Recursos
Investigative Journalism: It’s All About Cross-Border Cooperation
Investigative journalists and other citizens interested in uncovering the organised crime and corruption that affect the lives of billions of people worldwide gain, with each passing day, unprecedented access to information. Huge volumes of information are being made available online by governments and other organisations, and it seems that the much-needed information is in everyone’s grasp. However, corrupt officials in governments and organised crime groups are doing their best to conceal information and to hide their wrongdoings.
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One Problem, Many Dimensions: Tips on Covering Poverty
There are many different concepts and definitions of poverty. According to the Oxford University Poverty and Human Development Initiative, ‘Poverty is often defined by one-dimensional measures, such as income. But no one indicator alone can capture the multiple aspects that constitute poverty. Multidimensional poverty is made up of several factors that constitute poor people’s experience of deprivation–such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standard, lack of income (as one of several factors considered), disempowerment, poor quality of work and threat from violence.’
Data Journalism
Mapping Data Journalism on Twitter
This intriguing graph depicts a network of 989 Twitter users whose tweets from January 13 to 24 contained the hashtag “#ddj” (data-driven journalism). We’re pleased to see that our site gijn.org was among the top domains and our data journalism resource page among the top URLs that appeared. This work is the brainchild of Marc Smith (@marc_smith), a sociologist of “computer-mediated collective action” who, among his varied activities, maps social media networks that reveal “the key people, groups, and topics discussed in a public conversation.”
Resource
“All Readers Now Are Global” — Busting Myths on Int’l Reporting
With two and a half years to go until 2015, the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), progress has been mixed. The spread of some diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, is being brought under control. In China, the proportion of people living on under a dollar a day has been halved. At the same time, though, the number of those living on under a dollar a day in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped by a measly one percent. Why such uneven progress?
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Reporter’s Guide: A Millennium Development Goal Primer
To Hermilio, a working day is no less than 12 hours. In return, he receives a wage that does not guarantee that his two children, who are six and seven years old, have food three times a day, nor does it prevent them having to walk miles to reach the nearest school. This is the reality in the Cusarare community in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, and in many other parts of the world. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—which underpin an alliance between governments and society geared at eradicating marginalisation—were created up in response to the suffering of Hermilio and the billions of others like him around the world.
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Intro: Reporter’s Guide to Millennium Development Goals
Editor’s Note: For the next two weeks, GIJN is running a series drawn from the newly released Reporter’s Guide to the Millennium Development Goals: Covering Development Commitments for 2015 and Beyond, published by the International Press Institute. Agreed to in 2000, the UN Millennium Goals comprise an ambitious agenda to improve quality of life around the world, focusing on such issues as poverty, gender equality, and education.
News & Analysis
“In Order To Fight a Network, You Need To Create a Network”
Paul Radu of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project gave an engaging talk at the recent TEDxBucharest gathering, looking at the globalization of crime and how investigation reporters and public-interest hackers can push back. Among the topics he covers: Russian money laundering, European horse meat, and Azerbaijan corruption. Says Radu: “In order to fight a network, you need to create a network.”
News & Analysis
Shining Light Winners Donate Prize Money to Jailed Journalist
Winners of the Global Shining Light Award have donated their US$1000 in prize money to the family of imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Avaz Zeynalli. The Shining Light Award honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat or duress. Zeynalli was editor in chief of the daily newspaper Khural, one of a handful of independent media voices in the repressive, oil-rich nation of Azerbaijan, which lies at the borders of Russia, Iran, and Turkey
Reporting Tools & Tips
People Problems in a Small Media Organization (Part 2)
In People Problems Part 1, we talked about two common kinds of complaints that you as a manager might hear. “I don’t think Karl is showing enough commitment to his work.” “The technical staff is being rude to our salespeople.” Here is a method for developing your colleague’s problem-solving skills, followed by how to apply it in these two cases. If you focus on developing your people, your organization will develop far more rapidly than if you focus on just the num.
Reporting Tools & Tips
People Problems in a Small Media Organization (Part 1)
If you are leading a team in a small media organization, you need to get the best out of your people. Everyone has to be a contributor. This is not just a selfish thing. You get the best out of people by helping them develop their own talents, overcome obstacles and reach their own professional goals.
News & Analysis
Violence, Impunity Take No Holiday for Ukraine Journalists
While most of the Christian West woke up on Christmas morning to messages of peace on earth and goodwill to mankind, events in Ukraine continued down a bloody and almost heathen, medieval path. The physical assaults in the last month on journalists, activists, and demonstrators are too numerous to keep track of without a scorecard and a timeline. But the trend is so clear that even the most witless criminal investigator can see the pattern.
News & Analysis
UN Endorses Journalism Safety, Investigative Reporting
News & Analysis
Should Investigative Journalists Partner with Business?
The setting was a recent conference on “Business in Society” at INSEAD, the business school based outside of Paris, where the authors of this article were presenting their ideas on media development. Unexpectedly, an executive from a major shipping company stood up and said: “We just learned that one of our sub-contractors in a certain country is in organized crime. We want more investigative reporting, so we can avoid such issues.”
The GIJN Top 10: Our Most Popular Stories of 2013
As 2013 nears an end, we’d like to share our top ten stories — the stories that you, our dear readers, found most compelling. The list ranges from impassioned calls for journalists to fight back to the dangers of big data, from the latest techniques for tracking business across borders to the arcane practice of plane-spotting. Please join us in taking a look at The Best of GIJN.org.
News & Analysis
ARIJ Awards Showcase Gutsy Reporting Across Middle East
Amid media crackdowns, civil war, and social unrest, 350 journalists from Tunisia to Iraq gathered in Jordan earlier this month for the annual conference of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ). Despite arduous conditions across much of the Middle East and North Africa, the conference provided strong evidence that the region’s best journalists are continuing to fight the good fight — pushing hard against censorship and bringing world-class investigative reporting to the Arab world. The event, ARIJ’s sixth annual gathering, took place in Amman from December 6-8.
GIJN Newsletter: GIJC13 Highlights, After Rio, End of Year Appeal
Our just-released newsletter, the Global Network News, includes highlights of the 8th Global Investigative Journalism Conference, as well as a big thanks to all of you who made it possible. You’ll also find an update on the big decisions that came from the Rio meeting of GIJN’s Steering Committee, made up of our 90 member organizations.
News & Analysis
Media’s Arab Spring Turns to Winter
Let me tell you how I think it will go from here. Free speech – always a lonely and sickly child in the Arab world – is already back in intensive care throughout the region.
Street protests will gradually die out. Dissenters will continue to be arrested and given harsh sentences. Sustained government propaganda will convince any waverers that political stability and economic prosperity are far more important than personal freedoms, rule of law, universal human rights, and democratic values.
Despite the wishful thinking of the crowds, the final chapter of the Arab Spring is being written: it is about over.
Resource
Global Corruption: The 2013 Index by Transparency Int’l
Since 1995, Transparency International has surveyed and analyzed how corruption is perceived around the world. Through its Corruption Perceptions Index, TI has shown that abuse of power, secret dealings, and bribery are widespread and not confined to a handful of developing countries. The just-released 2013 index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries and territories. It “demonstrates that all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations,” according to TI Chair Huguette Labelle.
Methodology Research
Paper Trails: Following the Civil Rights Movement’s Records
News & Analysis
The Rise of Digital Repression: Interactive Infographic
Online is no refuge: The PEN American Center, an association of writers and others working to defend free expression, created this interactive report to showcase the global rise of digital repression, using data from its case files over the past 12 years.
Noticias y análisis
Today: Int’l Day to End Impunity
Reporting Tools & Tips
Research Tools for International Business Investigations
Investigative stories are just a click away. But to find them, you need to look in the right place. Marty Steffens, from the University of Missouri, and Paul Radu, from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in Romania, presented some of the best search tools on the Internet other than Google at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference. They are often used as the starting point for almost all research on international business.
News & Analysis
International Day To End Impunity Slated for Nov. 23
Impunity is defined as “without punishment, without consequences.” It has become a shorthand way to describe the thousands of attacks on journalists and freedom of expression around the world each year. IFEX, the global network of 88 groups defending free expression, each year organizes an International Day to End Impunity. This year it takes place November 23, with events every day this month. Over the past ten years, more than 500 journalists have been killed, and in 9 of 10 cases their killers have escaped — with impunity.