When a team of student journalists realized that thousands of New Yorkers had died due to COVID-19 but had been left out of the obituary pages, they teamed up to create Missing Them, an ambitious collaborative journalism project working to memorialize everyone that died due to COVID-19 in one of the hardest-hit cities in America.
With the help of two former students, Brazilian data journalist Marcelo Soares collected data showing that deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil’s cities were far higher than authorities claimed. Check out how he did it.
The South African investigative site Oxpeckers uses a combination of data analysis, collaboration, and interactive data visualization tools to tell the most compelling stories about the land and those accused of damaging it. From mining to environmental crimes and wildlife trafficking, it has brought investigative techniques to beats like mining that were once the preserve of business reporters.
Since it was founded in 2010, Forensic Architecture has “hacked into the source code” of architecture to produce innovative and ground-breaking investigations that use 3D modelling, data mining, machine learning, and audio analysis. Working like a lab for the development of new tools, the outfit uses many of the forensic methods of investigation that have historically been the preserve of law enforcement to investigate social and political topics and injustices.
A network of female journalists went undercover in order to investigate what women and girls around the world are told when they approach a crisis pregnancy organization. Some were told they could be killing the next president, others than abortions cause cancer. The investigation revealed the highly sophisticated tactics some centers use to break a woman’s resolve, and how the messaging can be traced back to a Christian charity based in Columbus, Ohio.
Investigative journalism has had to adapt to the realities imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, newsrooms are having to respond to challenges such as social distancing while reporting on the pressure health systems are under. GIJN and the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), invited four journalists from some of the countries that have been the most affected by the pandemic to share what they’ve learned during this process.
An investigative journalism nonprofit based in Nigeria, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, has pushed the envelope with its approach to investigating the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive Director Dayo Aiyetan talks about how the unit has carried out its investigations in the midst of the lockdown and how reporters are holding the government to account over its response.
Mia Malan is the founding editor-in-chief of the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism, a pioneering, donor-funded media start-up in South Africa. In this interview Malan gives an overview of the work of her colleagues and gives some tips on how to cover the current crisis.
A group of Indian journalists have been calling out the government on social media over its opacity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The collaborative effort continues to press for official answers on overall health preparedness, such as drug availability, access to care, health inventory, and insurance schemes.
Media organizations across Latin America are working together to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic is playing out in the region. Reporters say that cross-border collaboration is helping them report the story of a lifetime so that jointly they can work to “connect the dots.”
