Who Owns the Story? Western Journalism, Russian Money and Africa's Newsrooms

Moscow says Western media wage "information war" against the Global South. Yet a series of investigations, many by Western outlets working with African partners, accuses Russia of paying and training African journalists to carry its message.

The overlap raises a hard question: what has Western journalism actually done for Africa, and what does it leave open for others to exploit?

What the investigations allege
Paid content: France 24's "Project Afrika" investigation followed Russian influence operations into Senegal's media and reported payments of $250 to $700 per article. A journalist it named has denied acting as an intermediary or being paid to publish content, and his reply is on record.

Exposure from inside: Journalist Ephrem Yalike, recruited by a Russian agent to push propaganda in the Central African Republic, blew the whistle from exile. He told Forbidden Stories he was paid 45 euros per article and later received threats after breaking with his employers.

Arrests: Forbidden Stories also reports that four journalists in one Sahel country were arrested in March 2025 for helping publish Russian propaganda, particularly against France and Ukraine.

Training: After being banned in the EU, UK, US and Canada, the Kremlin-funded RT pivoted to training foreign journalists. RT says over 1,000 journalists and bloggers from 35 African countries completed its course, a number that couldn't be independently verified, according to Meduza's account of a BBC investigation.

Participants were reportedly asked to produce reports on topics global media allegedly "ignore." RT says its aim is to teach journalists to recognise propaganda.

Hospitality: Analysts note Moscow has revived the Soviet practice of all-expenses-paid trips for foreign journalists and content creators.

Russia denies wrongdoing in related areas: the Kremlin's spokesperson said in May that Moscow was "unaware of any such cases" when confronted with evidence of deceptive recruitment of Africans for the war in Ukraine.

What Western journalism has done
Much of what we know about these operations comes from Western-funded or Western-based journalism working with African reporters. That includes Forbidden Stories and its pan-African partner The Continent, France 24, and the BBC.

Investigative partnerships have exposed secret networks, protected whistleblowers and given African audiences evidence to judge for themselves. Foreign media training and funding have also built skills and independence in many newsrooms.

Where Western media leave an opening
The critique Moscow amplifies has a real basis. African audiences have long complained about coverage that arrives only for coups, conflict and famine, treats a continent of 54 countries as one story, and quotes outside experts before local ones.

Where local outlets are underfunded and journalists poorly paid, an offer of even modest per-article payment or a free training course is tempting. Western media development money that dries up or comes with donor agendas leaves a similar gap. Russia does not need to invent grievances; it needs only to fund the outlets that voice them.

The double standard
Lavrov's charge that the West weaponized information sits awkwardly beside evidence that Moscow pays for favourable coverage and trains journalists to a set of "alternative narratives." Both sides run narratives.

The difference that matters for readers is transparency: who is paying, who is editing, and whether the reporting can be checked.

What African journalism needs
Local funding and pay: Independent revenue, and wages that don't make cash-for-content offers hard to refuse.

Disclosure: Clear declaration of any paid trips, training or sponsorship, from any government.

African-led investigation: More cross-border partnerships led by African editors, so exposure of influence operations doesn't depend on outside outlets.

Local voices first: Western media quoting African analysts and reporters at the start of a story, not the end.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources
France 24: "'Project Afrika': Inside Russia's propaganda machine" (July 2026)

Forbidden Stories: "In the Sahel, journalists, activists and NGOs in the crosshairs of Russian agents from 'The Company'" (March 2026)

PPLAAF: "Russian Disinformation Methods in the Central African Republic"

Meduza: "Inside Russia's campaign to turn African journalists into Kremlin mouthpieces" (February 2025)

Riddle Russia: "Russia in Africa is Still About Propaganda" (July 2026)

Africa Center for Strategic Studies: "Russia's Deceptive War Recruitment Scheme Ensnares Thousands of Young Africans" (May 2026)