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.
An investigative outfit with an advocacy program may raise eyebrows. But in South Africa, amaBhungane has scored major wins for transparency and free speech.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes Meduza’s report on Russian editor Roman Badanin’s Pulitzer-charged rant against The New York Times, ProPublica’s sober response to the “Plandemic” viral video, and Poynter’s point about an ethics policy that includes guidelines for pre-publication source review.
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.
Every year South African investigative journalists are recognized for their hard work when the winners of the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism are announced. This year has provided a chance to assess the highs and the lows of our investigative reporting after an extraordinary year.
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz spoke to a room packed with investigative journalists from around the world at the #GIJC17 closing keynote address at Wits University’s Great Hall in Johannesburg about Trump, truth, inequality and the importance of investigative journalism.
And we’re off! This evening in Johannesburg at the University of the Witwatersrand, we’ll be kicking off four days of unadulterated investigative journalism. For those of you who couldn’t make it to Joburg, here’s how to follow us from home, as well as highlights of #GIJC17.
To help #GIJC17 muckrakers get into the Johannesburg mindset, we’ve put together a to do list, including some must-pack items as well as some must-know background on the state of the city and the country.
