SECTOR 4 4.3 The media cover the full spectrum of events, issues and cultures, including business/economics, cultural, local and investigative stories. The Togolese media are marked by the predominance of political coverage and a clear focus on the microcosm of the capital Lomé and the other urban centres. “It’s politics that count - if you don’t have that, you will not sell,” one panelist explained. This approach is particularly noticeable in the private print media though. The state or public media, Togo Presse and TVT, offer more diverse content both with regard to subject matter and genres. However, both in the private and the state media, the investigative approach to stories is often sacrificed at the altar of instant and superficial coverage of events as they happen. There may be the occasional attempt by some journalists to probe deeper, but, as one panelist observed “as soon as a fresh news story comes up, these attempts are derailed.” This is why, despite numerous training opportunities already offered in the field of investigative reporting, journalists have still not mastered this aspect of their craft. On the contrary, there is a lot of confusion between the different editorial formats and genres. Moreover, journalists often lack the basic training, knowledge and general background necessary to conduct a successful journalistic investigation. Lastly, they fear putting their lives at risk if they show too much interest in certain issues - quite apart from the fact that this takes a lot of effort. Insufficient training does not explain why journalists have so little appetite for investigation, one panelist said, citing in particular a training course organised by the Union of Independent Journalists (UJIT) in collaboration with the Ebert Foundation. He attributed this shortcoming rather to the absence of mentoring and coaching within newsrooms and editorial departments and the lack of resources. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TOGO 2010 125