Screenshot from the Sowt/The Guardian media collaboration, visualising the location of some of those who recorded the explosion and their reactions to the enormous blast.
Global focus and media corporation strengthens accountability journalism
In November, The Guardian launced an impressive multimedia production describing the August-blast in Beirut. The content was done in collaboration between The Guardian and the Jordanian podcast media – and long-time IMS partner – Sowt. Not only does the production document the horror of the experience, but it is also an important component in holding power to account, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sowt Ramsey G. Tesdell says.
If anyone had missed the intensity or enormity of the blast in the heart of Lebanon’s capital in August, it’s impossible to escape while reading The Guardian and Sowt’s article. With a mix of audio, photos, text and video, it brings readers close to the experiences of the Beirutis from the seconds leading up to the explosion through the following hours of chaos, panic and sorrow. A man running barefoot through glass covered ruins, families searching for their loved ones and lines of injured people searching for medical assistance to step their bleedings in a broken down hospital are some of the stories that the article zooms in on.
A new collaboration
Sowt is based in Amman but covers stories from all around the world. It is a podcasting platform which produces and distributes high-quality audio programs in Arabic with principles of equality, diversity and human rights at its core.
In this case, Sowt used their extensive network and their status as one of the biggest podcasters in the region to contribute to the collaboration with The Guardian, a global media outlet that reaches millions of people across the world each month.
“We were well-placed for this collaboration in the sense that we have a large network in the region and that we are specialised in and known for working with audio. After the blast, people started sharing their audio clips with us, asking us to tell their stories. Through our network, we called for more accounts and found the right set of people who had documented their experiences from different neighborhoods in Beirut,” Ramsey G. Tesdell explains.
Journalism as a tool for accountability
It is hard to watch and listen to these accounts, but that’s one of the reasons why an article like this is so important, according to Ramsey G. Tesdell. “I think it’s important to thoroughly document what happened. And just as importantly, we want to hold the feet of those in power to the fire,” he says and continues: “By publishing a piece like this several months after the explosion, it’s a way of letting those responsible know that we’re not going to forget what happened or how many people died in this – or that it was caused by pure incompetence and corruption.”
IMS Programme Manager in Jordan Dina Liddawi agrees with Tesdell: “These stories are important to get out, both to a regional and international audience. It is a powerful way to draw attention to the huge personal, socio-economic consequences that the explosion in Beirut has caused – and a way to push the limits for political change.”
IMS has supported Sowt with capacity building, content production, business development and execution of their strategic vision since 2017.
The strength of audio journalism
The blast has already been covered in many ways. At Sowt, they believe that the element of audio adds a powerful layer to the stories that pulls the reader even closer:
“We believe that audio has a very powerful and authentic impact, in general and as a part of this project. The clippings provide a bit of intimacy and nearness that you wouldn’t get if you simply wrote down the quotes on paper – you can hear the ear-deafening explosion and the raw fear in the voices of these people who don’t know what happens and if they will survive as well as. If the event felt distant to you as a reader far from the events, the sounds and voices make it very present.”
The entrance of a highly professional podcast media like Sowt in the region has been important for many reasons, Dina Liddawi believes. Today, Sowt publishes more than 15 different podcast programmes, which often challenge official narratives and put focus on issues that are taboo and rarely covered in mainstream media.
“Sowt is providing reliable, critical, diverse and inclusive information on many important topics that are rarely discussed in the Jordanian society, for example the Covid-19 pandemic, labour rights, migration, gender equality, religion, sexuality; in addition to leading regional initiatives. The podcasts are promoting the voices of those who are often marginalised and excluded from mainstream media and public debate,” she says.
Read more about IMS’ support for Lebanese media partners after the blast.
For more investigative journalism from media outlets like Sowt, please check out the ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) annual forum which will take place 4-6 December 2020 and present more than 30 experienced speakers from more than 30 countries.
The ARIJ conference is the Arab world’s biggest gathering for investigative journalists and supporters of independent media. The 2020 Forum is held under the theme: “Connecting the World”.
