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News & Analysis
What to Watch: DIG’s Investigative Documentary Shortlist
The jury for the DIG Awards – an annual celebration of the best investigative documentaries made around the world – has revealed the films and programs that have made it onto the annual shortlist. The final awards will be given as part of DIG’s festival, which is taking place in the historic city of Modena in northern Italy this week.
Data Journalism
Data Journalism Top 10: Black Voter Suppression, K-Pop, Data Privacy Rights, and Global Coronavirus Deaths
Personal data is big business, and not only for private firms. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from September 21 to 27 finds a number of troubling investigations: Channel 4 News revealed that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign used personal data from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to deter Black voters from casting their ballot; Consumer Reports found that companies were making it difficult for people to opt out of having their data sold despite a landmark California law that protects individual data rights; and Noteworthy and The Business Post highlighted a concerning lack of clear regulation surrounding access to, and use of, genetic and patient data by private firms.
Investigating the Police: Reporting Tips & Tools
In this global GIJN webinar, “Investigating the Police: Reporting Tips and Tools,” co-organized with the African Investigative Journalism Conference, we bring together four experienced journalists: two from Africa and two from outside the continent, who have investigated law enforcement. They will share their experience and reporting techniques ranging from source development to forensic analysis.
News & Analysis
Journalists Need to Start Taking the Climate Crisis Seriously
In this open letter, Berlin-based journalist Sara Schurmann implores her colleagues worldwide to consider the implications of climate change and how to cover it.
Tracking Down the Disappeared: Top Tips from Investigative Reporters on the Front Lines
In this summary of GIJN’s webinar series on investigating disappeared persons, you’ll hear top tips from the award-winning journalists whose work shined a light into the shadows and gave hope to the families of those who mysteriously vanished.
Democracy Really Is on the Ballot, Says GIJN Election Panel
In the first of three GIJN webinars focusing on the US 2020 election, Sarah Blaskey of the Miami Herald, Pulitzer-winning reporter David Cay Johnston, and AP’s race and ethnicity writer Kat Stafford set out the shocking stakes of the election, and offering key tips on how to tackle, and “land”, the stories that really need telling.
News & Analysis
What We’re Reading: Financial Crimes in the US Art Market, Wayback Weaponization, and Google’s $1 Billion for Publishers
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads from around the world, we found a ready-for-prime-time study on financial crimes in the US art market, how misinformation actors are weaponizing the Wayback Machine, and Google’s not-so-altruistic $1 billion for publishers.
Tips on Far Right and Dirty Tricks Groups from #gijnElectionWatchdog
In week three of GIJN’s project to arm reporters with tools to tackle the toughest US election stories, #gijnElectionWatchdog includes three little-known election “killer apps” – one to zero in on coordination behind disinformation; one to assess foreign interference; and one to dig into far right groups bent on intimidating voters.
Data Journalism
Data Journalism Top 10: Death and Wealth, Internet Privacy Tool, COVID Under Control, Dataviz Colors
“Death is the great equalizer,” or so the saying goes. But our NodeXL #ddj mapping from September 21 to 27 finds an investigation by The Boston Globe Spotlight team that proves otherwise: race and income influences how and when people die. In this Top 10 #ddj edition, we also found The Markup launching its new privacy tool, the Financial Times examining how Finland, and the cities of Madrid and New York City handled the pandemic, as well as a great guide by Datawrapper’s Lisa Charlotte Rost to choosing better colors for your charts.
News & Analysis
Focus on the Risks to Democracy: Lessons from Abroad for US Election Coverage
What does it mean to pursue independent journalism in an environment of democratic retrenchment? Nic Dawes, a former editor at South Africa’s Mail & Guardian and India’s Hindustan Times, reflects on the role of the media in holding power to account as the US election draws close.
How to Investigate Forced Disappearances in Latin America
How should journalists investigate what has happened to people who have disappeared? What is the best way of dealing with their families, the organized crime groups often involved in the cases, and corrupt officials? Mexican investigative journalist Marcela Turati and Óscar Martínez from El Salvador, both specialists on reporting on transnational organized crime, shared their tips during GIJN’s Spanish language webinar.
Election Tips from #gijnElectionWatchdog Week 2
In week two of #gijnElectionWatchdog, GIJN’s project to arm US reporters with effective tools for election accountability coverage included a comprehensive election equipment database, campaign finance deep access, daily time-saving tools, and the rules for all 50 states in a single spreadsheet.
GIJN Webinar — The US Election: Digging into Disinformation
In this GIJN webinar, “The US Election: Digging into Disinformation,” the second of two that focus on the US Election, we bring together three extraordinary journalists who will share their analysis of the election info wars — and their tips for navigating the tsunami of disinformation while investigating in the public interest.
News & Analysis
What We’re Reading: The Markup’s Surveillance Tool, Migration Maps, Tips on Pitching Donors
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads from around the world, we found The Markup creating an online privacy tool, suggestions on how to make your maps more neutral, and practical tips for pitching donors during a pandemic.
Data Journalism
Data Journalism Top 10: Mapping the Pandemic, Shrinking Japan, Data Recipes, Extreme Temps, Google Election Searches, FinCEN Files
How fast is the coronavirus spreading in countries around the world? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from September 14 to 20 finds data visualization designer Jan Willem Tulp simulating the speed of COVID-19 infections and German television news program ZDF heute mapping how the pandemic traversed the globe. Meanwhile, Thibi Recipes explores tutoring data journalism as if you’re following a cooking recipe, the Financial Times reports on climate extremes, and ICIJ and Buzzfeed bare suspect financial data.
News & Analysis
Considering a Membership Model for Your Newsroom? There’s a Guide for That
With traditional media funding models in disarray, membership offers news outlets an alternative way of ensuring their profitability or survival. GIJN spoke to the Membership Puzzle Project’s Ariel Zirulnick about their latest guide and her top tips for organizations considering going down this route.
Member Profiles
A Small Publication in India Plays a Big Role in Citizen Matters
Citizen Matters is the flagship publication of the Bengaluru-based Oorvani Foundation, a nonprofit working on open knowledge platforms that help develop better cities. Today, it has successfully transitioned to become an online-only news site, and has been expanding its reach to other cities, writes Amruta Byatnal for GIJN.
GIJN Webinar — The US Election: What’s at Stake
United States’ government actions and policies at home and abroad affect people’s lives around the world. The outcome of the upcoming November election — not only for president but for the US Congress — will have global impact. In this GIJN webinar “The US Election: What’s At Stake”, the first of two focusing on the US Election, we bring together three American journalists who are digging into American politics to find out what’s at stake and what journalists need to investigate.
News & Analysis
The Rise of Digital Whistleblowing Platforms — and How They Work
Digital technologies have changed whistleblowing, with a growth in new tactics and strategies based on the use of encryption-based communication tools. Philip Di Salvo writes for GIJN about his research into new platforms.
News & Analysis
What We’re Reading: Membership Models, Entrepreneur’s Handbook, and Google’s Global Publisher
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads from around the world, we found a guide for setting up a media membership model, DW Akademie’s handbook for media start-ups, and Google’s latest initiative to support digital news publishers.
Tips from #gijnElectionWatchdog’s First Week
In its first week, #gijnElectionWatchdog showed reporters how to quickly flag campaign finance abuses; listed Twitter handles for nearly all US secretaries of state; explained America’s wildly different vote recount rules by state; and found a pioneering tool to dig into dark money ad spending on Facebook.
Data Journalism
Data Journalism Top 10: Border Disputes, Mediterranean Gas, Data Reporting Grants, Newsroom Cuts
Territorial disputes — over land, borders, or resources — are a long-standing source of tension around the world. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from September 7 to 13 finds Al Jazeera explaining the India-China dispute over a shared Himalayan border in seven maps, and the Financial Times attempting to put into context the tensions between Turkey and its neighbors competing over natural gas discoveries. We also find Stanford University and Big Local News offering data reporting grants on the pandemic, and other groups offering free data journalism workshops and webinars.
News & Analysis
What Diversity Looks Like in Investigative Newsrooms Around the World
From the global coronavirus pandemic to the soul-searching that has come as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests, 2020 has cracked open society’s fault lines. Organizations are questioning their role, and journalism has not been spared this moment of introspection.
GIJN Launches Francophone Africa Edition
We’re delighted to announce that GIJN has launched a new initiative: GIJN Afrique. We’ll be sharing the best investigative tips and tools, groundbreaking stories, grants and fellowships, data sets and more, in French, with a focus on French-speaking countries across the African continent.
GIJN Launches Daily Election Watchdog Alert
The stakes for the US election on November 3 are enormous — not just for Americans, but for the rest of the world. So, for the next two months, GIJN will be producing a daily stream of tips and tools most useful to reporters on the campaign front lines.
My Favorite Tools Reporting Tools & Tips
My Favorite Tools with Quinto Elemento’s Marcela Turati
For our series on journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke to award-winning Mexican journalist Marcela Turati, co-founder of Quinto Elemento Lab, about the resources she uses to investigate disappearances in Mexico’s drug war. While information from victims’ families is paramount, she also shared insights on the value of open source tools, bank records, social media mining, and collaboration with nonprofit forensic teams in tracking the patterns behind the crisis.