GIJN Webinar: Behind the Data — Tools and Techniques from the 2025 Sigma Award Winners
June 3, 2025

What innovative tools and techniques are shaping the future of data journalism? GIJN hosted a special lightning round webinar with the 10 winners of the 2025 Sigma Awards, celebrating some of the world’s best data-driven investigations.

In this fast-paced session, winning teams each had five minutes to share key insights from their reporting process — from their favorite tools to innovative methods that helped uncover complex stories. Moderated by journalist and newsroom leader Gina Chua, the session offered a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the workflows powering award-winning journalism.

The 2025 Sigma Awards winners featured groundbreaking investigations from around the globe. The full list of winners — divided into two submission categories — is below.

Project (7 winners)

• 40 Acres and a Lie — Center for Public Integrity, Reveal, Mother Jones (US)
• Buildings Wrapped in Solid Gasoline — Reuters (Spain)
• Carousel of Emotions — Texty.org.ua (Ukraine)
• Terranexus Durán: Las Conexiones Detrás del Rráfico de Rierras en la Bodega de la Droga de Ecuador (Terranexus Durán: The Connections Behind Land Trafficking in Ecuador’s Drug Warehouse) — Unidad de Investigación Tierra de Nadie, CONNECTAS (Ecuador)
• The Price of Bakhmut. Staggering Toll of Russia’s Bloodiest Battle Since WW2 and Wagner’s Inmates Recruited to Fight It — Mediazona, BBC News Russian (Russia)
• Under the Surface. 300 Contaminants in our Groundwater — Le Monde, DATADISTA, De Staandard, Facta, Dagbladet Information, Reporters United, Arena for Journalism in Europe, Journalism Fund (France)
• Votar Entre Balas — Data Cívica, Animal Politico, México Evalúa, (Mexico)

Portfolio (3 winners)

•  الإعلامية الفلسطينية المستقلة [Last Story — independent Palestinian media] (Palestinian Territories): Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Entry 4, Entry 5
• Salud con Lupa (Peru): Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Entry 4, Entry 5
• South China Morning Post (Hong Kong): Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Entry 4, Entry 5

The webinar was held on June 3, 2025.