Also featuring a look at climate change’s impact on Japanese cuisine, an investigation into US parts used in Russian missiles, and a final progress report on Mexico’s outgoing president.
The oil and gas industry is complex and notoriously opaque. But with new tools, it’s become easier for investigators to dig into this field.
A data investigation looked into the lack of transparency in Brazilian elections that allows candidates wanted for crimes to run for office without public knowledge.
An overview of the many creative or unconventional formats for telling investigative stories — and how to leverage curiosity to overcome news avoidance.
In the spirit of creating the best conference for investigative journalists, GIJC25 is now looking for great ideas for its sessions. Send us your proposals!
An innovative new database, the Open Source Munitions Portal (OSMP), identifies and shows remnants of explosive devices in conflict zones.
The data visualization expert and former academic stresses the importance of having an ‘interdisciplinary mindset’ when approaching data-driven stories.
The toolkit helps reporters discover tools in categories like satellite imagery, maps, and social media, and is designed to help researchers learn how to use each tool with in-depth descriptions.
In investigative journalism, connecting data points is often key to uncovering the truth. Aleph helps reporters search, organize, and analyze data, to better trace hidden connections.
At the 2024 iMEdD International Journalism Forum, journalism funders and funding seekers discussed how to demystify the process of fundraising.
The exiled Nicaraguan journalist and editor Carlos F. Chamorro explains the critical need to promote and support journalists who are forced to leave their homelands because of their reporting.
Also featured: the 51 men on trial for a case of shocking sexual violence in France, the wildfires raging in the Arctic, and gaming out a winning campaign for the US presidency.
Three investigations into food systems show how investigative journalists can capitalize on the huge interest in food — and food-related content — to make their reporting more impactful.
Behind-the-scenes of an investigation into a program that gave formerly enslaved people in the US land titles after the Civil War — and then revoked them.
These organizations are developing AI tools and resources that can be used to tackle misinformation, improve data reporting, and help with the storytelling process.
New remote sensing techniques are enabling researchers to monitor how armed conflict can be a driver of greenhouse gas emissions like methane.
The negative effects from higher temperatures can be seen everywhere, offering many opportunities for investigative journalism.
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. At what cost?
A comprehensive list of national, regional, and global reporting grants and fellowships.
New sources can help investigative journalists hold to account those responsible for emitting methane gas, a major cause of global warming.
Empower the World’s Watchdog Journalists
The GIJN Bulletin is free and distributed to journalists in more than 100 countries
Contact us for your reporting, training, capacity building needs, and more.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Several journalists in Cuba have recently faced government harassment and intimidation from state security agents, according to the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ). At least eight non-state media workers were questioned and threatened with prosecution as possible foreign agents, prompting several to flee the country. Journalists in question worked for the sites El Toque, which mainly operates in exile, Cubanet, Magazine AMPM, Palenque Vision, and GIJN member Periodismo de Barrio. "CPJ calls on the Cuban authorities to respect the rights of journalists to freely express themselves and report the news," CPJ's Katherine Jacobsen said in a statement.
Global internet freedom declined for the 14th consecutive year, according to the 2024 Freedom on the Net report. The annual survey from US-based Freedom House warned of increased censorship and content manipulation being used to sway elections and the rise of violence targeting internet users for nonviolent expression in dozens of countries. "A rapid series of consequential elections have reshaped the global information environment over the past year… As a result, more than a billion voters had to make major decisions about their future while navigating a censored, distorted, and unreliable information space," the report warned.
The program for the 2024 African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC, or #AIJC2024) held at Wits University in Johannesburg from October 30 - November 1, is now available. This year — its 20th — the conference will have a strong focus on sustainability, according to the event’s new coordinator, veteran journalist Beauregard Tromp. Other topics to be discussed include climate change journalism, artificial intelligence (AI), south-south relations, and global north-global south relations. Attendees can now download the Whova app, where all conference communication will take place.
Source: Reporters Without Borders
The Russian Defence Ministry stated that Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna died in a Russian prison in September. Roshcyna, who worked for the independent news outlet Ukrayniska Pravda, disappeared in early August while traveling in the occupied territories along the front lines of Russia's war in Ukraine. There had been no news of her whereabouts from Russian authorities until the announcement of her death in captivity. Roshchyna's death made her the 13th journalist to die while covering the war since Russia's invasion. Reporters Without Borders has demanded an investigation into the circumstances of her death.
Source: European Journalism Centre
The 14 finalists for the European Journalism Centre's Climate Journalism Awards have been announced. "The shortlisted projects showcase a diverse range of topics and innovative approaches to one of the most important issues of our time," EJC Director Lars Boering said. Among the recognized works are data-driven visualizations on extreme heat in Germany and the consequences of gully erosion in Spain, stories fighting misinformation by Europe's far right parties and exposing "greenwashing" by major financial institutions, and investigations into the mismanagement of the World Bank's climate fighting funds as well as climate compensation payments in Malawi.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
The record-high death toll for journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict continues to rise as the war reaches the one-year mark. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in the region since October 7, 2023, all but five of them Palestinian. CPJ documented two Israeli journalists targeted and killed by Hamas on the day of its incursion, but since then, CPJ says that Israel shelling and airstrikes have been responsible for the remainder of the journalists' deaths, which also includes two Lebanese media workers.
Source: Overseas Press Club - Cambodia
The Cambodian government detained and charged Mech Dara with "incitement" last week, and he now faces up to two years in prison if convicted. Dara is an accomplished investigative journalist "whose stories over the last decade have uncovered corruption, environmental destruction, and human trafficking at scam compounds across the country." He was arrested outside the capital of Phnom Penh, when six government vehicles swarmed his car. "The arrest of Dara is a clear attempt to intimidate and silence him and other journalists in a country where press freedoms are routinely curtailed," the Overseas Press Club said in a statement.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) announced the winners of its annual International Press Freedom Awards. This year, the CPJ's honorees include four women from four different continents — Shrouq Al Aila (Gaza), Alsu Kurmasheva (Russia), Quimy de Léon (Guatemala), and Samira Sabou (Niger) — and the posthumous recognition of Christophe Deloire, the longtime leader of Reporters Without Borders, with the esteemed Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. The awards ceremony will be held on November 21, 2024, in New York City, and the event's master of ceremonies will be Last Week Tonight host John Oliver.
Source: The National Press Club (US)
The nonprofit, non-partisan site Mississippi Today was awarded the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award by the US National Press Club, as the newsroom battles an ominous defamation case. The site, and reporter Anna Wolfe, were awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2022 for an investigation into US$77 million worth of misspent welfare funds by the former state governor's office. That former governor sued Mississippi Today in 2023 and is now trying to compel Wolfe and others to reveal the anonymous sources who tipped them off. If the state's supreme court rules against them, the journalists could face jail time for refusing to identify their sources.
Solomon, a Greek investigative site just inducted as a GIJN member, has released the results of its comprehensive look at more than 800 media companies in the country. To piece together the media landscape, the site's investigative team "spent 18 months analyzing thousands of balance sheets, corporate disclosures, and court rulings, tracing ownership structures across more than 30 countries." The findings confirm that the nation's media groups are owned by a largely opaque concentration of a few business interests and powerful families and echo concerns raised by the European Federation of Journalists and Reporters.
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.
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.
The data visualization expert and former academic stresses the importance of having an ‘interdisciplinary mindset’ when approaching data-driven stories.
GIJN Turkish Editor and data journalism instructor Pinar Dag is back with another quiz to test your knowledge of data visualization.
For the SEJ’s 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.
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.
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.
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 […]
