Development Reporting as a crumbling tower: Impact of Brown Envelope Journalism on journalistic practice in Zambia and Ghana

Abstract

Development Reporting (DR) has long been considered the cornerstone of journalistic practice in Africa. The high prevalence of Brown Envelope Journalism (BEJ) - defined as a practice that involves news sources granting monetary incentives to journalists - is, however, posing a challenge to DR. BEJ has signaled a shift from a traditional model or DR, where journalists strived to report any legitimate development news to a public relations model where news is heavily influenced by source payments. Using Zambia and Ghana as case studies, this study provides insight into journalists' perspectives on DR and BEJ. Additionally, the study delves into the extenuating factors that perpetuate BEJ.