When a government doesn’t like something that investigative journalism uncovers, they tend to cry out ‘fake news’.

America’s toddler-in-chief leads that charge, but right around the world, leaders are seeking to undermine their citizens’ trust in the media to serve their own purposes.

Much of the time, they get away with it, but every so often their lies are exposed.

If you want to see what happens in the build-up to that point, you won’t do much better than BBC Africa’s video, ‘Anatomy of a Killing’.

Here’s the description:

In July 2018 a horrifying video began to circulate on social media. It shows two women and two young children being led away at gunpoint by a group of Cameroonian soldiers. The captives are blindfolded, forced to the ground, and shot 22 times.

The government of Cameroon initially dismissed the video as “fake news.” But BBC Africa Eye, through forensic analysis of the footage, can prove exactly where this happened, when it happened, and who is responsible for the killings.

It’s not exactly easy viewing, but it does offer some fantastic insight into how an investigation managed to hold some seemingly untouchable people accountable:

If you want the brief version, the entire investigation is laid out in this superb Twitter thread.

Here at home, we have the likes of amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism doing fantastic work, without which the extent of State Capture, and the subsequent ousting of Jacob Zuma, may never have happened.

Despite what some orange buffoon from across the pond might tell you, the media are not the enemy of the people.

[source:youtube]