Hierarchies of Editorial Power in International NGOs

Abstract

International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have long been recognised as major contributors to the construction of Africa's image in the West through their impact stories, fundraising and advocacy campaigns. Yet although there has been considerable academic inquiry into these messages, research focusing on the editorial processes that produce them is still limited. Moreover, the few studies that exist tend to focus on the finished products as seen at the INGOs' Western headquarters. This is particularly curious, given that most of these stories originate from the INGOs' fields of operation in the Global South and are initially collected, written and edited by communication staff in national offices. This paper explores the various editorial power centres in the INGO story production process from the perspectives of global South staff. Based on data collected from five INGOs operating in East Africa, the paper draws three key conclusions; that INGO editorial processes are dynamic, contested and heterogeneous, field office staff possess underappreciated agency in the story editing process, and the extent to which INGOs can be said to speak on behalf of those they claim to help is in part linked to the amount of agency that communication staffers in the global South possess.