In a world where the pillars of democracy face unprecedented challenges, the relationship between philanthropy and independent journalism is mutually beneficial.
Recent research suggests that the effects of investigative and collaborative reporting are more far-reaching on the journalism community than we had imagined.
Collaborating with Vienna’s Volkstheater, Austrian investigative outlet Dossier is bringing its reporting to the stage.
Diana Salinas is committed to uncovering wrongdoing and empowering more women to follow in her footsteps.
GIJN spoke with three newsrooms pioneering models for raising funds directly from their audiences.
“Good project management is hard to find in newsrooms,” says the WSJ’s Robin Kwong, the author of a recent guide full of tips for editorial leadership.
Media outlets are now more than ever looking for innovative digital strategies to reach and engage audiences as well as remain sustainable.
Communities are often considered merely our audience in journalism. But local communities can be engaged to help report impactful stories, provide tips and resources, and even boost the finances of watchdog media around the world.
Autocratic regimes and threats to press freedom have forced independent journalists and newsrooms into exile with alarming frequency in recent years. Founders and editors from three newsrooms in exile from Bangladesh, Russia, and Venezuela shared their tactics for survival.
GIJN’s French editor Alcyone Wemaëre spoke with Timothy Large from IPI’s IJ4EU cross-border investigation project to learn an insider’s tips for writing a successful investigative journalism grant proposal.
Daraj co-founder Diana Moukalled discusses the outlet’s origins in Lebanon, its impact, its funding, and reporting on women’s rights and corruption across the Middle East.
Mother Jones is a US outlet known for “smart, fearless journalism.” Monika Bauerlein, its CEO, believes that the kind of investigative journalism they do cannot be funded by traditional commercial means. That’s why it operates as a nonprofit with a heavy focus on reader donations as a revenue stream.
GIJN social media editor Holly Pate looked into best practices for increasing impact and audience engagement of investigative stories, gathering real-life examples from journalism sites around the world.
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.
With democracy and press freedom under assault worldwide, Nepali Times publisher Kunda Dixit calls for greater investment in watchdog sites like the Centre for Investigative Journalism – Nepal.
Veteran Mexican journalist Alejandra Xanic shares the lessons she learned in setting up an investigative nonprofit, from how to move beyond prioritizing survival to the importance of administrative support.
A new generation of intrepid news organizations is rising across Europe – one that is strongly committed to serving its audience and democracy alike through public interest journalism. A new report by Netzwerk Recherche outlines this emerging innovative media scene and takes a closer look at how this New Sector reclaims journalistic terrain that traditional media has abandoned.
Malaysiakini gained a global reputation by remaining independent while publishing in a restrictive media atmosphere. After 22 years at the helm, co-founder Premesh Chandran speaks about creating a quadrilingual website that receives millions of unique pageviews a day, and about helping to change the media conversation in Malaysia.
Meduza, one of Russia’s last remaining independent news sites, lost 30,000 donors after the government cut off subscriber payments from the country due to unflinching coverage of the war. In less than a week, two German reporters organized a crowdfunding campaign to replace those funds to try to save Meduza.
In this second excerpt from a report on the state of sustainability of journalism, the author discusses the African press, how the coronavirus pandemic impacted reporting in the region, and the proposals to ensure the media not only survives, but thrives, in the future.
In this excerpt from Anya Schiffrin’s latest report on the state of sustainability of journalism, the author discusses how government funding can throw the profession a lifeline in an era where philanthropic efforts to support the press are struggling and Big Tech is increasingly seen as a competitor instead of a platform for news organizations.
DOSSIER, an Austrian outlet that is a member center of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, has been able to offset the financial challenges experienced by many media outlets in Austria — and combat a series of vexatious lawsuits — thanks to its membership program.
The “dream” of Efecto Cocuyo began mid-2014, initially a discussion in cafes with colleagues and friends Laura Weffer and Josefina Ruggiero, as well as three young journalists. An incubator programme helped the team design an operational and business model and in January 2015 Efecto Cocuyo was born, launching first on Twitter and gaining 18,000 followers in its first week. At the time of writing, it had more than 724,000.
Even after the coup in Myanmar, Frontier Myanmar has continued reporting on socio-economic issues. Publishing deeply reported pieces has made them popular among their readers. However, the entire website is now behind a paywall and available only to paying members — rates that are high for an average news consumer within a country where roughly 37% of the people live below the poverty line.
Press freedom – as exercised by independent news organizations free from the control of governments, political parties and other partisan interests – is fundamental to the development of peaceful, just and democratic societies. These organizations foster dialogue, respect for individual rights and good governance.
In this excerpt, the executive editor of a regional US news outlet reveals the tactics that worked — and didn’t work — in their innovative campaign to raise $1 million to fund investigations. Among the key tips that emerged: one-on-one meetings, direct reach-outs, and published “what it cost” boxes are effective, and framing the pitch around benefits for the community, rather than the outlet, causes donors to dig deeper.
For digital-first news outlets in Latin America, lessons learned from reader-funding experiments are being transformed into highly tailored membership programs that offer a chance at a more sustainable future. Independent, mission-driven or subject-specific news sites, in particular, are leading the way, converting close relationships with audiences into funding through editorially-linked, labor-intensive initiatives.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network is delighted to announce the selection of three Asian media organizations as participants in our new Investigative Journalism Assessment Program (IJ-MAP): The Caravan magazine in India, the KBR radio network in Indonesia; and the nonprofit Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
