GIJN’s top reporting guides and tipsheets from 2024, including an introduction to investigative journalism and guides on project management, fundraising, and extreme heat.
African journalists who have worked on impactful cross-border investigations share lessons on uncovering illegal fishing, timber trafficking, and illicit money flows.
Also featured on our list, a #MeToo case in higher education, secret funding of ‘race science,’ and the state of Swiss prisons.
Our annual best-of list features stories on Pakistan’s sanitary workers, links between politicians and sugar mills, and the endless construction of a Balochistan road.
Also featuring a look at algorithmic bias in dispensing food aid, corruption in the country’s largest civil service exam, and a tragic construction accident that exposed poor labor regulations.
Following the money is a complex set of techniques that allow reporters to track the flow of money across the world.
In 2024, new and innovative digital tools provided leads and evidence for accountability stories on every continent.
GIJN’s best stories of 2024 represent a showcase of game-changing reporting methods for urgent topics, based on insider tips from real-world investigations and conference presentations.
Data journalism in Africa has made a powerful impact, from holding leaders accountable to refuting myths around domestic violence. But the field faces formidable challenges.
Since its inception, the Cameroon-based journalism collective has had a double mission: first to train journalists, and then to encourage them to work together.
GIJN’s Benon Herbert Oluka talks to Golden Matonga, investigations director at the Platform for Investigative Journalism – Malawi, about his career uncovering corruption.
Cross-border investigations are trending all over the world. GIJN talked to organizations promoting reporting partnerships in Africa about their experiences and challenges.
GIJN talks to our African member organizations about their challenges and successes — and the state of Investigative journalism on the continent.
In all, 13 candidates vied for seven seats on the 15-member board. Board members serve for two years.
Amnesty Tech’s Algorithmic Accountability Lab led a sweeping probe into possible algorithmic bias and mass surveillance by Denmark’s welfare agency.
A recent investigation by Grist, a nonprofit independent media outlet, dug into federal datasets to uncover the extent of state trust lands on Indigenous reservations across the US.
Sevgil Musaieva on the challenges of reporting during war and the dilemma facing journalists who want to fight for their country.
The Mexico Border Investigative Reporting Hub helped new muckrakers shine a light on corruption and human rights issues.
Featuring advice on fact checking, digital security tips, interview techniques, and guidelines for editors.
The global fight against climate change depends on the actions of individual nations — so national accountability is critical.
Featuring a broad array of tools, techniques, and resources to help watchdog reporters dig into almost any campaign or election.
The comprehensive guide offers detailed advice on managing the non-investigative aspects of collaborative projects.
This comprehensive guide includes expert advice from more than two dozen specialists and journalists.
A comprehensive list of national, regional, and global reporting grants and fellowships.
GIJN and Malaysiakini are excited to announce that registration for the Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC25) from Nov. 20-24, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur is now open.
Empower the World’s Watchdog Journalists
The Global Shining Light Award honors investigative journalism in a developing country or under threat or dire conditions.
The GIJN Bulletin is free and distributed to journalists in more than 100 countries
GIJN member Lighthouse Reports is holding workshops in Berlin in January 2025 for young Syrians and Afghans living in the EU who are interested in pursuing a career in OSINT and investigative journalism. The December 4 application deadline has been extended to Wednesday, December 11 for Syrian applicants. The workshop will “combine training, practical exercises and Q&As with expert guest speakers. Trainers will cover social media investigations, analyzing satellite imagery and plane and ship tracking, amongst other topics.” The workshop is open to students, recent graduates, or young professionals already based in the Schengen Area.
Source: European Federation of Journalists
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) announced that it will soon stop publishing content on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. The EFJ, which represents nearly 300,000 journalists in 44 countries, said that it will no longer update its account with content from its members as of January 20, 2025. It joins the Guardian and other European media sites that have ceased updating their X accounts, citing numerous actions by new owner Elon Musk which includes downranking news links, ending free verification, and changing its algorithm to push right-wing content. The EFJ said that it can "no longer ethically participate in a social network that its owner has transformed into a machine of disinformation and propaganda."
Swedish journalist Kim Wall had an accomplished career as an international correspondent, reporting from Cuba, Kampala, and Sri Lanka. When she was killed while reporting a story, her family set up a memorial fund in her name, in co-ordination with the International Women's Media Foundation. Since 2018, the fund has awarded more than a dozen $5,000 reporting grants to women and nonbinary journalists "whose reporting carries forward Kim’s legacy." “We can never get Kim back, but we can see to it that her spirit and will live on, and inspire other young journalists to go out in the world and find the stories," her family said. Deadline: December 8.
Source: Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is offering its annual Rest & Resilience Fellowship to two journalists for a six-month period in Berlin, Germany. The program is for working journalists who reside in countries with onerous press freedom restrictions, who will be invited to Germany from May until October, giving them time to decompress from stressful conditions related to their reporting work. Fellows receive additional training through workshops and network with other international journalists. All travel, lodging, and other costs are covered by the program, which also includes a €1,000 (US$1,100) monthly stipend. Deadline: November 25.
The Pulitzer Center's Ocean Reporting Network has released a new study, Making Waves, that examines the state of ocean reporting. The project looks at initiatives for more impactful ocean storytelling and includes expert voices, opportunities to increase coverage, identifies key stakeholders and audiences, and offers advice on network building and better engagement. To learn more, there is also an upcoming webinar on the report hosted by Pulitzer Center Ocean Editor Jessica Aldred on December 3.
Source: Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is pursuing criminal charges in a French court for the alleged failure of X (formerly Twitter) to respond to policy violations involving the press freedom group. According to RSF, Elon Musk's company repeatedly ignored posts and accounts that misrepresented RSF's positions and falsely used the group's logo and photos, all violations of the EU's Digital Services Act. "X’s refusal to remove content that it knows is false and deceitful — as it was duly informed by RSF — makes it complicit in the spread of the disinformation," said RSF Director of Advocacy and Assistance Antoine Bernard.
Source: International Press Institute
Public broadcasters and media regulators have become "fully captured" by Hungary's governing Fidesz Party, according to the second in a series of Media Capture Monitoring Reports assessing the state of press freedom in European countries. This series, a joint project between the International Press Institute and the Media and Journalism Research Center, found that media capture is "well entrenched" in the Central European nation. It further cites a "stark gap between the laws nominally designed to protect media independence and how they are applied in practice."
The Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for its fifth cohort of the Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN), which supports investigative reporting and cross-border collaborations to produce stories "at the intersection of climate change, corruption, and governance” in the tropical rainforest regions of the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia. RIN fellowships are for one year, full-time, with financial support. Fellows will work on both individual and joint investigative projects that examine the root causes and structural drivers of deforestation. Seasoned investigative journalists, whether freelance or on-staff, can apply.
Source: African Investigative Journalism Conference
The 20th edition of the African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC) featured three days of speeches, panels, and workshops aimed at helping the continent's watchdog reporters. Held at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, the AIJC brought together media workers, academics, and trainers from more than four-dozen countries. OCCRP Africa editor and AIJC convenor Beauregard Tromp said: "Speaking to these young journalists and seeing how enthused they are about not only the projects and stories they’ve taken an interest to in the sessions, but also the kind of tools that are available to them and the heights they can work towards has been amazing."
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
According to the 2024 Global Impunity Index from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a vast majority — 77% — of journalists' murders have gone unsolved or had no one held to account. This is a slight improvement from one decade earlier, but CPJ warns that impunity for killing journalists remains an entrenched phenomenon around the world. Its latest report also finds two small countries — Haiti and Israel — are now the top two worst offenders in allowing the killing of journalists to go unpunished. Israel had never appeared on CPJ's Index since the report's first edition in 2008, but it has seen a spike in unsolved murders of media workers during the country's ongoing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.
GIJN’s Benon Herbert Oluka talks to Golden Matonga, investigations director at the Platform for Investigative Journalism – Malawi, about his career uncovering corruption.
Investigative reporter Annie Hylton on her journey from law to journalism, overlooked stories, and advice for interviewing sources living with trauma.
Throughout her career, the trailblazing Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont has exposed graft, bribery, and misconduct.
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.
Data journalism in Africa has made a powerful impact, from holding leaders accountable to refuting myths around domestic violence. But the field faces formidable challenges.
A recent investigation by Grist, a nonprofit independent media outlet, dug into federal datasets to uncover the extent of state trust lands on Indigenous reservations across the US.
NASA’s Worldview database is a valuable tool that journalists can use to find data and free graphics on a range of topics, like wildfires, floods, deforestation, and many more.
The data visualization expert and former academic stresses the importance of having an ‘interdisciplinary mindset’ when approaching data-driven stories.
Since its inception, the Cameroon-based journalism collective has had a double mission: first to train journalists, and then to encourage them to work together.
Launching as a digital outlet 25 years ago gave Malaysiakini’s founders the freedom to report on stories that others feared to cover.
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.
The second in our ongoing series of regional spotlight weeks examines the successes and challenges facing our members in Africa and others reporting from the continent. These articles tell the stories of growing journalistic collaboration, courage, and innovation in the face of repression, legal intimidation, lack of access to information, and even physical threats.
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 2024 will affect more citizens than in any previous year, and will likely reset humanity’s liberty compass for years ahead. This project features an elections reporting guide, stories on cutting-edge tools for investigating campaigns and candidates, and lessons learned from the best in local watchdog reporting from around the world.
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.
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 […]
