IRIN Evaluation Report - March 2003
by Graham Mytton & Sharon Rusu

Access to IRIN

46. Access to IRIN remains a serious problem for many media. Several examples can be given from Zambia. Some newspapers and magazines cannot use the Internet because of a lack of phone lines. The bi-weekly Monitor at present has only one phone line to be used for phone, fax and the Internet! The daily Times of Zambia presently has no landline at all! There are pay phones in the newsroom! As one journalist put it: 'The digital divide prevents more knowledge and use of IRIN.'
47. The phone system in Zambia is so weak that many journalists avoid using it and instead take the easier option of going to press conferences and news events staged for the purpose. IRIN certainly provides the kind of copy that many more would use if they had easier access.
48. One solution to these communications difficulties is provided by a journalist co-operative venture, the Zambia Independent Media Association, ZIMA, whose members have access to excellent and well-housed facilities for them to use computers, email and the Internet. The service relies on a radio link provided by Coppernet, a local agency. It provides a 24 hours connection for ZIMA's 350 members.
49. A Swiss journalist working for one of the Advocacy agencies suggested that the UN might actively get involved in providing a similar kind of facility through its Information Centres (UNICs). But independent co-operative ventures like the Zambian one, with support from outside when and where necessary, are probably the most sustainable solution, not least because then IRIN would be available along with several other news sources
50. Both problems - lack of awareness and inability to access the Internet were well illustrated by a visit to a third training institution. The National College of Management and Development Studies is due to become a university in 2003. It presently suffers from many infrastructural weaknesses, not least of which is the fact that its main a campus, about 26 km north of Kabwe and 180 km north of Lusaka, has no reliable telephone connection. There is therefore no email and no Internet for a college teaching economics, management, accounting, marketing, project planning, human resource development, international relations and public administration. Recently it opened a training centre of considerable potential relevance to OCHA and other UN agencies - the Disaster Management Training Centre. This trains people to manage emergencies and disasters of many kinds. IRIN's main email service of regional humanitarian news as well as PlusNews could be of major relevance to the college for this and other areas of training but no IRIN service can presently be delivered.

    Lack of Awareness of Ways in which IRIN Services can be received

51. Several users complained that IRIN stories came late, or all at once, or they did not receive it in the form best suited to their needs. Many said that they thought that IRIN stories were often a little old. But it became clear that many users are unaware of the different ways in which IRIN can be received. They do not know that they can opt for an immediate delivery option, by which they would get the story within 5 minutes of it being posted to the web. It is probable that users become stuck with the service they receive and are unaware that it can be changed. It has led some to the view that seems to be quite deeply ingrained that IRIN is often 'out of date'.
52. There is one way in which timeliness may not be improved, and several users referred to this fact. IRIN operates only 5 days a week. News stories are not produced on Saturdays or Sundays. Some stories will always be delayed by this fact. From the standpoint of daily media users, any news agency needs to be running seven days a week.

    Credibility and Independence

53. Most media users believed IRIN to be credible. There were differing views about its independence. One Swiss news agency user described IRIN as both independent and credible. He said that he could not remember an occasion when he had cause to doubt an IRIN story. He was as confident in an IRIN story as he was with one from BBC or AFP. He then added, 'Actually more confident than with AFP', because sometimes this news agency has been seen to be under French state influence.
54. However others, while equally appreciative IRIN's credibility were uncomfortable about the UN connection and believed that it should not be sustained: 'IRIN aspires to be an independent news supplier. But it can never be this, because it is part of the UN system.' He thought that an independent supplier that 'can act independently and credibly' should take over the service:

    'You often feel it will not go further because it is the UN. It cannot be fully critical. As an independent body it could be backed up to be independent and critical when required. If IRIN were separate, perhaps under an independent foundation, it would be superb.'

55. This journalist, editor of an agency specialising in support for news media in Africa and Asia admitted that IRIN did 'go out on a limb' sometimes being critical of UN or UN agency activity. But that is what it is - 'out on a limb'. With any other news medium it would be normal reporting. That is what it should be with IRIN and it cannot be while it is a part of the UN, in his view.
56. Journalists are trained to be sceptical about any information, especially when it comes from source that might not be seen as independent. One foreign news editor of a newspaper in Europe agreed that IRIN appeared to be independent, but:

    'I always consider that it forms part of the UN Sometimes I don't really trust the numbers, for examples of refugees, but I don't trust numbers in general, because all the organisations need money, so everybody augments the numbers a little.'

57. IRIN's place within the UN produced some ambiguous responses and views, perhaps not surprisingly. A correspondent for one major international news agency said:

    'IRIN often has easier access to stories and contacts than we do. IRIN gets UN material that we would not get.'

58. Most users seemed to agree with a comment by another European journalist who commented 'It sounds credible', and for many that was sufficient. Another editor and major user of IRIN described IRIN as 'bending over backwards' to be both independent and credible. She used IRIN content with little or no amendment. The agency for which she worked and several similar agencies use IRIN more or less as it is. This demonstrates a high and consistent level of trust in IRIN's credibility.
59. There was another aspect of independence that was also very important and was viewed as being especially valuable. IRIN is seen as being free from commercial pressures. This kind of independence was very important for the quality and content of what it did:

    'IRIN puts across an alternative view of the world, especially of Africa. It's strong on human rights, NGO activity and development. Most commercial feeds tend to put forward an establishment, conventional point of view on world issues. They tend to have a very negative view of Africa. IRIN provides a much more rounded and fairer analysis of Africa.' Editor, African online news agency

60. A senior BBC news correspondent made the same point more strongly:

    'Agencies like Reliefweb, IRIN and others fill a gap not filled by commercially oriented news agencies and outlets. They are also an antidote to the tabloid and 24-hour news service demand for new news, in that they continue to report stories whether or not the front pages and headline writers have become bored.'

61. This was a recurring theme from media users and repeated by a radio journalist in South Africa: 'IRIN keeps on with stories no matter if they drop out of other's news agendas.'
62. Another journalist made a similar point. Recently BBC Radio 4 had reported that the Ethiopian famine was going to be worse than in 1984 or 1976 and worse than the present South African one. It raised considerable media interest in Britain, but the story soon died. But he noted that Reliefweb, WFP, IRIN and others had continued to report the story for some weeks and no doubt would continue to do so. These agencies were not led by anyone's news agenda. The only criterion for news value was whether human lives were affected.

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