Media Newsletter – January 2026
Dear reader African journalists are doing more with less — experimenting, adapting, and finding new ways to tell stories that matter. This edition brings together five things worth your attention this month: emerging trends, funding opportunities, ways to level up your work, and stories that show how innovation, creativity, and nuance are shaping African journalism today. 
1. Journalism trends: As more African countries head toward elections in 2026, it's critical to change the way elections are reported. Elections are still too often framed through familiar narratives of corruption, violence, shutdowns, and fraud. But across the continent, journalists are also uncovering community action, civic participation, youth engagement, and democratic innovation that rarely make headlines. The opportunity is clear: to reimagine election coverage in ways that reflect the complexity and agency of African societies. How to Write About an African Election: A Guide offers practical tools for journalists and content creators who want to tell election stories that are dynamic, nuanced, and grounded in lived realities — before, during, and after polling day. Explore the guide and use Africa Bias Buster to check your election stories for hidden bias before publishing. 
2. Who's funding: Pulitzer Center — Global Reporting Grants support journalists who want to pursue ambitious, underreported stories that offer depth, context, and originality. It covers reporting costs with up $10,000 for international travel and open to freelance and staff journalists. Deadline: Rolling. Learn more. Reuters Institute Journalist Fellowship Programme at Oxford University is for journalists and editors with 5+ years' experience, this fellowship offers something rare: time and space to think, experiment, and build. Fellows develop a practical project with real-world impact while engaging in research, seminars, and peer learning that deepen their understanding of the news industry and their role within it. Deadline: 13 Feb. Find out more. 
3. Training opportunity: Climate reporting across Africa is evolving — moving beyond disaster coverage toward stories that unpack systems, accountability, and local solutions. Environmental journalism | Why local matters: Sources is a free, self-paced online course helps journalists uncover the political and economic forces behind local environmental issues and points to reliable data, sources, and information. Register here. 
4. In the spotlight: This month, we're spotlighting Halligan Agade, a Kenyan environmental journalist and Media Editor at CGTN Africa. Halligan covers climate change, agriculture, conservation, and clean oceans, with work published on CGTN Africa and by outlets including IPP Media, Daily News Tanzania, KBC, and Perishable News. In November 2025, he won the Agriculture category at the Climate Media Awards for his video story Turning Rice Waste into Organic Fertiliser. The piece highlights climate-smart agricultural innovation — showing how agricultural waste can be repurposed to improve soil health, reduce emissions, and strengthen food security. It's a strong example of solution-oriented reporting that connects local innovation to global climate challenges. 
5. Stories that moved us: These stories from Bird Story Agency reflect Africa's momentum across economics, rights, travel, and culture. Africa's growth momentum: As Asia's growth slows, Africa is gaining ground through easing debt pressures, stabilising inflation, and sectoral growth. Disability rights in Nigeria: Years of organising are translating into tangible public policy gains. Back-to-nature travel boom: Record safari and nature park visits in Kenya and Tanzania, with similar growth across Southern and West Africa. Africa's live performance revolution: Artists, organisers, and audiences are turning festivals into global stages, reshaping cultural economies. Want to get paid for telling better stories about Africa? Take the African Stories course — a free, three-hour guide designed to help journalists rethink how Africa is covered. Complete it and you'll be eligible to pitch stories to Bird. Media outlets can access Bird content for free — contact tom@africainsight.co.ke Follow @BirdStoryAgency on social media for more stories that represent Africa better. Media outlets that want to use bird content, for free, can contact tom@africainsight.co.ke |