As we mark this year’s World Press Freedom Day, the memory of the attack at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris hangs in the air. So, too, do the shootings in Copenhagen, where a cartoonist was again among the targets. So far 2015 has not been much of a friend to freedom of expression. I’m afraid that I do not have good news: across the full length of our continent, media freedom is now under threat.
Every year, 3 May is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. It is World Press Freedom Day. Over 100 national celebrations take place each year to commemorate this Day.
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is a GIJN member based in America’s heartland, in a Midwest state best known for its dairy farms, cheese, and Green Bay Packers football team. From its offices at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism, WCIJ since 2009 has distinguished itself with an impressive record of digging into criminal justice, the environment, and state government that has won a basket full of awards. Through its partnerships, the Center’s stories have reached millions, but its innovative team is now working to expand that reach by collaborating with artists on investigative stories. We’re pleased to present the latest from WCIJ’s Investigative Reporting + Art project.
The annual report on freedom of the press by Freedom House is out, and the results are grim: Freedom of the Press 2015 finds that harsh laws and violence have driven press freedom to its lowest level in over a decade. “Conditions for the media deteriorated sharply in 2014 to reach their lowest point in more than 10 years, as journalists around the world encountered more restrictions from governments, militants, criminals, and media owners,” states the report.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting? Here are the Top Ten links for Apr 18-26: data viz resources (@visualisingdata), Europe refugees (@zeitonline), French school names (@EugenieBastie), Perugia Fest highlights (#digilab), Le Monde fack-checks (@lemondefr), Global South ddj (SciDev.net).
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Here are the Top Ten links for April 10-16: must-read books for #ddj beginners, data tools for covering elections, resources for working with open data, mapping the Internet in Europe, and an upcoming bootcamp in Pakistan.
The good people at the Journalism in the Americas Blog, who just hosted the always interesting International Symposium on Online Journalism, alerted us to a useful new video, “Data Journalism: An Explication.” Here are journalists doing their best to define data journalism.The video comes from Cindy Royal, an associate professor, and Dale Blasingame, a lecturer, in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University.
Some think of scholarly or academic journals and the articles they contain as boring, not easy to read, and not useful if you’re not an academic. While this might be the case for some articles, the belief that this is the case for all articles in all publications is wrong. Academic and scholarly publications can be of tremendous value to the journalist and researcher.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? The Top Ten links for April 3-9: doing ddj in Afghanistan; +40 data journalism projects in France, 100 cool historical map visualizations, a South Africa calculator for paying your domestic worker, cost of medicine worldwide, and more.
One of the most common things you hear people say when you tell them what you do for a living is “Oh, I hate fundraising! I could NEVER do that for living!” Nice. Yes, there are all kinds of fun responses we can think of. But what it tells us over and over again is that fundraising is widely perceived as something dirty, ethically challenged, or at least uncomfortable. People think that talking to someone about their own money is akin to talking to them about sex, politics, or religion. It’s not.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Top Ten links for March 27 – Apr 5: journalists and coding, 30+ free data tools, #ddj for beginners, asbestos in Italy, political money in Germany, and more. This list is determined by NodeXL, a social media network mapping program. The full map is available at the bottom of this roundup.
The annual awards are out from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the world’s largest and oldest association of investigative journalists. Each year the organization honors “outstanding investigative work” with its highly regarded IRE Awards. The prizes are given in 16 categories that include small to large markets, broadcast and multimedia, books, FOI, students and more. A GIJN founding member, IRE began in 1975 and is based at the University of Missouri Journalism School.
The just announced 9th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism is South Africa’s highest prize for investigative journalism. The award recognizes “outstanding examples of journalism, that reveal untold stories, hold the powerful to account and question those in public life.” GIJN is pleased to reprint below the awards speech by Wits University Journalism Professor Anton Harber, given March 27 in Johannesburg.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Investigating unusual trading patterns at a Chinese solar company (@FT), tracking the rising Right in France (@Rue89Strasbourg), looking back on a year of fighting Ebola (@MSF), and announcing @ICFJKnight fellowships. Read on!
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Top Ten links for March 13-20 feature investigating water aid from El Confidencial, IndiaSpend’s manipulating data in India’s most populous state, explaining the Middle East in 40 maps from Vox; & Poynter’s interactive storytelling lessons.
(Tonsberg, Norway) From an international film festival in London to bustling conferences in Scandinavia and Latin America, investigative journalists turned out by the hundreds over the weekend in search of training and inspiration. The events, sponsored by GIJN member organizations in four countries, are part of an increasingly crowded calendar sparked by the growing global practice of investigative journalism.
Statistics collected by state governments across India can be and are easily fudged. GIJN Member IndiaSpend–India’s first data-driven journalism initiative–analyzes reported data on disease outbreaks, crime, and traffic accidents in the country’s most populous state and compares it to better governed and richer neighbors. What unfolds is a story of lies and statistics.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Tracking EU politicians on data protection regulations (@LobbyPlag), updated #NICAR15 tools + tutorials (@MacDiva), Big Pharma profits from taxpayers (@SRFData), and more…
The Global Investigative Journalism Network joins OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović in calling for the immediate release of Natalya Kokorina, an editor with GIJN member Crimean Centre for Investigative Journalism. Ms. Kokorina was detained today by authorities in Crimea.
The Swiss Leaks team included more than 160 journalists from 50 countries and 63 media outlets — ICIJ’s biggest collaboration yet. Here’s an inside look at how they did it and what they learned.
What’s got the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting about? Here are the week’s Top Ten links for Feb 27-Mar 5: cool #NICAR15 tools + tutorials (@MacDiva), mapping power in Africa (Guardian), how to find, extract + use #OpenData (IJNet), and the history of immigration in England + Wales (Times of London).
The 103-minute documentary on pollution that has taken China by storm — Under the Dome — has proven too much for officials in Beijing, who have removed the film from popular Chinese video sites. After the video’s online release on February 28, Under the Dome garnered an extraordinary 100 million views in under 24 hours.
The media’s now widespread embrace of data journalism has made the book Computer-Assisted Reporting as relevant as it was 20 years ago. With this newly revised, fourth edition, Brant Houston has expanded on his previous work. Take a look at how to use the tools of the trade.
Khadija Ismayilova is an internationally recognized investigative journalist known for her work digging into the hidden financial dealings of Azerbaijan’s first family. In jail and facing up to 12 years in prison, Ismayilova released her closing statement at her most recent trial through her lawyer. It’s published here.
Seven journalism organizations from six countries are the latest groups to join the Global Investigative Journalism Network. This increases GIJN’s membership to a record 114 organizations in 53 countries. Please join us in welcoming our newest members!
Open Data is spreading across the globe and transforming the way data is collected, published, and used. But all of this is happening without well-documented standards, leading to inconsistent metadata, no or little corroboration of sources, and conflicting terms of use. The Data on the Web Best Practices Working Group is working to change this.
