Now in its third year, the Covering Climate Now Awards are currently accepting submissions to recognize the best environmental journalism from around the world. Presented in partnership with the Columbia Journalism Review, the CCNow Awards honor journalism across nine different categories, including photography, multimedia, and social media formats. The writing, audio, and video categories are also separated into short and longform work. Entering a submission is free, but to qualify all stories must have been released or published during the 2022 calendar year. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2023.
Source: Covering Climate Now
A court in Helsinki has found two journalists guilty of disclosing national secrets over a story about the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency. The court determined that an article in Finland's largest daily -- Helsingin Sanomat -- disclosed a number of military intelligence-related details that had been classified on grounds of national security. The court ordered the newspaper to remove the story from its website, while the chief reporter received a fine. The journalists had argued the article did not disclose actual national secrets, and lawyers said they would appeal. “How can you do investigative journalism about the defense forces or other security instances?” the defense counsel asked, suggesting the ruling was problematic for investigative journalism more broadly. The International Press Institute said the verdict risked "casting a chilling effect on national security reporting in Finland."
Source: Helsinki Times
An investigation by openDemocracy revealed that the UK government helped Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin override sanctions against him to launch a libel suit against Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat. Sanctions the UK introduced in 2020 were supposed to prevent anyone doing business with Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group private army that has been active in Ukraine and other conflicts. A cache of hacked emails show that in 2021, the UK Treasury — then helmed by Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister — issued special licenses for British law firms to work with Prigozhin to launch an aggressive legal campaign against Higgins in London courts. After the investigation was published, a minister in the UK Treasury said the department was reviewing the process that issues licenses for legal fees to be paid from frozen assets.
Source: openDemocracy
At least 67 journalists and media workers were killed in 2022, the highest number since 2018 and an almost 50% increase from 2021, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Researchers found that at least 40 of those killed were targeted “in direct connection with their work,” though investigations into a number of other cases remain ongoing. The highest fatality figures were seen in Ukraine (15), Mexico (13), and Haiti (7), with Latin America becoming the most dangerous region to report from with nearly half of the global total from that region. Experts said those figures are “a reflection of the outsize risk journalists in the region face while covering topics such as crime, corruption, gang violence, and the environment.” Researchers also report that local reporters covering politics, crime, and corruption in their home countries are frequent targets.
Source: CPJ
On January 21, investigative reporter Yuri Nikolov — co-founder of GIJN member Nashi Groshi — published contracts between Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and food suppliers for the military, accusing defense ministry officials of vastly inflating food prices. Nikolov said the documents were leaked to him from a source in the Armed Forces. In response, the defense ministry announced that it was preparing materials for Ukraine’s security services to investigate the leak. The day after the revelations, Member of Parliament Hennadii Kasay told the Ukrainian News Agency that the information was a threat to national security that could be “used by our enemy.” These developments, along with Ukraine’s new media law — set to take effect in April and which media rights groups say increases government control over information — puts further pressure on independent media and press freedom in Ukraine.
Source: Ukrainian News Agency
The Pulitzer Center is seeking applications for investigative stories related to science misinformation, science denial, and pseudoscience, as part of its new Truth Decay grant initiative. The initiative’s goal is to use accountability journalism to expose the platforms that spread science misinformation, and to support journalists and newsrooms in developing their own responses to the spread of mistruths in their countries or communities. The Center will consider all forms of investigative journalism for this initiative, including data journalism, radio, podcasts, news, and documentary videos. This grant is open to all newsroom staff and independent journalists in the United States and abroad. The deadline is rolling.
Source: Pulitzer Center
