Just in the last few weeks I’ve had a few meetings with international NGOs in the space of anti corruption and investigative journalism with view to surfacing their frustrations and suggesting new models.
They all suffer from under-funding, increasingly subject to denials or delays in accessing freedom of information (FOI), targeting by the power, loss of engagement and diminshed shock impact of revelations. Since there’s no meaningful social appreciation of what they are doing and high risk of physical, legal, financial and psychological threats/harms - it’s no wonder they suffer from low morale.
Broadly they have little faith in the ability to affect a positive change in the system, yet, they are still alligned with traditional ideals of journalism that are not valid anymore. They celebrate their symbolic little victories - but it’s only a drop in the ocean.
I’m actually quite shocked how disillusioned they seem to be and yet totally dismissive of new models!
The core value proposition is:
Coonfronting injustice, holding power accountable, and enabling social transformation by mobilising people, disrupting harmful norms, and demanding systemic change.
The grand narratives are:
“The truth will set us free”
“Public awareness leads to accountability” - but not valid anymore
I tried to address the following points:
- Funding
- Political power
- Alignment with progressive interest groups
- Multi media content
- Focus on local corruption as opposed to top down approach
I thought that these groups should be concerned with capacity building and empowerment and they should align themselves with some progressive sources of economical and political power.
Unfortunately, they all seem very rigid and sticking to the values that their audience doesn’t value as much anymore. Anyone has any thoughts about this?
Are radical realism, systems thinking, co-creation and experimentation the way forward?