Sahara Reporters

Sahara Reporters
Type News agency
Format Online
Founded 2006
Language English
Website saharareporters.com

Sahara Reporters is an online news agency that focuses on promoting citizen journalism by encouraging everyday people to report stories about corruption, human rights abuses and other political misconduct in Nigeria. A frontier news source for advocacy journalismSahara Reporters has been referred to as the “Wikileaks of Africa” by The Daily Beast.[1]

Based in New York City, Sahara Reporters was founded in 2006 by Nigerian political activist Omoyele Sowore. Sahara Reporters is supported by grants donated by the Ford Foundation which has donated $175,000 to the organization over the past two years. Sahara Reporters has also received a $450,000 grant from The Omidyar Foundation.[2][3]

Many have argued that some of the content published on Sahara Reporters are without evidence thereby misleading some gullible Nigerians. Over the years it has been accused of seeking relevance, thereby becoming a site for "baseless propaganda" used by opposition APC in Nigeria to peddle lies about Nigeria and Nigerians.Since 2006. Sahara Reporters has published over 5,000 reports.

During the presidency of former Nigerian President Yar’adua, Sahara Reporters were the primary Nigerian news agency to feature detailed information about Yar’adua’s health status as well as his whereabouts.[4]

In December 2009, Sahara Reporters drew worldwide attention by being the first news source to identify and publish the photo of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known more commonly as the “underwear bomber”, who is a suspected terrorist accused of attempting to blow-up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day by detonating a plastic bomb that exploded in his underwear.[5]

Sahara Reporters has gained a significantly large following both in Nigeria and amongst Nigerians abroad as no other Nigerian news agency could operate with the same level of transparency for fear of government action. During the 2015 presidential campaigns, the agency has been rightly accused of being heavily biased against the incumbent president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and in favour of his most significant opponent, the former head of state and APC candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.). Although Sahara Reporters report from New York and are protected by the First Amendment, both Omoyele Sowore and the organization have received various threats from individuals whose illegal activities have been exposed on the Sahara Reporters website, as well as the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government has also placed Sahara Reporters on the top of a “security watch” list at all points of entry and exit in Nigeria.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Shenon, Philip. "Africa's Wikileaks". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  2. ↑ Shenon, Philip. "Africa's Wikileaks". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  3. ↑ Spiegal, Brendan. "From Safety of New York, Reporting on a Distant Homeland". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  4. ↑ Spiegal, Brendan. "From Safety of New York, Reporting on a Distant Homeland". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  5. ↑ Spiegal, Brendan. "From Safety of New York, Reporting on a Distant Homeland". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  6. ↑ Egbunike, Nwachukwu. "Nigeria: SaharaReporters: Africa's Wikileaks". Global Voices. Retrieved 2011-11-21.

External links