Desert Trekking, Death Faking: Paul Kenyon's Brand of Investigative Journalism

By Matthew Stokes

Paul Kenyon

He seemed fairly normal. Walking in a few minutes late from dinner with a smile and a big hello, you wouldn’t know that this guy has travelled the world uncovering human rights abuses, humanitarian crises, fraud and corruption. Dressed in a shirt and knitted vest, it was hard to imagine him risking his life making award-winning documentaries.

But maybe that is where Paul Kenyon’s success lies. You probably need to be as amiable as he is if you want to get Gaddafi’s police officers to let you film migrant detention camps in Libya. You probably need to fit into the crowd somewhat if you want to bust fraud scheme after fraud scheme with an undercover camera.  

And what a success story it is. When Paul Kenyon had finished telling the Oxford Media Society about his work, specifically on the West African migration route, everyone understood exactly why he’s won so many awards, including Special Journalist of the Year 2010 at the Royal Television Society Awards. 

The harrowing journey which he investigated for Panorama about the route from West African countries such as Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to Europe was truly shocking. Kenyon had first become interested after a front cover of The Independent showed migrants hanging on to a fishing net in the Med having been stranded while trying to reach Europe. 

They were eventually found and granted asylum in Italy, and Kenyon tracked them down and spent the next two years following their trails. It involved crossing the most remote parts of the Sahara Desert, dealing with Libyan officials, and seeing a group of migrants caught while carrying out the four-day desert trek from Niger to Libya. The work he carried out provided material for three Panorama episodes and his highly-acclaimed book, I Am Justice. 

From left: Idina Glyn, Paul Kenyon, and Sophies Ackers

Kenyon also discussed some of his other work, such as his famous faked death in Haiti, which he spoke of with a touch of pained nostalgia at what he called his ‘tawdry’ beginnings in investigative journalism. Full of funny stories and light-hearted anecdotes amidst the potentially depressing subject of the migration route – 1 in 4 migrants dies while crossing the desert – Kenyon provided a talk that was hugely enjoyable and informative.