When a former Russian double agent collapsed on a bench in a quiet British cathedral town, it looked like an assassination attempt. Experts soon identified the poison nerve agent Novichok A234. The team at the open source investigative site Bellingcat were watching, and waiting for a chance to dig into what had happened and who was behind it.
In this review of the best investigations in Russian and Ukrainian last year, the GIJN Russian team selected the stories that shed light on systemic societal problems in many countries in the region, and those which may inspire journalists in other parts of the world to investigate corruption, money laundering, and other topics using the same investigative methods and tools.
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads around the world, we found stories about freelancers commissioned to write for a massive Russian-backed disinformation campaign, how to (not) get your pitch read by an editor, and a guide for reporting on US elections.
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads from around the world, we’re looking at the latest in mapping and satellite imagery, including some clever sleuthing by Buzzfeed News; how to protect protesters in your photos; buried secrets in a US Senate report; and a rescue fund for Lebanese media hurt by the big blast.
The United States Senate report on Russia’s efforts to sabotage the 2016 US elections offers reporters insights that go far beyond the Trump presidential campaign’s links to the Kremlin.
In this week’s Friday 5, where we round up key reads from around the world in English, Journalism.co.uk lines up six new podcasts for journalists, the Guardian rings in on the needs of the Instagram news generation, and the Online News Association takes a look at the ethics of immersive storytelling.
This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes Abraji’s report on the investigation into the murder of journalist Léo Veras, a guide to decoding Chinese state propaganda on Twitter, a study into bot-generated coronavirus activity on Twitter, and Hostwriter’s tool to help connect editors to local journalists worldwide.
Reporters Sans Frontieres published, for the first time, a list of press freedom’s 20 worst digital predators in 2020. Whether state offshoots, private-sector companies, or informal entities, they reflect a reality of power at the end of the 21st century’s second decade, in which investigative reporters and other journalists who cause displeasure risk being the targets of predatory activity by often hidden actors.
GIJN in Russian Editor Olga Simanovych focused her selection on stories that used innovative approaches or new tools, or shed light on topics not usually covered.
Within the borders of China and Russia, the use of invasive information controls and techniques is well-known and widespread. But the use of these technology systems to suppress citizens’ fundamental human rights goes beyond what is happening inside any one country’s borders. Increasingly, authoritarian actors are exporting these tools and know-how to other countries, a new report finds.
