To protect journalists from safety and security risks, some African and global organizations have set up programs that offer support to muckrakers who are in trouble, either in selected African countries or across the continent.
In “Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian’s Playbook,” The GroundTruth Project chronicles seven leaders whose instincts and inclinations herald a brand of populist nationalism that, if history is a guide, can lead to authoritarian government. From Brazil to Italy and the US, these global leaders seem to share common “plays,” including weaponizing fear, undermining institutions and targeting outsiders. GroundTruth fellows offer tips for journalists covering this rising authoritarianism.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a report from The Intercept about how a US Department of Homeland Security algorithm revoked the visa of Forensic Architecture’s Eyal Weizman, an interview with Paul Caruana Galizia about his podcast My Mother’s Murder, and why almost half of the tech experts surveyed by the Pew Research Center are saying technology will weaken democracy.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 17 to 23 finds geographer Tim Wallace collecting some amusingly unusual maps, The Guardian analyzing the effect of Airbnb’s prevalence on home ownership in Great Britain, the Data Visualization Society evaluating the successes and shortcomings of its first year, and former Ogilvy & Mather chief creative officer Tham Khai Meng sharing how a Japanese newspaper utilized augmented reality to animate graphics.
Following the major corruption investigation “Azerbaijani Laundromat,” Paul Radu, co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, was sued for libel in the United Kingdom by an Azerbaijani politician. Radu explains what he learned while fighting the case, which ended in a favorable settlement.
What reporting and storytelling techniques do you need to master as you head into your next investigation? We’ve rounded up some of GIJN’s most popular how tos from our story archives, as well as select items from our growing Resource Center.
Italy’s first center for investigative reporting was created in 2012 with very little resources. Since then it has become a well-established player in the Italian media landscape. The group has grappled with financial challenges, threats, and intimidation, but have big plans for the future. Michele Barbero profiled Investigative Reporting Project Italy for GIJN.
The Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English each week, includes the Sigma Award winners for data journalism, two stories about increased surveillance on journalists, and an interview with BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 10 to 16 finds The Guardian US analyzing food expenditure on the Democrats’ campaign trail, The Washington Post’s Steven Rich sharing the pains of cleaning spelling permutations in data, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists explaining the process of handling the massive #LuandaLeaks records, and the Sigma Awards announcing its shortlist.
