
Who are Africa's ‘ghost reporters' writing pro-Russian propaganda?
Nonexistent writers publishing pro-Russian content in West African media is the subject of a recent Al Jazeera Investigative Unit film, Africa's Ghost Reporters. So how does it all work, and who's behind it?
In this episode:
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li and Ashish Malhotra with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Hanah Shokeir, Melanie Marich, and guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz.
The Take production team is Marcos Bartolomé, Sonia Bhagat, Spencer Cline, Sarí el-Khalili, Tamara Khandaker, Phillip Lanos, Chloe K. Li, Ashish Malhotra, Khaled Soltan, Amy Walters, and Noor Wazwaz. Our editorial interns are Remas Alhawari, Melanie Marich, and Hanah Shokeir. I'm your host Kevin Hirten. Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad and Vienna Maglio. Aya Elmileik is lead of audience engagement.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Qatar Tribune
14 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Russian parliament leader warns Germany's Merz against escalation
Moscow: The chairman of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, on Saturday warned against an escalation of tensions between his country and Germany in a message to lawmakers in Berlin. 'The current German ruling elite is creating the conditions for an aggravation of the situation and provoking clashes between our countries,' Volodin said in the message to the leaders of Germany's main parliamentary parties. The question is whether the German population wants a confrontation, said the head of the State Duma in Moscow. 'We don't want that. But if it comes to that, then we are ready for it,' said Volodin, citing Berlin's ever greater support for Kiev in the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. 'We know that the German government is planning to set up missile production in Ukraine. This means that Germany is increasingly being drawn into military action against Russia,' said Volodin. (DPA)


Qatar Tribune
14 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Zelensky says Putin doesn't want peace
KievcTypeface:> Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a ceasefire, but instead wants the 'total defeat' of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told US broadcaster ABC News on Sunday. Only 'hard pressure' from the United States and Europe could force Putin to back down, he said. 'Then they will stop the war,' he said. During the interview Zelensky stressed the importance of US backing, while also delicately trying to explain that US President Donald Trump's earlier comment to the broadcaster that he thinks Putin wants peace is not accurate. 'With all due respect to President Trump, of course - I think it's just his personal opinion,' Zelensky said. 'I feel strongly that Putin does not want to finish this war. Inside his mind, it's impossible to end this war without total defeat of Ukraine.' (DPA)


Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Biggest drone strike hits Ukraine's 2nd-largest city
Agencies Kiev Russia has launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine's second-largest city, the mayor of Kharkiv has said, killing at least three and injuring a further 40. Ihor Terekhov said that overnight Russia launched 48 drones, two missiles and four gliding bombs in an attack he described as 'open terror'. It comes after a massive wave of drones and missiles struck across Ukraine on Thursday night. Moscow said the strikes were in response to 'terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime', following Ukraine's surprise raids on Russian air bases last Sunday. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian officials released conflicting accounts about when a prisoner swap agreed at earlier talks will take place. Some 18 apartment buildings and 13 other homes in Kharkiv were hit overnight during Friday's attack, the city's mayor said. A baby and a 14 year-old girl were among the injured, he added. One civilian industrial facility was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding that there may still be people buried under the rubble. Two people were also killed in Russian strikes on Kherson, in southern Ukraine, local authorities said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow and to take 'more steps to strengthen Ukraine' in response to Russia's latest attacks. Six people were killed and 80 injured across Ukraine the previous night, when Russia attacked the country with more than 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes on Kharkiv make 'no military sense' and were 'pure terrorism'. He said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was 'buying himself time to keep waging the war', and that 'pressure must be applied' to stop the attacks. During the latest round of direct talks in Istanbul earlier this week, the two warring sides agreed to exchange all sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war, those aged under 25, as well as the bodies of 12,000 soldiers. Moscow's chief negotiator at the meeting, Vladimir Medinsky, claimed on Saturday that Ukraine had 'unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period'. He further claimed that the bodies of more than one thousand slain Ukrainian soldiers had been taken to an agreed exchange point but that Ukrainian officials never arrived. A list of 640 prisoners of war had also been handed to Ukraine 'in order to begin the exchange', Medinsky wrote on social media. Ukrainian officials responded angrily to the allegations, telling Russia to 'stop playing dirty games'.