Publisher of WikkiTimes-
WikkiTimes, an online news media platform based in Nigeria is partnering with Forbidden Stories, an international network of journalists in France, to fortify its journalism.
Forbidden Stories has a mission “to protect, pursue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder.”
According to Haruna Mohammed Salisu, WikkiTimes’ publisher, the collaboration will boost WikkiTimes’ drive for accountability journalism amid threats faced by its journalists.
Haruna disclosed that sometime in January 2023, he got an invitation from the network and after honouring its invitation, he was trained on how to use the Safebox.
He said: “The safebox operates like Network for threatened journalists to keep their sensitive information, where avenues are provided for them to share with a global network of journalists.”
“If anything happens to the journalist and they are prevented from doing their work, Forbidden Stories will continue their investigations and publish them worldwide.” He added that those threatening journalists are therefore not immuned from being investigated.
The publisher said the collaboration with Forbidden Stories will provide additional support and resources for WikkiTimes and its journalists as they continue to hold power to account. “Our most important role as a medium is to continue to hold power to account despite evolving threats and formidable forces trying to suppress our journalism;” he said.
Haruna said: “The collaboration with Forbidden Stories will serve as an additional morale booster for WikkiTimes. The training we got was a strong eye opener for us to make our work safer, and collaborate more with a global network that is formidable, aggressive and strong; and for us, that is one of the ways WikkiTimes will continue to consolidate its good journalism. Our journalism is now fortified since we have got our information protected.”
The publisher said Forbidden Stories has now incorporated WikkiTimes into the Safebox Network whose goal is to deter crimes against journalists by sending a strong message to the enemies of the press that: “killing the journalist won’t kill the story.”
Based in France, Forbidden Stories ensures that “journalists under threat can secure their information.
