Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently organized an awareness-raising and mentoring workshop in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to make Journalism Trust Initiative easily accessible to as many media outlets as possible. The gathering was an opportunity for certified media outlets in the DRC to officially present their certification and share their experience throughout the JTI process.
The workshop, led by Blandine Angbako, JTI’s Africa representative, was held on 29 January 2026, in Kinshasa, DRC, and was attended by 18 journalists and media executives from 15 media outlets. Since the workshop, 10 media outlets in the DRC have been receiving support in the JTI process to assist them throughout their self-assessment and encourage them to publish their transparency report. Christelle Mpongo, Managing Director of Femme d’Afrique Magazine, a media outlet that has obtained JTI certification, took the opportunity to present her certification and share her experience with her team in the JTI process.
« In a deeply disrupted and chaotic information ecosystem, marked by the emergence of new stakeholders that compete with the prerogatives and traditional advantages of the media by gradually capturing their attention and resources, the JTI standard is a lever for differentiation based on credibility and transparency. »
Blandine Angbako, Africa Representative of Journalism Trust Initiative, RSF
“As the owner of a JTI-certified media, I would like to thank JTI for helping me to better structure the way my media outlet operates. However, as certification is not granted for life, I continue to work hard to comply with international journalism standards and norms. This is because an audit is carried out every year.”
Christelle Mpongo, Managing Director, Femme d’Afrique Magazine
Strong media commitment to transparency in sub-Saharan Africa
With more than 800 media outlets in sub-Saharan Africa involved in the JTI process, this strong mobilization reflects a growing interest among editorial teams in ethics, editorial independence, and transparency in news production.
Twenty-five media outlets in sub-Saharan Africa have obtained JTI certification, including recently L’Intelligent d’Abidjan and Gbêkê FM in Ivory Coast, Seneweb, Press Afrik and Financial Afrik in Senegal, and Nature News in Nigeria. In the DRC, four media outlets are JTI-certified: Femme d’Afrique magazine, Habari RDC, Jambo RDC and the Journal des Nations.
RSF offers media awareness and mentoring initiatives, such as the Fast Track program recently launched in Guinea-Bissau and the one currently underway in the DRC, with the aim of making the JTI approach more accessible even to small newsrooms facing pressure or a lack of resources. A group of local experts assists participating media outlets in evaluating their practices against the 130 criteria of the standard, with training sessions and tools to improve professionalism and independence.
A turning point for information reliability
JTI was developed in 2019 as an ISO-type international standard by 130 experts from media outlets, media regulators, media associations, and digital platforms. They defined the criteria for transparency, independence, and ethics necessary for an industry standard applicable to all types of information sources. The idea of designing a self-regulatory mechanism relevant to all information sources worldwide came from the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, based in Paris.
The JTI certification process consists of three stages. First, presentation of the standard via the JTI platform. Second, self-assessment by the media. Finally, there is an optional certification audit. More than 2,400 media outlets in 127 countries use JTI. 1,460 are currently undergoing self-assessment, 830 have published their transparency reports, and 135 have obtained JTI certification following an audit.
