Who We Are
New Narratives has given me the chance to shine a spotlight on the vast numbers of women and children across the country who are being abused, neglected and excluded. When we put these stories on the front pages of national papers, on national radio and the biggest social media platforms, leaders cannot look away. We give people the power to drive the change they need.
Tetee Gebro, gender and health reporter, Liberia
New Narratives builds local news ecosystems by supporting game changing journalism and news business resilience
West Africa is the world’s fastest-growing region, with an exploding youth population, yet it faces a compounding crisis of international aid cuts and systemic instability. At this critical moment, the demand for truthful, trusted journalism has never been greater, while the ecosystem producing it has never been more fragile. The region is being reshaped by the colliding crises of climate change and migration, driving hundreds of millions of people into poverty and exploitation. As always, women and girls are bearing the biggest burdens.
Compounding these issues is a structural failure in the media landscape. A “pay for play” model often dominates, where reporters are not paid by employers but by those they cover. This transforms media into a megaphone for disinformation and corruption precisely when accountability is most needed. New Narratives exists to break this cycle.
NN is a women-led organization founded in 2010 that drives collaborative, people-centered investigative journalism and news innovation with local branches in Ghana, Liberia, and The Gambia. We have also supported journalism in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea and the Pacific Islands. We leverage deep institutional knowledge and trusted relationships with media, civil society, and policymakers to drive systemic change. Our model is built on a fundamental truth: trusted local journalists, especially women, are best positioned to provide the information necessary for real societal progress.
New Narratives is also a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
- Audience growth for media partners
- 500%
- Years of impact in West Africa
- 15
- Countries: Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone
- 5
- Investigations
- 2000+
- Journalists
- 100+
- Media partners
- 60+
Building Essential Infrastructure
Independent journalism is not a luxury; it is essential infrastructure for justice and development. New Narratives employs a unique two-pronged model designed to build lasting local capacity rather than “parachuting in”.
PILLAR 1
Strengthening Journalism
We provide editorial support across the full production cycle—from conception to multi-platform distribution— helping leading newsrooms produce game-changing, inclusive journalism.
PILLAR 2
Fixing Business Models
Without financial independence, newsrooms cannot report independently. We support partners with inclusive digital transformations and AI-enabled revenue models to ensure long-term sustainability after support ends.
New Narratives is a women-led organization that has operated in West Africa since 2010. We leverage deep institutional knowledge and trusted relationships with media, civil society, and policymakers to drive systemic change. Our model is built on a fundamental truth: trusted local journalists, especially women, are best positioned to provide the information necessary for real societal progress.
New Narratives has given me the chance to bring the work of scientists to Ghana’s population. Leaders are starting to act because we are telling people the impact of air pollution on the economy, on our social lives and on people’s health.
Albert Oppong Ansah, New Narratives fellow, Ghana. Winner of the 2025 Schmidt Prize for Science Writing.
Measurable Impact
Our reporting has forced leaders to take extraordinary measures in a range of areas:
Judicial Accountability: Our revelations of bribe payments protecting human trafficking networks led to convictions in the biggest human trafficking case in Liberia’s history.
Postwar Justice: Our extensive coverage of war crimes trials of West Africans accused of atrocities is credited with persuading Liberians to support a war crimes trial.
Systemic Reform: Exposed a justice system that had resulted in just 2 rape convictions in 6 years, despite the EU spending $16 million to improve the system. Resulted in fast-tracked trials, public protests and a new youth advisory platform.
First ever reporting on female genital cutting contributed to a dramatic drop in the practice and a national ban.
Public Health: Surveys in Ghana and Liberia found up to 90% of women were misusing antibiotics because of misinformation that periods were infections, prompting a government crackdown on unauthorized drug sales.
Reporting on region-first bill to legalize and expand access to pregnancy termination helped win religious leaders’ support paving the way for likely passage into law.
NN reporters have won two prestigious Schmidt Science Prizes for Science Writing for their work with New Narratives. One reporter is a finalist for the African Investigative Journalism of the Year prize.
NN investigations have included: exposés of failed development projects; the first exposé of Catholic Church abuse in Africa; the exposé of a ring trafficking women to the Middle East; corruption by local officials and international resources companies; sexual exploitation of children by UN peacekeepers; corruption in the public education system and the continuing practice of female genital cutting.
We have spread good ideas by highlighting the work of innovators, many of them women.
- NN media partners have seen an increase in audience share of 500%, creating new products that have helped boost financial resilience and the ability to cover stories that matter. Partners have won international prizes and international support when under fire.
- NN “fellows” have stayed in journalism for more than a decade building the skills, confidence, credibility and sources they need to do journalism that has impact.
- NN’s most high-profile reporters are women. They have changed a news industry view that dismissed women reporters and “women’s issues” and made them front page news.
- Reporters have won numerous national and international awards including the Committee to Protect Journalists Press Freedom prize the UN Dag Hammarskjold Fellowship.
- Reporters have contributed to major media including the Guardian, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Foreign Policy, and NPR ensuring Africans are telling the stories of Africa.
It has been really exciting to hear from friends and family and audiences everywhere who have seen my social media videos. They are really engaging with the stories in a way they did not before. That’s really motivating. The stories still have the same hard-hitting facts and information but it’s more accessible. That’s really important in a country like ours where only half the population is literate.
Aria Deemie, a youth and climate change reporter, has been trained to adapt radio and print stories to videos for Facebook, Tik Tok and other social media platforms to educate audiences about climate change, deforestation and pollution.