
News & Analysis
Editor’s Pick of 2019: Eight Investigative Stories in Spanish
Instead of recommending “the best” stories of the year, Spanish Editor Catalina Lobo-Guerrero decided to try a different approach with her 2019 selection.
Instead of recommending “the best” stories of the year, Spanish Editor Catalina Lobo-Guerrero decided to try a different approach with her 2019 selection.
GIJN’s French editor Marthe Rubio selected some of the best investigative stories published in French in 2019, Morocco to Switzerland and from Belgium to Tunisia.
US professor Bruce Bagley was frequently quoted by media outlets as an expert on corruption. But according to federal prosecutors, he also put his expertise into practice. They announced that he was arrested on money laundering charges last week.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from November 18 to 24 finds Google Trends mapping the busiest places and times for Thanksgiving, Al Jazeera profiling the work of data journalist Mona Chalabi and her hand-drawn visualizations, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism examining the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in journalism, and the Investigative Reporting Workshop collating useful public datasets in one place.
Hundreds of Arab and international investigative journalists met in Amman from November 22 to November 24 for the ARIJ19 conference, where they discussed “the role of media in a radicalized world” – a global challenge amidst an explosion of digital tools and widespread online attacks against journalists.
Journalists in Brazil are coming under attack more than ever, both on and offline, says Leandro Demori, executive editor of investigative site The Intercept Brasil. This is happening in a context of increasing political polarization in the country.
It’s what readers want, it’s what funders want, it’s what editors want, it’s even what reporters want: The elusive yet ever-important impact that hopefully comes after reporting a story. Here’s a look into the new role of impact editor at the UK’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with The New York Times’ Malachy Browne, a pioneer in the field of visual investigations. He told GIJN’s Gaelle Faure about the tools that help him recreate crime scenes, including satellite imagery, EXIF data viewers, 3D modeling, and more.
Within the borders of China and Russia, the use of invasive information controls and techniques is well-known and widespread. But the use of these technology systems to suppress citizens’ fundamental human rights goes beyond what is happening inside any one country’s borders. Increasingly, authoritarian actors are exporting these tools and know-how to other countries, a new report finds.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from November 11 to 17 finds an investigation by The Financial Times uncovering how private health information is being traded online by health sites to big advertisers, The Economist looking at the correlation between Americans’ music preferences and political leanings, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigating the government’s algorithmic decision-making, and the data community coming together to highlight excellent female data journalists.
The South Korean nonprofit investigative newsroom Newstapa was founded in 2012 by a group of journalists who had been either dismissed or marginalized in their newsrooms for demanding editorial independence. Since then, much has changed in the country’s political and media landscapes. Searching for sustainability in the midst of these upheavals has been a wild ride, writes Lee Taehoon for GIJN.
The award-winning Mexican journalist and author Marcela Turati was recognized with the 2019 Maria Moors Cabot Prize. In this Q&A, she talks about how Mexican journalists are organizing and collaborating to better protect themselves against threats of violence and death.
While exiled reporters may now be practicing journalism from a place of relative safety, repressive governments can still interfere with their ability to report stories, reach audiences, and make a living. Charlotte Alfred spoke to exiled reporters for GIJN.
If you’re searching for information on Instagram, you won’t get far if you’re only using the search bar. OSINTCurio.us has offered up a detailed how-to on searching on Instagram, which sometimes means you’ll need outside apps to help.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from November 4 to 11 finds The New York Times analyzing more than 11,000 of Trump’s tweets, The Financial Times measuring air quality in London’s Underground, Der Tagesspiegel creating an interactive of the Berlin Wall, and Nieman Lab discussing data voids exploited by media manipulators.
This year, the 11th Global Investigative Journalism Conference opened up to citizen investigators as never before, with a series of workshops and events dedicated to the successes, challenges, and opportunities presented to non-journalists who investigate wrongdoing. Megan Clement wrote about it for GIJN.
Re:Baltica, a nonprofit newsroom based in Riga, has experimented with different forms of storytelling and types of funding to sustain its work over the past eight years. Its co-founder Inga Springe shares what she’s learned along the way.
Revenue options for nonprofit newsrooms now include everything from story sales and membership to crowdfunding and even cryptocurrency tokens. But experts say fundraising – for better or worse – remains the foundational key to the survival and growth of nonprofits around the world, writes Rowan Philp for GIJN.
Journalists for the Daily Trust in Nigeria told the Committee to Protect Journalists that the military conducted forensic searches on their computers and mobile phones following the publication of a story about a military operation. CPJ’s Jonathan Rozen writes that these raids are emblematic of a global trend of law enforcement seizing journalists’ phones and computers — some of their most important tools.
This past week, the Pen Chapter of San Miguel de Allende honored the 16 journalists murdered this year with an offering typical for Día de Muertos celebration in Mexico. In each home, those who have passed away are remembered with an altar, decorated with flowers, candles, objects, and food that those who have passed away liked when they were alive.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from October 28 to November 3 finds The Economist’s summary of a great year in print data journalism, an interesting visualization by Deniz Cem Önduygu of key arguments in Western philosophy, Datajournalism.com’s guide to editing data journalism, and BBC News’ analysis of outgoing House of Commons Speaker John Bercow’s career in numbers.
Yemen has been embroiled in civil war for decades. But its current conflict has left 100,000 dead, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. While the war has received limited coverage by most international and mainstream media outlets, during 2018 and 2019 a team of Associated Press journalists spent months investigating Yemen’s Dirty War. Maggie Michael, Nariman El-Mofty, and Maad al-Zekri won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. GIJN’s Majdolin Hasan spoke with Michael about how they did it.
So you’ve spent your own money to report from the field on an investigative story for which you have a modest contract. This is the moment where freelancers have an opportunity to make a true net profit, and gather the nuts for the coming financial winter. Rowan Philp rounded up tips for GIJN on how freelance investigative journalists can seek multiple sales opportunities for every reporting expedition.
Any journalist who has been trolled, harassed, or otherwise attacked online knows how frightening the experience can be, and how isolated one can feel as a result. But newsrooms around the world are increasingly waking up to the fact that their staff need dedicated support to deal with the growing online abuse. Megan Clement rounded up tips from experts for GIJN.
Venezuelan investigative news site Armando.info was recently rewarded with a special mention in the Maria Moors Cabot Prize. In a Q&A with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, the site’s co-founder Joseph Poliszuk talks about the challenges of continuing their work with part of the team now in exile.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from October 21 to 27 finds a panel of leading data visualization practitioners discussing the practice of visualization in an age of disinformation, Kloop exposing how Kyrgyzstani authorities privatized large swaths of a public park with no oversight, and The Guardian highlighting the minimal changes between former British prime minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with current PM Boris Johnson’s new deal.
The fact-checkers’ toolbox is not one-size-fits all. Journalists from Senegal, India and Turkey discuss the tools they use to counter misinformation trends specific to their region.
GIJN’s Leonie Kijewski sat down with NAJA president Tristan Ahtone to speak about stereotypes journalists fall for when reporting on Indigenous affairs, how to avoid them, and how to diversify the entire news industry.