Ready for Rio? We’ve got more than 800 journalists from 75 countries descending on Rio de Janeiro in three weeks — for the 8th Global Investigative Journalism Conference. Want to join us? There’s still plenty of room, and registration is open. Follow this story for links to register, navigate the conference site, and check the program for the big event, packed with 150 panels, workshops, and special events.
Eight finalists have been selected for consideration in the fifth Global Shining Light Award, a unique prize which honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions. The award will be announced and presented at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference this October 14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The winner will receive an honorary certificate and $1,000.
Great news! We not only reached our crowdfunding goal of raising $12,000 — we’ve now surpassed it. We’re already using those funds to bring three great young journalists to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference — from Myanmar, Nigeria, and Peru. Big thanks to everyone who helped. To date we’ve received an extraordinary 105 contributions from 22 countries.
I may have misled people for the last few years by saying that investigative journalism is not a business but a public service. Investigative journalism does, in fact, have commercial value. While investigative journalism may not produce the web traffic of popular topics, a media organization reaps intangible but valuable benefits. Jeff Bezos, for one, seems to appreciate that value.
If you want to study journalism, you have more choices today, at lower cost, and of higher quality than ever. Sometimes you will get that at a university and sometimes not. That represents a challenge for universities. In a lecture at a journalism conference in Puebla, Mexico, I described a personal experience taking a course in data visualization from one of the world leaders in the field, Alberto Cairo, author of “The Functional Art.” This kind of course represents a major challenge for universities, because their monopoly on expertise and certification is eroding. Just as occurred in the news business, competitors are emerging who are offering attractive alternatives.
Our crowdfunding campaign is now 55% funded, all because of you — 66 amazing contributors in 19 countries. Thanks so much for your support. Here’s a look at what your generosity is making possible:
Meet our first fellow! Rosemary Nwaebuni is an investigative reporter with the POINTER newspaper in Delta State, Nigeria, an area known for its big oil production and widespread corruption. There’s no way she could have attended workshops at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference without your support.
The Global Investigative Journalism Conference is getting close! Today, exactly 45 days before the big event, we’re launching a new website for GIJC13. You’ll find the the provisional program for the conference, packed with nearly 150 panels, workshops, and seminars. There’s also a list of expected speakers, including Pulitzer Prize winners, top data journalism specialists, security experts, and reporters from the front lines in some of the toughest, most corrupt spots in the world. With our conference app Sched, you can log-on and create a personal agenda both on your desktop and mobile platforms.
Huge thanks to all our contributors of our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. These first days have been intensely busy but rewarding, and we’re happy to say that the campaign is rolling. The global community of investigative journalists – and their supporters worldwide – have had an awesome response. So, we can officially announce that you all have funded the campaign’s first investigative reporting fellowship! But this is only the beginning, and we really need your help to bring more promising journalists.
Today GIJN launches a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. And we need your help. We’re raising funds to bring promising journalists from developing and transitioning countries to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference this October, where they’ll get training in state-of-the-art investigative reporting, data journalism, and cross-border collaboration. This is a great way to help fight corruption and stand up for accountability and transparency around the world. You can read more about it on Indiegogo. And check out our campaign video, featuring investigative reporters on the front lines in Kenya, Macedonia, Pakistan, and Tunisia.
The Tactical Technology Collective, a Berlin-based group of tech activists, is producing a series of web documentaries on “new forms of investigative journalism.” Its first video, Our Currency Is Information, takes a look at cross-border investigative techniques through the eyes of Romanian journalist Paul Radu. The accompanying website has a transcript of the full interview with Radu, plus a worthwhile resource page with digital tools for research, security, and data visualization.
Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who since June has broken a series of stories on NSA spying, will be a featured speaker at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Rio de Janeiro this October. Greenwald will talk about government secrecy and his work uncovering the NSA’s global surveillance programs.
The Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), one of the three partner organizations behind the Global Investigative Journalism Conference, has launched a fellowship program for journalists to attend the Latin American Conference on Investigative Journalism (COLPIN) in Rio de Janeiro (October 12-15). For the first time COLPIN will be held simultaneously with the Global Conference, as well as with the national congress of ABRAJI, Brazil’s investigative journalism association.
The fellowships are part of the 4th Advanced Course for Investigative Journalism, co-organized between IPYS and Transparency International. A group of 12 journalists from across Latin America will be selected after proposing projects on organized crime in the region.
The Global Investigative Journalism Conference is getting close! Our just-released newsletter includes highlights of the planned sessions and collaborative workshops for the big October 12-15 event, as well as information on the Royal Tulip, the conference hotel. You’ll also find an update on the three major awards that will be announced in Rio. This year we received more than 60 submissions from 35 countries for the Global Shining Light Award. The competition is so keen that our judges have called it “an embarrassment of riches”. And, as usual, you’ll find the latest resources in our toolbox section, and a calendar of upcoming events.
Looking for investigative contacts worldwide? We’ve redesigned our membership list so it’s easy to find GIJN members and their work. You’ll find a comprehensive list of GIJN’s 90 member organizations in 40 countries, including profiles and links to their websites, social media, and RSS feeds. This a work in progress, so members please send us an email with edits and updates. Big thanks the Investigative News Network (INN) for this project.
Nearly 15,000 people from a wide range of professions and industries are attending an annual global mapping conference in San Diego, California in the U.S. But only a few dozen journalists are there, despite the numerous ideas, methodologies, data, and potential sources that are available. Known as the ESRI International User Conference, it provides many of the presentations online.
There’s plenty of activity as we move closer to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in mid-October. Our just-released newsletter includes an update on some of the great speakers coming to the conference, as well as visa information for entering Brazil, GIJC13’s call for research papers, and a thanks to our terrific partners around the world who are helping make this extraordinary event possible. We’ve also listed ways for journalists, educators, donors, and others to get involved in the Global Network. And, as usual, you’ll find the latest resources in our toolbox section, and a calendar of upcoming events.
You can also subscribe to the Global Network News here and stay on top of what’s happening in investigative journalism around the world.
Nonprofits have been touted as a possible alternative to the collapsing business models of for-profit news. But a study released last week by the Pew Research Center points to the fragility of that model and also to the need for a more concerted effort to shore it up. The study identified 172 nonprofit news outlets throughout the U.S. – two-thirds of these were launched only since the 2008 financial crisis. While the recession has accelerated the closure of newspapers and the downsizing of news staffs throughout the country, it has given rise to a boom in nonprofit news.
The eighth Global Investigative Journalism Conference, to be held this October 12-15 in Rio de Janeiro, will feature for the first time an academic research track, highlighting trends, challenges, teaching methodologies, and best practices in investigative journalism.
Six journalism organizations from five countries are the newest members of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, the association of nonprofit groups working to spread investigative reporting around the world. They bring the GIJN’s membership to 88 groups in 40 countries.
All the new member groups are deeply engaged in reporting. They include the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Slovenia; the Washington, D.C.-based International Reporting Project; Fundación MEPI in Mexico; Northern Ireland’s The Muckraker; and two groups from the Caribbean: the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, based in Puerto Rico; and Haiti’s Ayiti Kale Je (that’s Creole for Haiti Grassroots Watch).
As I am speaking to you today, our profession is under serious threat. Journalists are under siege because politicians have realized that we have become a bunch of cowards. We have become our own worst enemies because we want to make a living instead of making a difference in our communities, our countries, and our people. The pen is no longer mightier than a sword because the person holding it doesn’t have courage, guts, and zeal to use it as a weapon to defend the truth, justice, democracy, and our constitution.
Last month we wrote about survival strategies for nonprofit investigative journalism organizations. As we stressed in that story, key to succeeding in the long term is diversifying revenue. Now, GIJN’s colleagues at the Investigative News Network have put together a useful infographic on the varied sources of revenue that groups can tap. GIJN’s staff will be joining an INN day on managing nonprofit newsrooms, held at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference on June 20 in San Antonio, Texas. Included will be sessions on fundraising, best practices, branding and membership.
Last week, author Bob Ellis wrote: “Kate McClymont ruined my life and I do not like her. She is going after Craig Thomson lately, and she had better watch it.”
Jockey Jim Cassidy once spat on my back — or, given his size — the back of my knees.
“You fucking bitch, you’ve ruined my life,” he said.
Tom Domican, charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to murder (then acquitted of the lot) once sent me this message: If I were a man he would have broken my jaw by now.
Busy months for GIJN. Our just-released newsletter includes the latest on the big Global Investigative Journalism Conference coming to Rio this October, including how to register, apply for a travel grant, and enter awards. You’ll find our call for proposals to host GIJC15 (the conference after Rio), some great resources in our Toolbox section, and a calendar of upcoming events. We’re also happy to report that, thanks to all of you, we’ve tripled traffic on our new website here at GIJN.org, which last month hosted visitors from more than 150 countries – that’s three-quarters of the world.
