In the past three years since the first known case of COVID-19 was identified, watchdog reporters around the world have taken on one of the most difficult and deadly investigative topics in modern history. Here, we look back at some of the most innovative and impactful stories written about the pandemic and its consequences.
Accusations of sexual harassment against the head of a state-owned bank, the transnational growth and influence of Salvadorian gang MS13, and the striking accumulation of wealth by the president and his family in one of the poorest countries in Central America. These were some of the investigative topics among the prize-winning stories featured at the 2022 Latin American Conference on Investigative Journalism.
Because of growing threats to democracy, and a recent series of ever more extreme societal and planetary crises, funders now see more clearly the pivotal, central role that independent public interest media play in keeping our societies and economies open. And what’s even more encouraging is to see this positive talk backed up with concrete measures and actions.
The year 2022 has seen a number of noteworthy books about investigative journalism, from going undercover to dig into corruption to investigating the underbelly of the global migration crisis, and from a deep dive into dodgy COVID contracts to a book from Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.
The Outlaw Ocean Project — a nonprofit journalism organization that reports on the “watery two-thirds” of our planet — used material from several years of investigations on the high seas to create a new, seven-part podcast.
Radio Zamaneh Executive Director Joris van Duijne discusses how his exile media site is reporting from afar on the widespread political protests reverberating across Iran.
Two local journalists from Syria have begun using virtual and augmented reality to bring immersive reporting experiences to news audiences far outside their country.
Investigative journalists face a range of threats — from physical attacks to legal challenges — and sometimes the toll becomes just too much. Hear from two reporters who took time out to rest, recover, and recoup.
Forensic Architecture, a research agency based in London, blends human rights expertise with research, architectural capabilities, and investigative firepower. Our interview finds out how the team tackles investigations in the Middle East.
Films that captured ‘the death of democracy’ headlined the 2022 Double Exposure documentary festival in the US. In a parallel symposium, investigative reporters and directors stressed the importance of visual storytelling to describe the current, global erosion of democratic freedoms, and shared tips on how to capture this mass theft of human rights.
From shared bylines to awards credit, and from fair pay to due recognition, read the best-practice tips for working with local journalists or fixers when collaborating on investigations, from Frontline Freelance Mexico.
US-based nonprofit Freedom House released its latest annual study of global internet freedom yesterday, titled Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet.
Kenyan journalist John-Allan Namu discussed the emotional toll and significant impact on work-life balance that investigative reporting can have during a webinar hosted by the Reuters Institute.
Fourteen newsrooms and independent journalists from 13 countries collaborated on the Oceans, Inc. project, to uncover stories about illegal fishing and forced slavery on the South China Sea and the oceans near Antarctica. Their cross-border reporting won the 2022 SOPA Award for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment.
Investigative journalism of environmental issues has grown substantially in recent years in Africa, thanks to a number of new initiatives and reporting projects.
A press freedom crisis is rippling across Latin America and in some places the technological, legal, and physical threats have grown so severe that investigative journalists feel compelled to flee their home countries to keep reporting.
This investigation into the suspicious death of a Ukrainian immigrant while in police custody won Gazeta Wyborcza reporter Jacek Harłukowicz Poland’s top prize for journalism in 2021.
From a one-hour French documentary about the Russian Wagner group of mercenary fighters to a short film about the final, desperate phone calls of a Tunisian president facing an uprising, many of the winning entries from this year’s DIG festival focus on exposing stories about the powerful and what happens behind closed doors.
Mattia Peretti, manager of JournalismAI at the London School of Economics, discusses the 10 things reporters should know about how artificial intelligence can impact journalism.
In an interview, The Atlantic’s investigative reporter Caitlin Dickerson discusses tips and techniques for covering the immigration beat, from knowing the history to setting expectations.
A range of films released in 2022, which include documentaries and feature adaptations of landmark investigations, provide insight into the diligent and often dangerous work of investigative reporters.
An interview with Alexa Vélez, managing editor of Mongabay Latam and the lead coordinator of the Stained by Oil investigative series on oil spills and corporate impunity in the Amazon region.
Veteran journalist Anton Harber speaks about the state of journalism and press freedom in South Africa as well as the importance of holding the media accountable for its complicity in abetting state capture.
A website and Telegram channel operated from Russia falsely claims to be a fact-checking site and, in fact, is repeatedly pushing out Russian disinformation about the war.
The reporter who first broke open the US military burn pits scandal and its hazardous environmental impact on veterans discusses how she reported the story and tracked its evolution to the halls of the US Congress.
In our latest GIJN webinar, members of forensic investigation teams from Bellingcat and The Washington Post explained how they analyzed the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the West Bank city of Jenin in May.
Journalist Marcela Turati has spent years investigating who is responsible for the thousands of people who have gone missing in Mexico. She spoke to Revista 5W magazine about her work, the dangers of investigating corruption in the country, and why it is so difficult to try and track down who is behind violent crimes against journalists and migrants.
While there are plenty of examples of student investigative reporters who are supported by their institutions, there are many others who face a lack of cooperation, low pay, legal threats, funding issues, and even physical harm.
