Media workshop
Ignace Sossou, Beninese journalist: "Journalism is a commitment that nothing can stop"
Audio 26:28
Beninese journalist Ignace Sossou in full discussion with Malek Khadhraoui during the International Journalism Conference in Tunis, in March 2022. © Assises du journalisme
By: Steven Jambot Follow |
David Brockway |
Simon Decreuze Follow
2 mins
The Media Workshop
discusses with the Beninese investigative journalist Ignace Sossou, communication officer of Cenozo, the Norbert Zongo Cell for journalism in West Africa.
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Continuation and end of our
series
of interviews
recorded during the International Journalism Conference in Tunis, in March 2022.
Ignace Sossou
is a Beninese investigative journalist, member of the ICIJ.
He was imprisoned for six months in Cotonou in 2020. He now lives in Ouagadougou where he is the communication officer of Cenozo, the Cell Norbert Zongo for investigative journalism in West Africa.
At the microphone of the media workshop, Ignace Sossou explains that “
collaborative journalism is the urgency of quality journalism
”.
“
Information has a capital role in the lives of citizens because if we don't know, we act in ignorance
”.
Determined, Ignace Sossou is more than ever.
“
Despite the risks, we must not resign ourselves.
Despite the risks, we must be able to do our job because [...] the journalist has an important role in society and therefore, whatever the constraints to which he is subjected, he must be able to do his job.
[...] And I say it clearly: threats, intimidation, prison and even sometimes assassination, these are part of the risks of the job, of the realities for which the journalist must prepare because it can happen.
[...] Journalism, it is after all a commitment and this commitment, nothing must stop it.
»
Ignace Sossou calls for a rethinking of the media model in Africa.
“
Often in our countries, we have strong journalists but not strong enough media.
So when the one who is the Almighty of the media disappears, the media also disappears, it's a shame.
[...] If the citizen does not manage to identify with a media, that poses a problem.
If the media are born today, disappear tomorrow, that creates a certain uncertainty in the minds of citizens.
Strong and sustainable media can influence the governance of a country, he recalls.
“
The more the public is demanding, the more the journalist does quality work
,” says Ignace Sossou, recalling the need to develop media literacy.
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