a driver of social change.”

Kole Shettima, MacArthur Foundation Nigeria Office Director, said: “Media and citizens are playing an increasingly active and important watchdog role in Nigeria. With this support we hope to contribute to a culture of investigation and transparency, in which authorities are held accountable and independent voices are empowered to monitor, detect, and report on issues of corruption.”