In an explosive report, Citizen Lab and their Mexican civil society partners identified more than 75 text messages sent to the phones of 12 individuals, most of whom are journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders in an effort to monitor the target’s devices. They say the findings are a flagrant and disturbing example of the abuse of commercial spyware.
Twenty journalists, 11 media outlets, 11 countries, two continents and one massive corruption scheme. Investiga Lava Jato, a high-stakes, complex investigation, launched in June as a collaborative effort to develop and disseminate in-depth reports on corruption with tentacles in Latin America and Africa.
This is a list of winning stories drawn from 16 major global or regional journalism awards given in 2016, which hopefully might serve as a source of inspiration for you to find original stories, to innovate in how to tell them, or to find a thread to develop a fresh angle. Take heart that the quality of work by solo reporters or fledgling investigative teams can sometimes stand out as much as that of huge media outlets.
The paper trail has changed — money now moves digitally and business registries are databases — and this lets journalists do more than ever before in tracking people and companies across borders. Here’s a useful list of which business databases to start looking into if you’re background companies in China, India, and the Philippines.
On Wednesday, the UN and press freedom groups worldwide will mark International Day to End Impunity, commemorated since 2014 to highlight the glaring number of unresolved journalists’ murders and the lack of punishment for their perpetrators. As part of a series to mark the occasion, GIJN is pleased to excerpt “The Assault on Reporting” from a new report by David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.
Corruption is one of the most dangerous beats for journalists, and one of the most important for holding those in power to account. There is growing international recognition that corruption is also one of the biggest impediments to poverty reduction and good governance. This is why journalists on this beat must be protected, including by multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
For eight years India has been a fixture on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free. Perpetrators are seldom arrested and CPJ has not recorded a single conviction upheld in any of the cases of journalists murdered in India in direct relation to their work.
Alongside the advantages available for criminals of operating on a global scale, making it harder to track them down, there are also disadvantages that the clever journalist or law enforcement official can exploit to expose them. How do we do this? Firstly, through data: more data means more transparency, provided the quality of information is there and supported by tools that allow proper analysis. Secondly, by journalists using advanced techniques.
What happens when a journalist investigates treatment facilities for malaria patients in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? For Francis Mbala, it led to his arrest and a Kafkaesque tale about the dangers of investigating in one of the world’s most corrupt countries. Mbala’s story comes from the ZAM Chronicle and is reprinted with permission.
In the fall of 2003 the story made its way to journalists at La Nación, the leading national newspaper in the Central American republic of Costa Rica. The reporters at the paper’s investigative unit pricked up their ears as soon as the disgruntled real estate agent spoke the name of her exasperating client: Eliseo Vargas, the man in charge of the country’s vaunted national health-care agency. “We didn’t really know what she had,” recalls reporter Ernesto Rivera.
In 2001 GIJN was born, as investigative journalists from around the globe met for the very first time to share ideas, tips, and best practices to strengthen their reporting in a world where journalism was increasingly under threat.
Today the threat has multiplied, and at GIJN we find ourselves under the same pressures as our member organizations. Most urgently: available funding for investigative journalism has been impacted as some longtime funders who supported journalism in the past are no longer doing so or have closed. Yet our work continues, more important than ever before.
GIJN serves as the global hub for the world’s investigative reporters. Our core mission is to support and strengthen investigative journalism—with special attention to those from repressive regimes and marginalized communities.
We are embarking on our first-ever campaign initiative to help us expand our revenue by the end of the year through individual donors. If you have ever joined one of our free webinars, used one of our free resources, learned a new skill thanks to a GIJN training, or simply believe that press freedom is essential to civil society, we ask you to show your support for GIJN’s work with a donation of your choosing. Called “Friends of GIJN,” this campaign includes a more personalized experience, starting in 2027, for individuals who answer the call to join with us during this unprecedented time.
Truth and democracy are under attack around the world. You can fight back by helping GIJN support investigative journalists with free access to the latest tools and techniques — so they can foster justice and hold accountable those who abuse the public trust.
With a staff based in 24 countries, GIJN works in a dozen languages each day, linking together the world’s most enterprising journalists, offering state-of-the-art training, webinars, tip sheets, and a Help Desk that responds to 2,000+ requests for assistance each year. More than 84% of GIJN’s operating budget goes directly to our program work.
Please make a gift today to support journalists on the front lines of the fight for accountability and human rights.
