Editor’s Note: It is with great sadness that we at GIJN announce the passing of David Donald, a much-treasured colleague and teacher in our community. David died on Saturday after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 64. We asked his longtime friend, GIJN Board Chair Brant Houston, to write this remembrance.
Five Arab journalists who exposed torture and injustice in their societies won the 2016 ARIJ Prizes at the end of the 9th Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) forum during a gala dinner on Dec 3. The awardees shone a spotlight on important stories and tackled them with courage and dedication, taking care to highlight the depth of human feelings in their stories.
Investigations into extrajudicial killings, violent conflicts over land and timber, and trafficking of cultural heritage items took home the top three prizes at the 2016 Latin American Investigative Journalism Award (#COLPIN2016), held in Panama last weekend. The jury also highlighted the existence of networking, collaborative, and transnational work methodologies streaming from data journalism
What are the hot data journalism tweets? Here are top links for Nov. 21-27: Korea president scandal (@ReutersGraphics); post-truth questions (@nicolaskb); UK beneficial ownership (@Global_Witness); exhaust data (@paulxmccarthy); dataviz catalog (@SR_Visual_Info); Turkish schools (@dagmedya) & more.
Investigative reporting has never been a profitable business, especially when it relies on the support of governments or non-profit foundations. But now the funds are dwindling and costs are on the rise. Donors have new priorities, not least a global and intensifying refugee crisis and de-radicalization. However, Arab journalists fought to initiate free speech and honest reporting in the Arab region and continue to fight to maintain them, with no intention of giving up now.
Even as the Panama Papers disclosures have sparked almost 150 official investigations in at least 76 countries, they have also provoked pushback from individuals and governments displeased with revelations of the hidden economic holdings of the global elite. Politicians, business executives and thousands of their supporters have responded with vitriol, threats, cyber attacks and lawsuits. But one of the benefits of collaboration is the way journalists can band together to overcome these issues.
In a post-truth future, it can be frustratingly hard to fight fake news and rumors beyond one’s immediate reach. In a system where no source is deemed fully trustworthy, research and citations are diminished to just another set of opinions. This has been China’s story for decades. In 2016, it is starting to be the U.S.’ story as well.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting? Here are top links for Nov. 14-20: #USElection2016 (@visualisingdata, @simplystats); mapping Turkish women murders (@FemicideMap); polarized America (@LazaroGamio); visual vocabulary (@martinstabe); drug overdose deaths (@nytgraphics); & more.
Last week, Google announced funding for 124 European media projects in the second round of its Digital News Initiative (DNI) Innovation Fund. Among the awardees are seven members of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN): Correct!v, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), the RISE Project, the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, Direkt36, and Atlaszlo.hu.
What’s the data-driven journalism crowd tweeting? Here are top links for Nov 7-13: guide to be a data journalist (@willems_karlijn); infobeautyaward winners (@ddjournalism); bulletproofing data course (@ejcnet); data pitfalls (@journalismnews); EU & US economic data (@github); & more.
