Reporting Tools & Tips
GIJN’s Top Investigative Tools of 2025
In a year that kleptocracy and attacks on independent media spiked, investigative reporters harnessed a mix of new databases and innovative tools to hold bad actors accountable.
Stories
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GIJC25
Muckraking the Past: Using Archives to Seek Accountability
Archives are a powerful way to expose historical abuses — from war crimes to broken government promises — by preserving fragile evidence and turning it into a verifiable, searchable record.
GIJC25
Exposing Private Money Fueling the Climate Crisis
At this GIJC25 session, veteran environmental reporters offered strategies for unmasking the hidden owners, banks, politicians, and regulators quietly fueling climate change.
Reporting Tools & Tips
‘Too Close to Home’: Handling the Challenges of Investigations with a Personal Connection
Watchdog reporters at AIJC offered tips for navigating the professional, emotional, and ethical complications of reporting stories that intersect with your personal life.
GIJC25
Investigating the Criminal Schemes That Drive Online Gambling
An expert panel at GIJC25 described the multi-layered criminal infrastructures behind online gambling, and offered practical tactics to help reporters expose those networks.
News & Analysis
What Every Fixer Should Know Before Supporting an Investigative Reporting Assignment
Local producers are key figures vital to the success of many overseas investigations. Here are best practices for fixers when working with foreign reporters.
Data Journalism Top 10
Hong Kong’s Deadly Fire, Tuna Fishing’s Labor Abuses, AI Deepfakes Target Ukraine Press, China’s ‘Shadow’ Fleet Preps for Invasion
Our round-up of the best in recent data journalism also highlights deepfakes targeting Ukrainian journalists, Europe’s sprawling landfills, and how Peru’s youth are locked away in prisons.
GIJC25
Tips and Advice for Investigating the Stories that Impact the LGBTQ+ Community
Rising political backlash and harmful policies threaten queer lives. Covering systemic failures that affect LGBTQ+ people requires rigorous, sensitive reporting.
GIJC25
New Approaches for Investigating Environmental Crimes in the Ocean
At GIJC25, veteran journalists from Indonesia, Norway, and Colombia shared practical, replicable strategies for uncovering illegal fishing and maritime wildlife trafficking at sea.
GIJC25
Building and Nurturing Communities That Value and Pay for Investigative Journalism
From combining investigative stories with theater events to livestreaming editorial meetings, these newsrooms have adapted to dwindling revenue streams in novel ways.
GIJC25
The Scam Supply Chain: How to Uncover Transnational Fraud Operations
Scams now function as sprawling transnational criminal enterprises. But journalists can expose these networks by following inconsistencies, mapping operations, and collaborating across borders.
GIJC25 Reporting Tools & Tips
How to Investigate Pharmaceutical Oligopolies
At GIJC25, Peruvian investigative journalist Fabiola Torres showed reporters how to uncover the systems behind pharma monopolies, and how to connect market structures to human impact.
GIJC25
The Business of Faith: How to Investigate Cults and Religious Groups
Tackling religion stories can require creative ways to overcome lack of access, and how to seek help during difficult times.
GIJC25 Reporting Tools & Tips
Chasing Oligarchs Across Borders
Journalists detailed how they build dossiers on oligarchs, mine corporate and sanctions databases, and use leaks – all while managing legal and security risks.
GIJC25
Innovative Strategies to Fight Electoral Disinformation Campaigns
At GIJC25, experts from Venezuela, Ghana, and India highlighted AI tools and collaborative strategies that exposed electoral disinformation campaigns.
GIJC25
From Mentoring to Refusing to Stay Silent: Strategies for Women in Investigative Journalism
Women investigative reporters face harassment, surveillance, and personal risk. Here are practical strategies to confront these challenges from female journalists on the front lines.
Climate GIJC25
Overcoming Four Big Challenges to Investigating the Water Crisis
Journalists reporting on water scarcity often face a lack of transparency, limited access to sites and sources, unwieldy data, and a resistant media environment.
GIJC25
Best Reporting and Business Practices for Freelance Investigative Journalists
At GIJC25, veteran freelancers from Africa, Asia, and Europe shared tips for finding funding, managing security, and negotiating with editors over rates, commissions, and deadlines.
Nobel Laureate Urges Journalists to Investigate the Systems and Enablers that Foster Corruption Worldwide
In a keynote conversation, the economist said reporters have a key role to play in probing Western financial institutions and the rules that lead to wealth being laundered from the Global South.
GIJC27
In 2027, Global Investigative Journalism Conference Heads to the Netherlands
The 15th Global Investigative Journalism Conference will be held in 2027 in the Netherlands, co-hosted by GIJN and VVOJ (The Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists).
GIJC25
Strategies to Investigate the Biometric Technology Boom in the Global South
A panel of three investigative reporters shared practical tips to dig into the rapid deployment of biometric systems in Africa and beyond.
Awards, Grants, & Fellowships GIJC25
Brave Investigations from Nigeria, Egypt, Peru, and Mexico Honored at GIJC25’s Global Shining Light Awards
These three winners and recipient of a special citation represent outstanding journalism from developing or transitioning countries, carried out under threat or in perilous conditions.
GIJC25
Newsroom Instincts, Scholarly Patience: How to Conduct Ethnographic Journalism
Ethnographic journalism blends anthropological theory and immersive fieldwork to report on marginalized communities, but its relationship with traditional journalism remains contested.
GIJC25
Expert Advice to Keep Your Sources and Whistleblowers Safe
Keeping your sources, your data, and yourself safe during investigations is a complex undertaking. Four veteran journalists offer their tips on how to do so.
GIJC25
When to Go Undercover: Ethical Questions and Strategic Steps for the AI Age
Undercover specialists warn that investigative tactics must be a last resort—especially in the AI age, where metadata, surveillance, and deepfakes raise new ethical and safety risks.
GIJC25
An International Prosecutor’s Mission to Wrest Stolen Global South Assets from the West
The former lead Rwanda genocide prosecutor explains old flaws and new solutions for the international criminal justice system.
GIJC25
Investigating in the Face of Repression: Advice from Peru’s Gustavo Gorriti
Effective investigative reporting under repression requires methodical safety planning, disciplined self-care, and an active defense of one’s work and reputation, according to this renowned investigative journalist.
GIJC25
Journalism In Exile: Reporting, Sourcing, and Managing Everyday Life Away From Home
Forced to leave their homes and homelands, exiled journalists spoke about finding ways to continue their journalism in the countries where they have sought refuge.