Why was Uncensored News formed?

Uncensored News was established after realising that trusted and evidence-based health and environment reporting remains low in Lesotho. Newsrooms can hardly afford to allocate funding on specialized health and environment reporting out of their scanty resources.

And in most cases, only sensational health and environment reporting get published in mainstream media. Cognizant to the fact that Lesotho health and environmental problems cannot be fixed overnight, Pascalinah Kabi and Phetheho Ntlamelle decided to fill the gap by forming and registering a private news outlet dedicated to health and environment reporting only.

Uncensored News was launched in October 2023 with Pascalinah as the only staff member. Uncensored News is designed to investigative and publish evidence-based stories that give a voice and face to data.

What are Uncensored News’ Objectives?

Our primary objective is to investigate and publish stories backed up by science and views from expert interviews and peer reviewed researches. Our objectives are tied around publishing stories that identify, interrogate and provide nuanced possible solutions to social problems confronting Lesotho.

We do not just stop at the problem, we participate in the creation of a better Lesotho by allowing decision-makers, experts and citizens to be part of a solution. Our stories are fact-checked and meticulously simplified by giving a voice and a face to complex data or science related issues.

Who owns Uncensored News?

Uncensored News is a private company registered with the government of Lesotho. Its owners envisaged that it will be governed by expert board members drawn from health, media, human rights, legal and finance sectors. The board will be tasked with a responsibility to ensure that Uncensored News upholds its mission statement.

Uncensored News will receive its income from advertisements and philanthropists with keen interests on unbiased health and environment reporting. Advertisers and funders will be asked to commit to zero editorial interference by signing contracts that carry a specific clause that declares Uncensored News’ full editorial control.

Who funds Uncensored, How?

Co-owners Pascalinah Kabi and Phetheho Ntlamelle are currently raising funding from philanthropists and institutions that fund health and environment interventions in Lesotho. Uncensored News has also published a call inviting Friends of the Media (individual and institutions) to donate and fund health and environment evidence-based reporting in Lesotho.

Why does Uncensored News accept money from individual and institutional donors?

Independent, specialized, evidence-based journalism is expensive. Uncensored News needs funding to ensure that its uniquely positioned coverage is accessible to everyone. This is why our website does not have pay walls. Having pay walls would mean that the much needed solutions-orientated coverage would only be available to individuals and companies that can afford a monthly subscription. Our ever-green multimedia and multilingualism stories  are available to everyone.

Uncensored News is the only specialized news outlet in Lesotho and as such, it needs to raise much needed funding to discharge its unique journalistic mandate. And, this is why Uncensored News raises funding from donors, advertisers and friends of the media to support its solutions journalism cause while at the same time striving to maintain its editorial independence. Be that as it may, we are fully aware of the possible dangers that funding, especially advertising, can attract and this is why all our contracts carry a zero editorial interference clause.

How does Uncensored News guarantee editorial independence, self determination and preservation?

Uncensored News fully subscribes to the tenets of ethical journalism as espoused by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho and International Federation of Journalists’ Global Charter on Ethics of Journalism. Our daily editorial policy is guided by this code, hence a cautious decision to include a clause on editorial independence in our contracts with advertisers and donors.