Awards, Grants, & Fellowships Data Journalism
Announcing the Sigma Awards 2025 Shortlist
GIJN, the new home of the Sigma Awards, is proud to announce the 2025 shortlist for the best data journalism projects and portfolios in the past year.
Stories
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News & Analysis
How State Agents Target Journalists the Government Claims to Protect: Stark Warnings from Mexico and Honduras
A deep dive into how government-run journalist protection programs in Latin America are failing to shield the press from attacks and intimidation by state agents and organized crime.
Reporting Tools & Tips
Essential Open Source Tools for Journalists Investigating Air Pollution
Here is a list of open source data tools that journalists can utilize to track air pollution, uncover its sources, and reveal the corporate networks responsible.
Silencing the Press: The Case of Alsu Kurmasheva and the Growing Threat of ‘Foreign Agent’ Laws
The RFE/RL reporter spent 288 days in a Russian prison after she was accused of failing to declare herself a “foreign agent.”
News & Analysis Press Freedom
Chaos and Credibility: A Snapshot of How AI Is Impacting Press Freedom and Investigative Journalism
GIJN offers a snapshot of how watchdog reporters are confronting algorithmic abuses and misinformation while also employing AI as a key newsroom tool.
Data Journalism Top 10
Electing a New Pope, North Korea Fighting Ukraine, Vaccination Rates to Stop Outbreaks, and a Deadly Gold Mine in Turkey
Also highlights how X influences Elon Musk’s government policy, the numbers behind the successful Danish toy maker Lego, and mapping the Sudan conflict.
News & Analysis Press Freedom
Reporters Without Borders: Global Press Freedom at Unprecedented, Critical Low
As reporters mark World Press Freedom Day, RSF’s 2025 annual ranking reveals press freedom around the world has fallen to a new, unprecedented low.
Getting the Story Out News & Analysis
Why Whistleblowers Need Allies Like Lawyers and Journalists to Expose Corruption
Insiders who successfully sound the alarm often do so with help — by partnering with allies who can amplify their message and help shield them from retaliation.
Data Journalism News & Analysis
Tracking US Migrant Detention Data: What Journalists Need to Understand
The US government’s detained immigrant population flatlined in April, but there’s more to the numbers than meets the eye. Here’s what journalists need to know about the data.
How They Did It
How a Filipino Reporter Exposed Disinformation Networks Defending an Ex-President After His Arrest
Philippine reporter Cristina Chi uncovered an orchestrated disinformation campaign on Facebook to falsely portray the arrest of the country’s ex-president.
How Publishing Investigations as Books Can Add Depth, Increase Visibility, and Fight Censorship
In this story, several investigative journalists from Mexico speak about the experience of turning their exposés into books.
How They Did It
Investigating How Illegal Gold Gets Into the Legitimate Supply Chain
This Pulitzer Center-supported investigation dug into illegal gold mining in South America, and traced how these illicit products are secretly fed into legitimate supply chains.
Data Journalism Reporting Tools & Tips
As Trump White House Disappears US Environmental Data, Reporters Can Turn to OECD
The wide range of international environmental data that the OECD offers, though often Eurocentric, is still extensive in scope and comparatively reliable.
News & Analysis Sustainability
Journalists as Founders — Intrepid Pioneers or Reluctant Managers?
There are myriad number of reasons why reporters decide launch their own news sites, but these enterprising journalists often face a series of new, daunting challenges.
How They Did It Reporting Tools & Tips
Running Into Open Secrets: How to Investigate Using the Strava Fitness App
Journalists around the world have mined the Strava fitness app to pinpoint secret military bases and track the movements of world leaders.
Data Journalism
Data Don’ts: Expert Tips to Avoid Misleading Audiences With Numbers
At a NICAR 2025 panel, data journalism experts discussed nuanced number errors that watchdog reporters often make that can confuse readers and disrupt story angles.
Data Journalism Top 10
Rolling Trade Wars, Earthquake in Myanmar, Oil in the Amazon, and Politics of Time Zones
Also highlighting data investigations into oil exploration in the Amazon, women who travel for an abortion in Europe, and and how music is passed down through generations.
How They Did It
Investigating the Systemic Failures Enabling Abuse on Dating Apps
The Dating App Reporting Project conducted an 18-month investigation into the mechanisms meant to keep people safe on dating apps — and found them wanting.
How They Did It
From the Hospital to the Lab: How We Reported the Snakebite Scandal
Two reporters from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s global health team explain how they uncovered the shady world of phony snakebite antivenom.
News & Analysis Press Freedom
Behind the FOI Desk: Using Freedom of Information Laws to Fuel Accountability Stories in Africa
Newsrooms across Africa have established formal, right-to-information help desks that leverage government document requests for public accountability and watchdog reporting.
New Free Tools to Track Corporate Misconduct Around the World
The new Violation Tracker Global (VT Global) portal offers unique and valuable datasets on corporate misconduct across 57 countries and territories outside of the US and UK.
Data Journalism MENA Focus Week
How Middle Eastern Data Outlets Use Data to Challenge Narratives and Advance Accountability
Data journalism in the Middle East has been driven by organizations that have produced collaborations and projects that combine innovative techniques with nuanced local knowledge.
Getting the Story Out MENA Focus Week
Investigating Syria after Assad: A Black Box, Opened
Feras Dalatey describes the surreal experience of reporting in his home country days after the fall of the Assad regime — and the challenges ahead for Syria’s investigative journalists.
10 Questions MENA Focus Week
‘Never Stop Learning’: Reporting on Yemen Beyond the Headlines
The investigative journalist — who has covered Iraq’s secret sex trade, the Yemen war, and the Sanaa funeral bombing — shares insights from working on a difficult beat.
MENA Focus Week News & Analysis
Unearthing Truths in Turbulent Times: The High Cost of Investigative Journalism in North Africa
Press freedom in the Maghreb is under attack and in decline, but investigative outlets have still found ways to uncover corruption and reduce the risks of publishing.
MENA Focus Week News & Analysis
Investigative Journalism in MENA: Struggling Against Tyranny, Fighting to Survive
Investigative journalists across the region talk about their biggest challenges — from repressive laws and surveillance to funding cuts.
News & Analysis
What’s Lost if Voice of America Disappears: Watchdog Spirit, Intrepid Reporters, and Focus on the Global South
To dismantle VOA and other US-funded affiliates would be to silence decades of coverage in overlooked parts of the world on topics like human rights, corruption, and war crimes.
News & Analysis Press Freedom
Editors and Reporters Denounce Bill That Would Upend Investigative Journalism in Peru
A bill currently being proposed in the South American country’s legislature would have a chilling effect, and make in-depth exposés of the powerful virtually impossible.