Throughout her career, the trailblazing Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont has exposed graft, bribery, and misconduct, and likes making people realize there are “consequences to be paid” for corruption.
Celebrating filmmakers who use original sources and investigative techniques to tell hidden stories, here are the shortlisted documentaries for the DIG Awards this year.
Sarah El Deeb, an AP investigative reporter, documented 60 families from the Gaza Strip who have lost 25 members or more from Israeli airstrikes during the first three months of the conflict.
The international investigations team at The Washington Post is tackling the issue of transnational repression — an urgent and undercovered topic — in an ongoing series called Repression’s Long Arm.
Three experts dig into common open source errors that they’ve encountered to help other online investigators improve the quality of their work.
In this story, an academic researcher recounts his team’s investigation, published in the journal Science, that looked into the accuracy of models measuring the health of fisheries.
Two members of the OCCRP — North Macedonia’s Investigative Reporting Lab and Latvia’s Re:Baltica — have set up mobile reporting outposts.
Nigerian investigative journalist Philip Obaji Jr. discusses the threats and challenges he has faced covering the Russian mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group.
In this installment of a Pulitzer Center series, reporters Jelter Meers and Madeleine Ngeunga reveal tactics in investigating the financial incentives fueling environmental damage.
This week’s Data Journalism Top 10 highlights an investigation into irregularities in the vote count during Nigeria’s 2023 elections; a timeline of tensions in the Middle East; and more.
Brazilian investigative journalist Juliana Dal Piva faced personal and professional ramifications for investigating the powerful.
Latin American journalists have ventured into nonprofit journalism. But finding a sustainable financing model has eluded most outlets.
A blockbuster Rolling Stone investigation discovered the extent of key official posts in swing state local election systems that have been filled by conspiracy theorists.
The annual IJ4EU Impact Award honors the best in cross-border investigative journalism in Europe. This shortlist for 2024 recognizes 10 outstanding works of collaborative reporting.
Reporters debate the legal risks of investigative reporting, covering the conflict in Gaza, open source verification techniques, and investigating global warming.
Featuring the advice of university professors and leading investigative reporters who also teach, here are ten tips on how to excel in the field of watchdog reporting.
Featuring a broad array of tools, techniques, and resources to help watchdog reporters dig into almost any campaign or election.
This comprehensive guide includes expert advice from more than two dozen specialists and journalists.
Mineral extraction plays a dominant role in many economies and in the lives of billions of people. How can reporters dig into the benefits and costs?
GIJN has compiled a comprehensive list of national, regional, and global reporting grants and fellowships focused on opportunities available to international journalists.
New sources have emerged that can help investigative journalists hold to account those responsible for emitting methane gas, a major cause of global warming.
A guide to prominent journalism awards and competitions of special interest to investigative journalists.
Carbon offsets are truly an international climate change story with potential for cross-border collaboration between journalists.
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Source: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC) has open submissions for its ECO-SOLVE amplifying grants. The program is "designed to fund initiatives that combat the illicit wildlife trade and timber trafficking" and supports collaborative projects across the Americas, Africa, Southeast Asia/Oceania, China, and India that "reduce gaps in law enforcement integration, overcome institutional and political barriers to data sharing, and identify innovative solutions." GITOC will be awarding four grants of €250,000 (US$275,000) each and the projects will run for one year. Deadline for applying is October 18, 2024 and grants will begin in February 2025.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Investigative outlet — and GIJN member — Kloop lost it appeal to the Kyrgyz Supreme Court, which upheld a lower court ruling that declared the outlet must be dissolved. That initial decision from a year ago came in the wake of Kloop's numerous corruption investigations into the country's president and other state officials. "The forced shuttering of international award–winning investigative outlet Kloop is a shameful episode in the history of modern Kyrgyzstan — a country long viewed as a haven for press freedom in Central Asia — and is a clear indication that under President Japarov this reputation no longer holds,” said the CPJ's Gulnoza Said.
Source: Investigative Reporters & Editors
IRE members who were unable to attend this year’s Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) conference, or the NICAR data journalism conference, can register for AccessFest, IRE’s annual “virtual-by-design” event. (Attendees can also apply to become an IRE member online.) Taking place on October 17-19, 2024, AccessFest focuses on expanding IRE’s efforts to provide more accessible training and inclusion to improve newsrooms and coverage. It will also feature the best data classes and investigative reporting sessions from IRE’s in-person conferences this past year. Journalists, students, and educators of color are eligible to apply for AccessFest fellowships.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
A jury in Las Vegas, Nevada, found a former politician guilty of the murder of investigative reporter Jeff German. Robert Telles, previously a Clark County public administrator, lost his re-election bid in the summer of 2022 after German extensively reported on misconduct and possible corruption in Telles' office. German, a veteran reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found dead outside his home several months later. "The conviction sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated,” said the CPJ's Katherine Jacobsen. “It is vital that the murder of journalists should be taken seriously and perpetrators held accountable.”
Source: Reporters Without Borders
At least three journalists were arrested covering protests during the US Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On Tuesday, August 20, a small group of protesters gathered outside Chicago’s Israeli Consulate to protest the war in Gaza. Overnight, according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, more than 70 people were arrested, including three credentialed journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the journalists’ credentials were seized and that they were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to obey police. Citing press freedom concerns, RSF called for all charges against the journalists to be dropped.
Source: Fund for Investigative Journalism
The application periods for two different journalism grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) are coming to a close. FIJ's regular grants program provides up to US$10,000 for stories that "break new ground and uncover wrongdoing in the public or private sectors," but journalists must provide a commitment from a news outlet as part of the application. FIJ's seed grants program is aimed at freelancer reporters and offers up to US$2,500 for initial research (open-records fees, travel, logistics costs) to solidify investigative pitches. The regular grants deadline is end of day Sept. 9 and the seed grants deadline is end of day Sept. 20.
Source: Transparency International Russia
A new report released by Transparency International (TI) Russia details a web of illicit digital money transfers between Russia and the United Kingdom. According to TI, this secret money channel over the past decade has allowed large e-payments via verified business bank accounts and highlights "significant regulatory gaps and the use of dark web marketplaces where these accounts are sold, often registered under false identities with genuine documents." The report also identified high-risk profiles, political exposed persons, and complex corporate structures that "exacerbated" the risk of illegal money transfers into the UK from Russia.
France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has launched the second iteration of the Anna Politkovskaya-Arman Soldin Prize for Courage in Journalism, which “honors the work of journalists and photojournalists committed to carrying out their essential role of spreading information, particularly in crisis or conflict theatres.” The prize is named for Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and French-Bosnian AFP photojournalist Arman Soldin, who were killed in the line of duty. It will be awarded in early November 2024, and the winner will receive €10,000 (US$10,921) to finance a reporting project.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
A Greek court acquitted two men accused of carrying out the 2021 assassination of crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz, citing a lack of evidence. Prosecutors had claimed that the two men, who are brothers, ambushed the well-known investigative journalist outside his Athens home, shooting him 10 times. Karaivaz had done extensive reporting on organized crime and authorities claimed that the men were carrying out a retaliatory hit. “We call on the Greek authorities to ensure that all of those involved in the deadly shooting of Karaivaz are brought to justice," said CPJ Europe representative Attila Mong.
Source: International Federation of Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IJF) and the International Francophone Press Union (UPF) have launched the Shireen Abu Akleh Prize to recognize the escalating threats and risks women journalists face. Named for the Palestinian journalist killed in the Jenin refugee camp while reporting live in May 2022, the prize will recognize the courage and commitment of women journalists. Nominations are open to women journalists and media professionals regardless of nationality, working languages, or media platform. Recipients will receive €5,000, and the inaugural award will be given out in December 2024.
Throughout her career, the trailblazing Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont has exposed graft, bribery, and misconduct, and likes making people realize there are “consequences to be paid” for corruption.
GIJN spoke with the northern Gaza-based journalist about how he has managed to survive and work as a watchdog reporter under harrowing, life-threatening conditions.
When the award-winning Folha de São Paulo journalist did an investigation into election disinformation, she became a target herself.
As one of the most respected journalists in Latin America, Carmen Aristegui has investigated political corruption and forced disappearances, never shying away from tough subjects.
GIJN Turkish Editor and data journalism instructor Pinar Dag is back with another quiz to test your knowledge of data visualization.
For the Society of Environmental Journalists Reporter’s Toolbox: datasets and sources useful for tracking the harmful impact of climate change-fueled algal blooms.
Data journalism is helping outlets across the region carry out innovative projects that reveal the stories hidden in large volumes of data.
Belarusian journalist Alina Yanchur shared the investigative methods adopted by those who have to work without access to state-published information.
As well as playing an outsize role in exposing state capture and toppling South Africa’s former president, this newsroom is a champion for investigative journalism in the region.
CLIP was founded by three leading journalists who shared the conviction that to mirror the transnational challenges journalists face in Latin America, the stories had to be cross-border too.
Facing attacks and threats from politicians and partisan media, the outlet has turned to innovative reporting formats to increase audience engagement and public interest in watchdog journalism.
The goal of Forbidden Stories is to send a strong signal to those who oppose press freedom and want to act with impunity that killing a journalist won’t kill the story.
Our first regional spotlight series celebrates the achievements of our members in Latin America and others reporting from the region. These articles tell the stories of reporters across the continent, digging into the investigations that matter, and detailing how outlets are creating innovative reporting projects amid their own specific local challenges.
Global elections in the year ahead will affect more citizens than in any previous year, and will likely reset humanity’s liberty compass for years ahead. This ongoing project will feature an updated elections reporting guide, stories on cutting-edge tools for investigating campaigns and candidates, and lessons learned from the best in local watchdog reporting from […]
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, GIJN has published a series of stories and tipsheets for investigative journalists covering the war. This includes a wide range range of topics, from tracking Russian assets to investigating war crimes.
The 13th Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC23), held in Gothenburg, Sweden from Sept. 19 – 22, 2023, gathered more than 2,100 journalists from 132 countries to hold workshops, share innovative methods, and celebrate a community increasingly facing censorship, corporate hacking, and authoritarian threats. This project is a compendium of GIJN’s coverage of the conference panels.
Despite the funding and sustainability challenges that watchdog reporting faces today, journalists across Africa are producing top-tier investigative stories. This is evident in, among others, the GIJN Editor’s Picks stories for the region from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and the decade before. However, Africa needs to catch up to the rest of the muckraking world […]
How reporters have covered illicit money flows, drug trafficking, and environmental crimes when webs of misconduct start in Latin America but impact communities around the world.
Africa is home to a substantial amount of the global mineral wealth. The continent, according to the Natural Resource Governance Institute, holds about 30% of the world’s oil, gas, and mineral resources. This includes up to 92% of the world’s platinum and chromium reserves, 56% of cobalt, 54% of manganese, and 40% of its gold. […]
Seven months into the conflict between Israel and Hamas, journalists carrying out their work in the region have faced unparalleled challenges. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as of April 9th, preliminary investigations show at least 95 journalists and media workers were among the more than 34,000 estimated killed since the conflict began on […]
