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ANYA SCHIFFRIN & ERIKA RODRIGUES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE EXTRACTIVE SECTOR THE NEW WAVE OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM IN RESOURCE-RICH COUNTRIES
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A N YA S C H I F F R I N & E R I KA R O D R I G U E S
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE EXTRACTIVE
SECTOR
THE NEW WAVE OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM IN RESOURCE-RICH
COUNTRIES
INTRODUCTION
• At the GIJN meeting in Rio in 2013, we presented a paper on new data sets and tools available for journalists covering the extractive industries• We highlighted the critical role journalists can
play in bridging power asymmetries between corporations/governments and civil society/NGOs• Since then, we have looked at how tech savvy
journalists have promoted accountability and corporate governance, as well as considered cases where extractive journalism has had an impact
WHAT IT’S WORTH
• Estimated global market capitalization of publicly traded gas, oil, and mining companies:• 6.1 trillion Euros
• Value of extractives companies trading in three primary American exchanges:• 3.7 trillion Euros
THE RESOURCE CURSE
• Many government rely on oil, gas and mining revenues: in 2013, 41 resource-rich countries generated at least one third of GDP from the extractive sector (Resource Governance Index).
• But governments often misuse this wealth.• Nigeria: corruption, oil theft and sabotage has led to an
estimated loss of $7 billion of oil revenue annually since 1973 (International Energy Agency 2012).
• South Africa: Mining contributes 18% of GDP, but unemployment is still at 24.7% and 31.3% of the population lives below the poverty line (CIA World Factbook).
• “Conflict minerals” in DR Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have fueled decades of civil wars.
• Will recent findings of oil & gas fields in Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania follow the same pattern?
THE EXTRACTIVES TRANSPARENCY MOVEMENT
In an effort to track where wealth from extractives is going, a large transparency movement has emerged in recent years.International organizations like:• Global Witness • Natural Resource Governance Institute • Human Rights Watch • Oxfam
Have worked to:• support local civil society groups • push for greater transparency and accountability from both
governments and corporations• prevent misuse of these resources, so that they can instead be used
to foster development and benefit ordinary citizens.
• 31 COMPLIANT COUNTRIES• 17 Candidate Countries• 39 Countries with EITI
Reports• 249 Fiscal
Years• 1.667 Trillion
Total Government Revenue (IN USD)
THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA• The media plays a critical watchdog role to both
governments and corporations through investigative reporting.
• We believe that social media, big data and use of new websites providing information about the extractives can help journalists do in-depth reporting.
• We argue that journalists should make use of digital technology to find sources and information that governments and corporations are often reluctant to share.
• We recommend a number of different websites that can help journalists better cover the extractives (list available online).
GOLD-MINING IN GHANA
The price of gold: Chinese mining in Ghana documentary | Guardian Investigations
THE PARADOX
• More information available• More opportunities for cross border reporting• More NGO support• BUT: But not much more in-depth exposure
reporting in places where extractives are located.
WHY?• Internal and external pressures
Internal Pressures • Lack of resources in the newsroom means• Lack of experienced beat reporters• reporters not going out on reporting trips• Lack of access to far-flung places
• Complex sector to cover
REASONS FOR WEAKNESS IN THE COVERAGE OF EXTRACTIVES
External Pressures• Wealthy oil, gas, and mining companies• Outspending media outlets • Pressure and intimidation on journalists• Costly and drawn-out lawsuits
• Infinito Gold vs. Costa Rican Professors
• Widespread support because extractives are a source of revenue• Transparency is still lacking – hard to find data
• Limits on press freedom• Asymmetries of power and information
REASONS FOR WEAKNESS IN THE COVERAGE OF EXTRACTIVES
EXTERNAL PRESSURES: HARD TO FIND DATA
• Many different sources provide numbers, in many different formats—How to compare? Who to trust?
• Overwhelming amounts—Data dump.• Difficult to use and understand—Journalists
unfamiliar with the complex and technical information that coverage of the extractive sector requires.
• Refusal by companies and governments to reveal information:• US corporates have fought hard against the Cardin-Lugar
amendment of the Dodd Frank Law provisions 1502 and 1504: “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers” , which requires them to report their payments country by country and project by project.
EXTERNAL PRESSURES: LIMITS ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
• “The space for free expression is narrower and narrower and that is having an impact on reporting,” -- Lisa Misol, Human Rights Watch
• Arrests of journalists covering oil, gas and mining deters others from investigative reporting. The impact of intimidation goes far beyond the arrest of one or two journalists.
• Khadija Ismayilova-Azerbaijan,sentenced in 2015 to 7.5 years in jail• Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota, a Cameroonian journalist, was arrested along
with two other journalists in Yaounde in 2010 for investigating corruption in the state owned oil company SNH. Two months later, Ngota died in while in prison under mysterious circumstances.
• Rafael Marques, an Angolan journalist, was twice imprisoned for his work. His 2011 book “Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola” accuses private security companies and diamond mining companies of routinely killing and terrorizing villagers deemed to have interfered in mining operations in Northern Angola, with the complicity of the government (Marques 2011).
INTERNAL PRESSURES
• Extractive coverage requires time and resource commitments for over-stretched news rooms that are often financially struggling.• Newsroom priorities: long, complex stories may
not be of interest to readers. To attract more advertising, media plays to public tastes.• Requires well-trained and experienced journalists
who are better-paid, and may also require travel to areas where extraction takes place. Many African media outlets lack both this human and financial capital.
INTERNAL PRESSURES
"Media owners don't see the need to invest in reporters who will specialize in beats that focus on the extractive sector. They are happier giving airtime to needless political discourse than discussing the very key issues that affect development. The only time a media organization will devote a good amount of airtime or cover pages to talking about the extractive sector is when something terrible happens--for example, an illegal or legal miner(s) is trapped in a pit during operations. It will get all the attention it deserves. But even with that, the story…will be a sub-headline. The front page will be devoted to a meet and greet tour conducted by the president.” - Anny Osabute, Joy FM in Ghana
THE NEWS CYCLE • Extractive coverage is often overshadowed by other news
events.• Nigerian media has been covering the elections and Boko
Haram and the political instability in the Middle East including the war against ISIS and conflicts in Syria, and these important stories have taken a vast amount of space and attention, displacing reporting on the extractives.
• The US has stepped up oil production and so readers are less interested in news about extractives overseas.
• The drop in oil prices and China's economic slowdown which will affect their imports of oil, gas and minerals may also make covering the extractives less of newsroom priority although in fact it should give rise to stories about how commodity producing countries will fare as their exports decrease.
SOME SOLUTIONS
• To combat the external and internal pressures on journalists that account for a dearth of extractives reporting, we recommend harnessing all the institutions and tools available that can help rectify the power asymmetries.
• In a globalized and connected world, there are many ways to form cross border alliances that can help reporting continue even when one journalist or media outlet is silenced.
THE ROLE OF NON-PROFITS• There is a role for NGOs and civil societies to play in
promoting coverage of the extractive sector and combating barriers. • Technology and advocacy by NGOs can help make data easier to
access.• New means of dissemination and cross-border networks of
investigative journalists and NGOs can combat oppressive regimes. • Training courses and non-profit support can help increase newsroom
capacity.• Analyze publicly available information
• There is a long tradition of NGO and civil society involvement in investigative reporting. Many great labor stories and investigations into human rights abuses, such as ED Morel's work on the brutality of conditions in the Congo, were written with the help of missionaries and anti-slavery groups (Schiffrin 2014) (Hochschild).
ROLE OF NON-PROFITS
"The journalists are chasing other things. They are stressed, in terms of staff, actually having people who are passionate about it and know where to go for information. The 2010 Dodd Frank law has been held up and vested interests in many countries, including in the US have not released information so journalists do t have access to the information n͛͛��they need. If NGOs want to encourage this kind of reporting then they have to look into the available data, find the inconsistencies and then release it to reporters. What journalists can do is make it public and that naming and shaming may affect some of the bigger players who value their reputation and will change their behavior.” - Nick Pythian, who has worked with the Natural Resource Governance Institute on trainings in Africa
THE ROLE OF NON-PROFITS
• Trade-offs: • Safeguarding editorial independence • Donors should be careful to be transparent
about their actions.• Media should be careful of who may be
supporting the NGOs from which they accept support. Are they funded by industry or government to push a particular angle?
SOLUTIONS TO LIMITED PRESS FREEDOM
• Leaking stories to foreign journalists can be a way to get a story out which can be re-reported at home. • Similarly, journalists who are barred from reporting
controversial news can blog about it anonymously or leak it to a website that covers the same subject.• Organizations like the Global Journalism Investigative
Network, SCOOP or the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting project connect different groups to each other and help journalists report stories across international borders • Luxembourg Leaks stories about tax evasion which was
produced by a consortium led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
SOLUTIONS TO LIMITED PRESS FREEDOM
• In many repressive regimes there is space for business journalism (think Vietnam, Zimbabwe). Often governments that frown on investigative reporting will give more latitude to journalists who write on business and foreign investment. Journalists can leverage this by framing oil and gas reporting as business stories.
SOLUTIONS TO INTERNAL PRESSURES
Trainings:• Many are short term• In order to make trainings more attractive to busy journalists
who find it hard to leave their offices, trainings can result in a newsworthy, publishable story that can be filed to an editor back at the media outlet.
• Organizations that organize trainings can also make it easier for journalists to attend by ensuring that journalists have some free time during site visits to work on other stories that may be due.
• Journalists in low-income countries often accept press trips because they don't have the opportunity to travel otherwise. Making sure the reporters are free to report independently on the subjects their newsroom prioritizes would help protect journalism independence while making such trips attractive.
SOLUTIONS TO INTERNAL PRESSURES
MASC in Mozambique has also helped find interns who can substitute for journalists who are away training courses for extended periods of time. • This can free up experienced journalists to do the
training and improve their skills while also giving a chance to a less-experienced person who wants on-the-job experience.
• As always, making sure there is mentoring and follow up after the training course - as Natural Resources Governance Institute and other organizations do - can help ensure that the lessons are not lost and result in improvements in newsroom practices as well as better quality reporting by journalists who have received training.
SUCCESSES
• History shows us that despite risks, brave journalists take risks and do often have impact. • The rise of the internet has made dissemination
of news far easier.• Sahara Reporters and Premium Times in Nigeria • Daily Maverick in South Africa and their coverage
Marikana mine massacre highlight the importance of repeated coverage on a topic.
american.com // un-rok.org // cia.gov
More Data & More Transparency:
EXAMPLES OF WATCHDOG REPORTING ON THE EXTRACTIVES
• Media impact on policy• Mozambique: protests new legislation• Mozambique’s EITI application• Uganda (June 2013): government disclosure• Marques incarceration in 1999 Angola’s Press
Law changed a decade later (thanks also to foreign pressure)
OPENING UP THE DEBATE
• Grey area between no impact and immediate impact• Vietnam in 2007
• Reasons bloggers/journalists are effective• Amplification effect• Draw attention and reframe the debate• Fluidity between platforms
• Now there is more and better data
ASYMMETRIES OF INFORMATION AND OF POWER
• Teaming up with other voices and unblocking information so that journalists are not working in isolation• Mexico debated opening up its hydrocarbon
sector to foreign companies• Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act passed in the US in 2010 (not clear how well 1502 and 1504 will be implemented)• Even one lone blogger can help create the
cascading effect of good reporting, raising standards
ASYMMETRIES OF INFORMATION AND OF POWER, HISTORY
• Public campaigns• Private campaigns• Benjamin Saldana Rocca, founder of La Sanccion
in Iquitos• E.D. Morel Founder, The West African Mail
THE WEST AFRICAN MAIL
TOOLS
What follows is a selection of useful websites and tools that journalists can employ to cover the extractives industry, which may help tackle some of the constraints they face and thus lead to an increase in the amount of in-depth investigative reporting in this area.
TOOLS FOR JOURNALISTSThomson Reuters Foundation Oil and Gas Reporting Handbook
TOOLS/PLACES TO GET INFORMATIONWITH EXTRACTIVE FOCUS
July 18th 2014
SITES WITH AN EXTRACTIVES FOCUS
Accessed Oct. 15, 2015
SITES WITH AN EXTRACTIVES FOCUS
Accessed Oct 15 2015
Double Offshore Nigeria
TOOLS/PLACES TO GET INFORMATIONWITH EXTRACTIVES FOCUS
Oct 4th, 2013
TOOLS/PLACES TO GET INFORMATIONREVENUE MANAGEMENT
AND TRANSPARENCY
Oct 5th, 2013
REVENUE MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY
July 18th 2014
TOOLS/PLACES TO GET INFORMATIONREVENUE MANAGEMENT
AND TRANSPARENCY
Oct 5th, 2013
TOOLS/PLACES TO GET INFORMATIONMAPPING/VISUALIZATION TOOLS
Oct 5th, 2013
STORIES
• Fatal Extraction – An investigation of into the impact of Australian mining companies across Africa organized by ICIJ with support from ANCIR.
• This story and several of the initiatives listed above were created with the help of open source technology produced by Code For Africa, which has also been used for investigations into the number of people displaced by World Bank projects.
IDEAS FOR FUTURE STORIES • How does a company like Shell or a multinational acquiesce
to restrictions in one jurisdiction but fight them tooth and nail elsewhere?
• Look at the history of repressive governments in relation to oil price. A lot of reforms tend to take place when oil prices collapse—that is when Angola approaches the IMF for money. What do governments that budgeted for $100 a barrel do when the price is $40? Will there be a reckoning among governments about what is and what is not possible?
• What happens when governments feels pressure and don’t have money to dole out patronage? When it doesn't have money to be as corrupt as it wants to be? This most obviously plays out when autocratic or corrupt governments feel pressured and crack down on journalists.
IDEAS FOR STORIES
• What effect will TPP Have?• What effect will Canada’s new transparency act
have?• Teaming Up with Transparency International• Making Connections
IDEAS FOR FUTURE STORIES
• Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform• Section 1504• Conflict diamonds & Section 1502 • Non-required transparency of environmental damage
• Follow-up stories: What are extractive sector companies spending in the countries where they work?• Are bilateral investment treaties undermining
national sovereignty?• Unfairness of international arbitration and new
regulations.
IDEAS FOR FUTURE STORIES
• Chris Taggart campaign from Open Corporates• Anniversary celebrations of joining EITI• Forward-looking pieces:• Azerbaijan drawing down reserves, costly building projects
• Perennial story ideas:• Economic consequences in remote, underdeveloped areas • Resettlement of populations living near sites of extraction• Effects on social fabric
CONCLUSION
• New technology has dramatically changed how reporting is being done around the world and can help journalists overcome some of the difficulties they face in getting access to sources and seeing the places where mining and other kinds of extraction takes place. However, many of these new tools are in the start-up phase and are not fully developed. Even when they are developed, journalists often don’t use them.
• Vast amounts of data are being published online but it will take some time for newsrooms to understand how to use it. In the course of our interviews, we were told that in order for the technology to make a difference it has to be easy to use, fit with current newsroom practices, make the work of journalism work simpler and be directly relevant. As journalist Nicholas Phythian put it: “In short, it needs to answer the "What's in it for me?" question.”
