I recently spoke with Maurice Oniango for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford about Mongabay’s evolution from a personal rainforest website into a global environmental newsroom.
One theme we discussed was how journalism models shape coverage itself.
Advertising-driven media often pushes outlets toward scale, speed, and broad audience appeal. That can make it difficult to sustain reporting from places that matter enormously for the planet but may not generate large traffic numbers or commercial returns: remote forests, Indigenous territories, small island states, or industrial fishing fleets far from public view.
One reason Mongabay transitioned to a nonprofit model was to create room for a different set of incentives. The goal was not simply to publish more stories, but to support reporting that requires time, local knowledge, language capacity, and long-term presence.
Over time, that led us toward a decentralized structure with regional bureaus and local editorial autonomy. Our Indonesian operation, Mongabay Indonesia, was the first major step. Today, much of our reporting is produced by journalists based in the regions they cover, often in local languages and through partnerships with local media organizations.
I think this matters beyond environmental journalism. In an era of declining trust and growing news avoidance, newsroom structure shapes what gets covered, who gets heard, and what kind of accountability journalism can endure.
Technology is expanding what journalism can do. But in many cases, the limiting factor is still human infrastructure: local reporters, editors, partnerships, and institutional patience.
The Reuters Institute interview is here for anyone interested in newsroom models, nonprofit media, environmental accountability reporting, or my journey with Mongabay.
🌿 The piece: https://lnkd.in/gSzqwZ7z
