With the extraordinary measures being taken to counter the coronavirus outbreak, the work of investigative journalists scrutinizing abuses of power and exploitation of the vulnerable has never been more vital. Amid the fast-unfolding crisis, where should investigative reporters begin? GIJN asked leading journalists in our community for their advice to investigative reporters around the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting major financial strain on media organizations worldwide. Three experts will share their practical advice for small to medium-sized media organizations to stem the loss in revenue and survive the economic upheaval at hand.
In this third GIJN Webinar in our Investigating the Pandemic series, Collaborating on Long-Form and Documentary TV & Video, we bring you a stellar cast of television executives and commissioning editors from RTS in Switzerland, Premières Lignes in France, BBC Global News, and BBC Arabic and BBC Africa, and from Canada’s CBC — to launch a collaborative platform to support long form television investigations into COVID-19.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes the launch of Google’s Community Mobility Reports that track social distancing trends in 131 countries, how the group behind Pegasus spyware created software for COVID-19, and news that the man who murdered investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Data journalists are starting to dig into the impact of the coronavirus and social distancing measures on poorer communities. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 30 to April 5 finds The New York Times and Reuters using smartphone location tracking data to analyze the relationship between income and changes in people’s movements post-lockdowns, National Geographic visualizing how earlier implementation and longer social distancing measures can help slow infections and lower death rates, and ProPublica looking into the disproportionate infections among African Americans.
Despite government restrictions, journalists around the world are using freedom of information laws to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of international, national, and local authorities. GIJN’s Toby McIntosh outlines how to craft an effective freedom of information request and provides tips and suggestions on where to make requests and important questions to ask.
Frustrated by journalism that gave voice to those in power rather than the voiceless, Yasuomi Sawa was inspired to become an investigative journalist. He shares with Scilla Alecci about the state of journalism in Japan, including the limitations to its existing freedom of information laws and how preventing institutional or individual embarrassment can hinder a relentless free press and uncomfortable public debates.
Three veteran journalists on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis discuss investigative angles into the response in the first of GIJN’s webinar series, Investigating the Pandemic. Gloria Riva of l’Espresso in Italy, OCCRP Editor Drew Sullivan and GIJN Chinese Editor Joey Qi discuss the importance of source-driven investigations and dealing with disinformation and data deficits.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes tool from Bellingcat on investigating mis/disinformation during the pandemic, the Journalist’s Resource on what you need to know about referencing biomedical research preprints, and Oxford’s new Government Response Tracker, a project which is is collecting and aggregating publicly available data on government responses to COVID-19.
Join GIJN and guests for our five-part series of webinars, Investigating the Pandemic. We’ve assembled experts on health reporting, infectious disease, trauma, and financial survival to help journalists navigate the difficult waters ahead.
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the production of various interactives, charts, and simulations by data journalists and citizens around the world. This week’s NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 23 to 29 finds The New York Times explaining the dangers of ending social distancing measures by Easter, Germany’s Der Spiegel and Der Tagesspiegel measuring traffic levels and COVID-19 cases respectively, the Tampa Bay Times monitoring the situation in Florida, Kevin Simler making an interactive simulation to explain how general epidemics unfold, and Mona Chalabi creating a viral TikTok video on Mark Zuckerberg’s donation to advance coronavirus research.
Media managers, editors, and publishers understandably may be feeling powerless at the threat posed to media businesses globally by the coronavirus. Harlan Mandel, chief executive officer at the Media Development Investment Fund, recommends steps news executives can take to limit the losses they are facing and to give direction to their business decisions.
GIJN is pleased to introduce its first webinar in a series of free hour-long programs on COVID-19, featuring three veteran journalists: Gloria Riva, who covers health and business for Italy’s weekly l’Espresso, is reporting from the epicentre of one of the worst-hit countries; Joey Qi, GIJN’s Chinese editor, has chronicled the resurgence of investigative stories coming out of China and what journalists everywhere can learn from their experience; and Drew Sullivan, editor-in-chief of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Center, is focused on how criminal groups and corrupt officials may benefit from the pandemic.
Governments around the world, some which have sent workers home, are announcing interruptions in responding to freedom of information requests. Journalists are being told to expect delays in more than a dozen countries. But press freedom advocates warn that countries are taking big steps backward just when the free flow of information is most needed. GIJN’s Toby McIntosh rounds up some of the nations which have been affected.
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.
