AIJC2023 drew more than 400 participants from at least 35 African countries and 20 other nations around the world.
During a panel at the 2022 African Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, prominent women editors and reporters from the continent emphasized the need for diversity in both newsroom staff and coverage of issues.
The largest-ever African Investigative Journalism Conference (#AIJC2022) drew 375 attendees from 51 countries to Africa’s premier muckraker gathering. The conference looked into how AI is driving a “third wave of journalism,” which new tools and resources are available to watchdog reporters, and showcased some of the world-class exposés being produced on the continent.
This year’s African Investigative Journalism Conference, boasting about 250 attendees from 28 countries, concluded an enthusiastic three days of workshops and presentations on Wednesday in Johannesburg, South Africa. Now in its eleventh year, the AIJC is the largest gathering of investigative journalists in Africa. With 70 sessions, the conference was, as one attendee put it, “a candy store for journalists.”
A boom in investigative journalism in South Africa seems to be winding down as media houses slash budgets to balance their books to continue to pay dividends to shareholders. “South Africa has had something of a golden era in investigative reporting, with as many as four teams at different institutions dedicated to it,” said Professor Anton Harber, head of the journalism department at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
