Cross-border collaborations allow newsrooms to pool resources and overcome financial hurdles. On the fourth day of GIJC21, journalists based in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia offered tips for conducting successful collaborative reporting projects.
A panel of Asia experts at GIJC21 unanimously agreed that press freedom in the region faces a bleak future, as governments increasingly use digital platforms to manipulate communities and increase hostility towards journalists.
Wildlife crime doesn’t just impact wildlife, it undermines security, promotes corruption and other illegal cross-border activities, but it remains under-covered. In a session at the GIJC21, a team of experienced wildlife crime journalists explained why more focus should be given to these crimes, and offered tips on how to go beyond the stories on iconic species such as elephants.
It is vital for journalists to shield their sources, and at a dedicated workshop at GIJC21, two security experts gave practical examples of how reporters can reach out to sources in a way that protects the individuals and wins trust for both journalists and their organization.
Spending time with vulnerable communities and focusing on systems of exploitation were the central takeaways from a #GICJ21 panel on covering inequality, in which journalists based in three of the world’s most unequal societies — Brazil, South Africa, and the United States — shared tips on how to tackle this global crisis.
At GIJC21, Washington DC-based nonprofit C4ADS introduced Icarus Flights, a comprehensive new system that helps journalists track and investigate nearly any aircraft around the world.
From the Pandora Papers to massive “laundromat” exposes, we are witnessing the era of massive leaks exposing financial corruption. But how do you go from a leaked thumb drive to a global exposé of shadowy money? Three of the best sleuths at tracking businesses and investments hidden around the world — who were all part of the Pandora Papers team — offered lessons at GIJC21.
Longform video investigations are increasingly seen as a significant vehicle for investigative journalism, and in a GIJC21 session on “Breaking into Documentaries,” a team of award-winning filmmakers and commissioning editors shared tips on how journalists can break into the field.
In a GIJC21 session on using maps and satellite imagery for investigations, three experts explained their approaches to analyzing satellite and drone images, and using open source tools. One of the innovative techniques described led to a Pulitzer Prize this year — for exposing China’s network of Muslim detention centers — while another exposed government deception about fires in the Amazon, and a third literally put a vulnerable community in Africa on the map.
Three experts who contributed to GIJN’s new organized crime reporting guide have shared insights into the modus operandi of criminal syndicates and how journalists can deploy cross-border collaborations to expose their illicit activities.
On the second day of GIJC21, journalists from Brazil, Indonesia, and The Netherlands offer tips and tools on how to cover what may be the most important story we ever dig into: how humanity copes with the unprecedented challenge of climate change.
Marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, a panel of experts at GIJC21 revealed that investigating journalist murders can not only turn impunity into justice, but can also deter ruthless actors from potential future violence.
Attendees to GIJC21’s plenary session were asked three questions about the challenges to democracy in their countries, and the role of journalism in upholding or weakening democratic values and institutions. The poll results reflect the threats faced by reporters around the world, from disinformation, fake news, and extremism.
At the plenary session of GIJC21, an all-star team of five watchdog editors defined the front lines of a battle among investigative journalists for both democratic ideals and the survival of an independent press. The conference brings together 1,800 editors, reporters, and civil society leaders from 148 countries for an online, five-day event.
In concert with GIJC21’s panel on the “New Organized Crime,” GIJN has released a comprehensive, multi-part reporting guide to investigating organized crime around the world, looking at nine key areas: criminal finance, narcotics, arms trade, environmental crime, forced disappearances, cybercrime, mafia states, human trafficking, and art and antiquities.
The COP26 climate summit starts in Glasgow, Scotland, this Sunday, and could mark a turning point in the battle to bring climate change under control. In the run-up to the conference, our analysis of the most popular data journalism stories on Twitter features several climate change-related pieces, including a project by The Washington Post exploring a large methane leak in Russia, and a story by IStories on rising temperatures in Siberia and the Arctic.
Sujag, a long-form digital investigative journalism platform in Pakistan, is committed to highlighting voices from the margins. With recent stories on child marriage, acid attacks, and why women from poor communities are finding it so difficult to access coronavirus vaccinations, Sujag’s editors proudly say their journalistic ethos prioritizes “siding with the marginalized” over neutrality.
For the latest installment of GIJN’s My Favorite Tools series, we spoke with French freelance reporter Théo Englebert, who drew acclaim last year for revealing that Rwandan colonel Aloys Ntiwiragabo, who is suspected of participating in that country’s 1994 genocide, had been living in France for at least 14 years.
As we prepare to gather for the 12th Global Investigative Journalism Conference in early November — our first, online-only event — it seems a good time to share again with our colleagues where the Global Investigative Journalism Network and its conferences come from. It was a simple idea at the end of the 20th century — to gather the world’s investigative journalists to share their knowledge with each other — that gave birth to GIJN, which has now grown to 211 member organizations in 82 countries.
In the 1990’s when Brazilian investigative journalist Kátia Brasil visited an Indigenous territory in the Amazon biome, the forest was “lush” and intact. But illegal gold mining has led to a surge of outsiders entering the area, and the results have been devastating. Two investigative teams, at Amazônia Real and Repórter Brasil, decided it was time to dig into this secretive industry, to find out who is behind the gold mining that is leaving a toxic scar across the region.
We often talk about climate change as an issue future generations will confront. But society is already feeling the dangerous impact of rising temperatures as more and more regions around the world slowly become unlivable. The Guardian produced an ambitious data project on this issue as well as another piece examining the shifting carbon center of gravity. The most popular data journalism tweets between October 11-17, as discovered by our NodeXL mapping and human curation, also include stories on the long-expected arrival of 5G technology, the rise of Thai pop, and fake reviews on Google Maps.
Investigative podcasts are on a roll, and many of the most respected names in print and broadcasting are now dabbling in a format that offers a perfect platform for unraveling a complex investigative story. Here is a list curated by GIJN’s global team featuring 15 of the best investigative podcasts that have been broadcast around the world.
When 32 outstanding investigative documentaries were showcased at the Double Exposure Festival last week, one common question for attendees was this: How on Earth did the filmmakers persuade all these people to let their video cameras in? Three of the filmmakers shared their access tips.
Cutting-edge tools and techniques for digging into autocracy, climate change, health and medicine, disinformation, organized crime, and attacks on journalists headline the 12th Global Investigative Journalism Conference this November — presented by investigative reporters and forensic experts on the front lines.
Since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, data-driven reporting on COVID-19 has gone through several phases, including infection trends and vaccination rates. Here, a leading Malaysia-based data journalism trainer shares five post-pandemic coverage areas where data reporting can be equally effective.
The most popular data journalism stories on Twitter between October 4 – 10, as discovered by our NodeXL mapping and human curation, feature stories on the Nobel prizes awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, reporting on Hong Kong’s national security law, a look at a fuel shortage in the UK, and a seasonal selection of Halloween costumes.
In a collaboration of 16 news organizations, the Pegasus Project revealed that thousands of citizens — including 180 journalists — were selected as targets of commercial spyware by 11 governments. The coordinators of that project told GIJN how the investigation worked, and offered detailed tips on how to investigate while under extreme threat of digital surveillance.
In this excerpt, the executive editor of a regional US news outlet reveals the tactics that worked — and didn’t work — in their innovative campaign to raise $1 million to fund investigations. Among the key tips that emerged: one-on-one meetings, direct reach-outs, and published “what it cost” boxes are effective, and framing the pitch around benefits for the community, rather than the outlet, causes donors to dig deeper.
