The initiative allowed the Truth Reporting Post consortium of investigative journalists — formerly known as the Togo Reporting Post — to train 25 journalists in investigative methods and how to use them in environmental reporting. The media professionals hailed from Togo, Guinea, Ghana and Benin, and were trained in open source research techniques, a field known as OSINT, focusing on environmental issues, a sub-field known as ECOSINT. The experience was “beneficial in more ways than one,” according to one of the participants who came to Togo specifically for the training, and who plans to investigate the survival of the Niger River.
The consortium’s desire to do journalism differently was a main impetus behind the training. “The environment is an important issue that is unfortunately under-reported, misunderstood or ignored,” said the chair of the organising committee, Larissa Agbenou. The coordinator of the Truth Reporting Post, Pierre-Claver Kuvo, believes that this type of training is essential, “in order to bring out the truth beyond conventional discourse.”