For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with veteran American investigative reporter Ron Nixon. Now the global investigations editor for The Associated Press, Nixon shared the most important tools he uses for research, secure communications, and data analysis on many of his groundbreaking investigations.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a report on the spike in crackdowns on journalists and media organizations reporting on COVID-19 , Transparency International’s suggestions for what to look out for with corruption and coronavirus, and a Citizen Lab report about how China manages social media censorship.
The attention of the global data journalism community remains very much tuned in to the developing COVID-19 pandemic, which is reflected in our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 16 to 22. The New York Times mapped the movements of millions of people to trace how the virus spread out from China, The Financial Times tracked how coronavirus case trajectories compare among countries, while Robert Kosara explains the brilliance of a “Flatten the Curve” cartoon.
Journalists around the world are investigating many angles of the coronavirus pandemic. GIJN has collected some of the best reporting to date, hoping these 50 examples from 17 countries will inspire even more investigative journalism.
Journalists are not immune to the impact of trauma when reporting on disasters and tragedies. One of the world’s leading psychologists in the field of journalism and trauma, Cait McMahon, outlines strategies journalists can use to prepare for, work on, and recover from investigations into traumatic events.
Alberto Donadío is one of the pioneers of investigative journalism in Latin America, yet he remains a largely unknown figure. GIJN spoke to Colombian journalist Juan Serrano, who has written an award-winning book about the muckraker’s life and work.
International organized crime received little scrutiny in the Czech press until the Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism was founded in 2013. They work with media partners across the region on collaborative projects that have helped bring down senior officials and expose the activities of mafia bosses, including an investigation with Slovak reporter Ján Kuciak, who was killed in 2018. Ian Willoughby profiles the Czech nonprofit for GIJN.
The novel coronavirus is very much dominating the Twitter chatter among the global data journalism community this week. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 9 to 15 finds The Washington Post simulating different social distancing scenarios and their effects on slowing the spread of COVID-19, South China Morning Post highlighting research into a cluster case, Süddeutsche Zeitung charting the exponential growth in countries with high infection rates, and The New York Times spotlighting the jobs which put workers at the greatest risk of contracting the virus.
The COVID-19 outbreak has sparked a new wave of Chinese muckraking, despite years of suppression of investigative reporting. GIJN’s Chinese Editor Joey Qi speaks with Chinese journalists on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak about their tips for reporters around the world covering the pandemic.
For our series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with investigative reporter Susan Comrie, whose corruption exposes have helped shake South Africa’s political scene. She described some of the tools and techniques she has deployed in ground-breaking investigations as part of the team at investigative journalism center amaBhungane.
Reporters Sans Frontieres published, for the first time, a list of press freedom’s 20 worst digital predators in 2020. Whether state offshoots, private-sector companies, or informal entities, they reflect a reality of power at the end of the 21st century’s second decade, in which investigative reporters and other journalists who cause displeasure risk being the targets of predatory activity by often hidden actors.
GIJN regrets to announce that it is canceling this year’s Asian Investigative Journalism Conference, which was slated for October 16-18 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Given the unpredictability of the coronavirus and its potential impact on attendees, GIJN asked for assurances that the conference could be canceled if necessary. The hotel refused and insisted that GIJN provide a 100% guarantee of all conference costs. Instead, GIJN will begin work on next year’s Global Conference and a host of new projects, and promises to return to Asia in 2022.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes tips for journalists covering COVID-19, news from Investigative Reporters & Editors about a NICAR20 conference attendee testing “presumptively positive” for the virus, and the latest on media conference cancellations around the world — including GIJN’s own Asian Investigative Journalism Conference.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 2 to 8 finds a list of COVID-19 related data visualizations selected by health activist Joel Selanikio, Folha De S. Paulo analyzing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets, VoxEurop highlighting the potential disappearance of the world’s beaches due to climate change, and Davis Vilums mapping every central London street over four years by cycling.
It is difficult to fathom how far the novel virus might spread, and what the ultimate consequences will be. With all the uncertainties, journalists around the world are faced with the many challenges of covering the epidemic — including combating misinformation and health risks to reporters in the field — while not fueling panic.
As coronavirus spreads globally, investigative journalists around the world are working to hold powers to account as they respond to the crisis. Veteran health journalist and expert on infectious disease and global health security, Thomas Abraham talks to GIJN about the questions investigative reporters need to ask in a rapidly changing environment.
Nigeria has a stubborn legacy of corruption that dates back decades. The MacArthur Foundation is investing some $67 million in investigative journalism, transparency, and good governance in the country — an ambitious experiment that could serve as a model for other states plagued by corruption.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a piece from the UK-based Bureau for Investigative Journalism, which spells out their tenets around journalism and activism, the much-debated New York Times’ media column with Ben Smith, and the free (!) online video course with investigative journalist David A. Fahrenthold.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 24 to March 1 finds The New York Times digging into some curious data from two Instagram accounts of the British royal family, Al Jazeera analyzing Trump’s plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Markup launching with an investigation into auto insurance algorithms, and Pew Research Center sharing some American election data snapshots.
For nearly a decade, the French investigative website Mediapart has made sexual violence a front-page issue through its exposés. GIJN’s French editor Marthe Rubió spoke to journalists Lénaïg Bredoux and Marine Turchi about the methodologies and motivations behind their investigations.
A small but violent American neo-Nazi group targeted journalists who covered their activities by sending threatening messages to their homes and making fake calls to law enforcement. The harassment and intimidation campaigns were detailed by prosecutors in charges against five men announced last week.
In late November last year, Egyptian security forces arrested journalist Solafa Sallam and her photojournalist husband Hossam El-Sayyad. Here’s Sallam’s letter from prison, where she is still being held.
In “Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian’s Playbook,” The GroundTruth Project chronicles seven leaders whose instincts and inclinations herald a brand of populist nationalism that, if history is a guide, can lead to authoritarian government. From Brazil to Italy and the US, these global leaders seem to share common “plays,” including weaponizing fear, undermining institutions and targeting outsiders. GroundTruth fellows offer tips for journalists covering this rising authoritarianism.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a report from The Intercept about how a US Department of Homeland Security algorithm revoked the visa of Forensic Architecture’s Eyal Weizman, an interview with Paul Caruana Galizia about his podcast My Mother’s Murder, and why almost half of the tech experts surveyed by the Pew Research Center are saying technology will weaken democracy.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 17 to 23 finds geographer Tim Wallace collecting some amusingly unusual maps, The Guardian analyzing the effect of Airbnb’s prevalence on home ownership in Great Britain, the Data Visualization Society evaluating the successes and shortcomings of its first year, and former Ogilvy & Mather chief creative officer Tham Khai Meng sharing how a Japanese newspaper utilized augmented reality to animate graphics.
Following the major corruption investigation “Azerbaijani Laundromat,” Paul Radu, co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, was sued for libel in the United Kingdom by an Azerbaijani politician. Radu explains what he learned while fighting the case, which ended in a favorable settlement.
What reporting and storytelling techniques do you need to master as you head into your next investigation? We’ve rounded up some of GIJN’s most popular how tos from our story archives, as well as select items from our growing Resource Center.
Italy’s first center for investigative reporting was created in 2012 with very little resources. Since then it has become a well-established player in the Italian media landscape. The group has grappled with financial challenges, threats, and intimidation, but have big plans for the future. Michele Barbero profiled Investigative Reporting Project Italy for GIJN.
