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Other organisations and initiatives

Bellingcat

Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists using open source and social media investigation to probe a variety of subjects – from Mexican drug lords and crimes against humanity, to tracking the use of chemical weapons and conflicts worldwide. With staff and contributors in more than 20 countries around the world, they operate in a unique field where advanced technology, forensic research, journalism, investigations, transparency, and accountability come together.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that holds power to account. Founded in 2010 by David and Elaine Potter, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism tackles big subjects through deep reporting that uncovers the truth with the aim of informing the public about the realities of power in today’s world. The Bureau is particularly concerned with the undermining of democratic processes and failures to accord with fair, legal, and transparent practices.

For journalists

Visit this page to find out how you might be able to work with the Bureau:

If you are a freelance journalist and have an idea for an investigation, we could pay you to work with us on that story if we think it is strong enough.

If you are a journalist with a good story but there are reasons you cannot be associated with it, you can tip us off and we can take it on.

If you are employed by a paper or broadcaster but you need our help to develop the story we can work with you and your outlet for a joint-bylined article.

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/got-a-story/journalists

Open resources

Here, the Bureau share the workings behind its investigations and provides guides for taking their stories further. Resources available include:

  • Data - evidence behind our investigations

  • Reporting recipe - how-to guides for using our data and developing the story

  • Code - our technological tools to interrogate or visualise data

  • Resource - investigation folder or additional documents

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/local/open-resources

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an independent, nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide, and defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

CORRECTIV

CORRECTIV is the first non-profit newsroom and investigation centre in the German-speaking region. They’re investigating injustice and abuses of power, while also promoting media literacy and are implementing educational programmes. They have offices in Essen and Berlin, and their goal is an enlightened society because only well-informed citizens can solve problems and bring about improvements democratically. Their team of reporters conducts investigations on topics of high relevance, uncovers injustices and abuses of power, and makes complex interrelations understandable.

European Centre for Press & Media Freedom (ECPMF)

ECPMF unites media, press organisations and academia to counter attacks on press and media freedom both nationally and internationally.

The Centre has established a database of media law in Europe to document attacks on it. It organises working parties to support other national and international organisations that advocate for media freedom. ECPMF supports national media associations and individuals who are fighting for the freedom of the press and media and it supports individual journalists who are harassed by the authorities.

It also features a Helpdesk,which acts as a central tool for responding to the individual needs of journalists at risk or under threat. They coordinate offers of support for media professionals across Europe and assist exiled journalists in Germany. It includes multiple resources focusing on scholarships, legal support, training, trauma therapy, and security.

Forbidden Stories

Forbidden Stories is a non-profit network of journalists whose mission is to continue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder. Founded by Freedom Voices Network and a frequent collaborator with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and other GFMD members, their goal is to keep their stories alive and to make sure a maximum number of people have access to uncensored news on such crucial topics as the environment, health, human rights, or corruption. By protecting and continuing the work of reporters who can no longer investigate, they send a powerful signal to enemies of the press: even if you succeed in stopping a single messenger, you will not stop the message. In March 2018, Forbidden Stories received the “Journalism Project of the Year Grand Prize” at the French Annual Journalism Summit (journalisme.com). Some of their most important stories include Project Miroslava, Green Blood, and the Daphne Project.

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is an independent, Washington, D.C.-based international network. Launched in 1997 by the Center for Public Integrity, ICIJ was spun off in February 2017 into a fully independent organisation, which includes more than 200 investigative journalists and 100 media organisations in over 70 countries who work together on issues such as cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power. The ICIJ has exposed smuggling and tax evasion by multinational tobacco companies and organized crime syndicates, investigated private military cartels, asbestos companies, and climate change lobbyists, and broke new ground by publicising details of the Iraq and Afghanistan war contracts. They are best known for their work exposing the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers.

International Press Institute (IPI)

International Press Institute is a global network of editors, journalists and media executives who share a common dedication to quality, independent journalism. Together, they promote the conditions that allow journalism to fulfill its public function, the most important of which is the media’s ability to operate free from interference and without fear of retaliation. Their mission is to defend media freedom and the free flow of news wherever they are threatened.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Reporters Without Borders – Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) in French – is an independent NGO based in Paris whose foreign sections, its bureaux in 10 cities, including Brussels, Washington, Berlin, Tunis, Rio de Janeiro, and Stockholm, and its network of correspondents in 130 countries give RSF the ability to mobilise support, challenge governments, and wield influence both on the ground and in the ministries and precincts where media and Internet standards and legislation are drafted. They also provide support to investigative journalism around the world, such as Forbidden Stories, and publish the World Press Freedom Index annually.

Solutions Journalism Network

The Solutions Journalism Network has numerous useful resources for journalists. These include:

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture. UNESCO’s programs contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in Agenda 2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.

Investigative Journalism means the unveiling of matters that are concealed either deliberately by someone in a position of power, or accidentally, behind a chaotic mass of facts and circumstances – and the analysis and exposure of all relevant facts to the public. In this way investigative journalism crucially contributes to freedom of expression and media development, which are at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate.

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