For too long, aid agencies felt themselves untouchable, something the media itself largely went along with.

CAN journalists and aid workers trust each other? That was the title of a panel discussion at the Overseas Development Institute in London in 2007 of which I was part. Back then, among the many pressing questions was one addressing to what extent we could be said to be on the same side rather than just the same place at the same time?

There were few concrete conclusions, though I remember sensing concern that the aid and journalistic community were perhaps beginning to pull in different directions.

That view is borne out by a recent report entitled The Aid Industry: What Journalists Really Think, published by the International Broadcasting Trust, which reveals the strained nature of relations between aid agencies and reporters. Based on interviews with leading foreign correspondents, a number of their damning criticisms stand out.

Among them is that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) sometimes overstate the scale of a disaster while fundraising, are too big, competitive and overly concerned with their branding and corporate image.

At best, too, the report concludes, such aid often only forms part of the economic development of a country and at worst can encourage corruption and an abdication of responsibility by national governments.

This column doesn’t allow me the opportunity to comment at length on these issues, but as a journalist who has spent two decades working closely with aid agencies overseas here are a few summarised thoughts on such questions.

First, it’s important to recognise these criticism were overdue, and frankly in many instances hit the nail on the head. The criticisms I have highlighted above are points in case. For too long aid agencies felt themselves untouchable, something the media itself largely went along with.

As organisations that do good, they were not it seems deserving of the same scrutiny other large corporate bodies were regularly subjected too. That journalists – myself included – frequently rely upon NGOs for access and support when covering war zones or emergencies overseas is a given. I can think of many occasions when accurate reporting would have been impossible without such help.

Increasingly though working with some NGOs is like being “embedded” in much the same way a reporter would be with the military. This invariably comes with restrictions and expectations by the “host” that the reporter files stories that are effectively on message. If relations are at an all time low what then needs to be done? Space again prevents me from elaborating, but two things immediately come to mind.

The first is the need for a fresh dialogue between aid agencies and journalists. Not the talking shop type of the past but one that irons out practical ways to establish a mutually effective working partnership. The second is that aid agencies need to re-evaluate those journalists who genuinely care about aid issues and see those reporters for what they are, potentially powerful allies.

‘‘ That journalists frequently rely on NGOs for access and support when covering war zones or emergencies overseas is a given