- Be annoying, and don't give up
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Bill Birnbauer, Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Monash University in Australia, shares the methodology and techniques which have served him best as an investigative journalist.
- Be careful of the "master narrative"
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Maud Beelman, founding director of ICIJ and now deputy managing editor for investigations and enterprise at The Dallas Morning News, has a strategic four-part checklist which helps her prioritize which stories to go after. She shares them here, as well as the most important lessons learned over the years, and how to make the most of the limited time and resources you are given.
- Be inventive and patient
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Bulgarian investigative journalist and author Alexenia Dimitrova reveals how she uses Freedom of Information laws in several countries to uncover hidden secrets of the Cold War, how the imprisonment of her father spurred her on, and the rewards of patience.
- Be sure this way of life is something you are keen on, because it will eat up your time
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
The riches contained in this questionnaire with multi-award-winning investigative journalist Michael Bilton. Read on to learn details about his research methodology, and why a significant investment of time is the most critical component of each investigative report.
- Beginner's guide to improving online security
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Investigative journalists like the members of ICIJ are facing growing concerns about security. Our members often work with leaks or other materials requiring protection of sources, collaborate across borders with colleagues at risk for their physical safety, and communicate with devices and services open to surveillance or attack.
- Biggest criminals write laws that make their crimes legal
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Giannina Segnini discusses her bribery investigations that helped put two former presidents of Costa Rica in jail, and offers advice to aspiring investigative journalists.
- The biggest criminals write laws that make their crimes legal
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Giannina Segnini is the director of the investigative team at La Nación newspaper in Costa Rica. This month she was awarded one of Latin America's most prestigious distinctions, the Gabriel Garcia Marquez award for excellence in journalism. In this interview, she discusses her bribery investigations that helped put two former presidents of Costa Rica in jail, and offers advice to aspiring investigative journalists.
- Capture the popular imagination
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Sheila Coronel is the director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Last month, she was named as the next academic dean of the journalism school, a position she will assume in July. Prior to joining Columbia, Coronel founded the Phillippine Center for Investigative Journalism, where her reporting on corruption and graft by then-President Joseph Estrada helped bring about his impeachment and subsequent resignation. She recently spoke with ICIJ for its "Secrets of the Masters" series.
- Content Magazine - Number 56
October 1975
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 1975
- Content Magazine - Number 59
January/ February 1976
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 1976
- The Crisis in Investigative Journalism
The Case of James Risen
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Investigative journalists are the vanguard of the so-called Fourth Estate, bearing the formidable task of watchdogging the other three estates
- The end of the story
When a prominent journalist was killed for investigating black activists, it shocked America.
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2007
On August 2nd 2007 Chauncey Bailey was murdered, he was the first journalist in thirty years to be murdered in the U.S. in the pursuit of a story.
- Everyone can be an investigative journalist. Everyone!
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Inge Springe is the founder and director of the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism. Her stories have resulted in action against public officials and helped bring about changes in Latvian economic and tax policy.
- Everyone can be an investigative journalist. Everyone!
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Inge Springe is the founder and director of the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism. Her stories for the center, which is also known as Re:Baltica, have resulted in action against public officials and helped bring about changes in Latvian economic and tax policy.
- Fame & Fortune Online
Resource Type: Website
Comprehensive listing of awards available to Canadian journalists.
- Getting the Goods
Information in BC How to Find It, How to Use It
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1990
A guide to the basic sources of information -- the tools of the trade -- that all reporters, researchers and investigators rely on.
- Getting the most out of Offshore Leaks data
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Baltimore became the world’s capital of data journalism in March 2014 as the National Institute of Computer Assisted Reporting (NICAR) convened its annual conference. A team from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) gave several presentations at the conference. In one of them, we explained how we analyzed the leaked 2.5 million files that resulted in the Offshore Leaks investigation. In this post, we describe how journalists and other researchers can best use this data to yield maximum results for investigations.
- The Goodwin's Award for Excellence in Alternative Journalism
Resource Type: Article
Winners of the 3rd annual Goodwin's Awards for alternative journalism.
- The Goodwin's Award for Excellence in Alternative Journalism
Resource Type: Article
Winners of the 4th annual Goodwin's Awards for alternative journalism.
- Great investigative reporters don't take no for an answer
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
The first thing to keep in mind about investigative journalism is that it’s not glamorous. (We can blame television with its “undercover” reporters and “hidden cameras” for this mistaken image.) It’s actually hard and often boring work. I have never pretended that I was anything other than a working reporter, nor chased a single guilty person down the street. But I did spend days poring over records in the House of Lords and devoted months trying to master the intricacies of accountancy, tax law and overseas trusts.
- The High Cost of Skepticism
What happened to two scientists who believed that tenure and First Amendment would protect their rights to free inquiry
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2002
Here’s what happened to two scientists who believed that tenure and the First Amendment would protect their rights to free inquiry.
- How Brown Moses exposed Syrian arms trafficking from his front room
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
A Leicester-based blogger's monitoring of weapons used in conflict has been taken up by media and human rights groups. Never having been near a warzone has not stopped him from breaking some of the most important stories on the Syrian conflict in the last year.
- How to Background a Person Using Lexis
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
ICIJ reporter Kate Willson demonstrates how to background a person using public records on Nexis. Find state or local court records, criminal history, voter registration, property owned, divorce proceedings, neighbors, and more.
- How to build a complex, controversial interactive graphic - in six different languages
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
- How to investigate companies on Lexis
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
A video guide to searching the Lexis database for companies.
- How to locate a person held in the U.S. prison or immigration detention systems
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Tracing the trail of prisoners incarcerated in the United States can be complicated, but the reward for patient and thorough searching is getting information that would have been much more difficult to find before the availability of online government databases. And equally important are the contact numbers on these web pages, which you can call to confirm or to request additional information.
- How To Search Federal Court Records Using PACER
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
A video introduction to the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER).
- How To Track Looted Wealth
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
The ICIJ’s Sheila Coronel shares how to investigate illicit money trails ahead of her Tracking Corruption Internationally presentation at the 2012 IRE conference.
- How to unearth public records: a global guide
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Among the most basic building blocks of powerful investigative reporting are public records – government documents that provide bulletproof evidence of anything from a change in water quality to the ownership of a company or tract of land. In the United States, Freedom of Information laws date back nearly half a century, and although there are growing obstacles, journalists generally operate under a presumption of the right to access. In most of the world, however, Freedom of Information laws are less than two decades old.
- How To Use Simple Excel Functions for Data Analysis
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
In this series of video tutorials, ICIJ reporter Kate Willson demonstrates four basic yet essential Excel functions to assist with data analysis during investigative reporting.
- How To Verify Information and Debunk Myths Using Online Tools
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Did Pope Francis play a major role in Argentina’s Dirty War? Reporters published photos of dictator Jorge Videla with a cardinal, allegedly with Jorge Bergoglio, the recently elected Pope Francis. But something was wrong with these reporters’ findings. Henk van Ess explains how the internet can help you to debunk the internet.
- How we did Offshore Leaks China
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
A multinational team of journalists spent months combing through secret tax haven records revealing offshore holdings of China’s rich and powerful.
- The "human touch": the key to digging up court records
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
The most important asset for a reporter is the "human touch." It means becoming familiar with all the sources in the field. It means that a special technique is necessary to reach my goal of obtaining documents. Drinking coffee or having dinner with my sources is vital to cultivating important conduits of information. It’s a technique that is not workable overnight. It’s a technique that requires patience and time: months, years.
- I have never felt disadvantaged being a woman reporter
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Ritu Sarin is the investigations editor of the Indian Express group, and is the winner of several awards including the Ramnath Goenka Award and the Prem Bhatia award for excellence in journalism. ICIJ recently spoke to her about some of her most prominent investigations and her career as an investigative editor.
- If money is your object, journalism is the wrong industry
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Swedish investigative reporter Fredrik Laurin knows that power corrupts, but also that resistance in the form of journalism can have effect. In this Q&A he shares how his team identifies good investigative stories, and the value of constant networking.
- If money is your object, journalism is the wrong industry
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Swedish investigative reporter Fredrik Laurin knows that power corrupts, but also that resistance in the form of journalism can have effect. In this material he shares how his team identifies good investigative stories, and the value of constant networking.
- I.F. Stone's Weekly
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 1971
Weekly newsletter published by I.F. Stone from 1953 to 1971. All issues between January 17, 1953 and December 1, 1971 are online.
- I'm still waiting for my first car chase
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Stefaans Brümmer is the co-founder and managing partner of the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism in South Africa. The M&G Centre, which is nicknamed amaBhungane, isiZulu for "the dung beetles,” is a nonprofit that produces public interest investigative reporting. In this interview, Brümmer discusses his groundbreaking corruption probe that culminated in the arrest of a national police commissioner, and the challenges he confronted in investigating a powerful law enforcement official.
- IntelligentSearch.ca
Resource Type: Website
Published: 2017
A web portal featuring topics related to research and the Internet. The home page features a selection of recent and important articles. A search feature, subject index, and other research tools make it possible to find additional resources and information.
- The Intercept
Resource Type: Website
A platform to report on the documents previously provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, with a long-term mission is to produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues.
- International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Resource Type: Organization
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is an active global network of 160 reporters in more than 60 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories.
- Internet assault on investigative journalist
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2011
A far-right wing group in Uruguay has mounted an Internet attack of intimidation on a journalist who specializes in investigations into the crimes of the dictatorship that ran the country between 1973 and 1985.
- Into the Buzz Saw
Resource Type: Book
Accounts of journalists investigating stories which the power structure doesn't want investigated.
- Investigating charities: How to search the finances of nonprofits and foundations
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
There’s good news from the U.S. on a research tool for digging into non-profits and private foundations. Why does this data need to be freed?
- Investigative Reporting
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1976
Explains the art and science of investigative reporting: how to decide on a subject, how to find and evaluate sources, how to approach and interview the sources and the subject of the investigation, how to write the investigative story, how to insure that it gets published, and how to advance the aims of an investigation even after the publication of the first article. A major portion of the book is devoted to research in public documents.
- It pays to look beyond so-called ‘experts’ in the field
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
New York-based Jenny Nordberg discusses how she applies knowledge of human behaviour to her interviews, the thrill of finding disturbing things just under the surface, the pretentiousness of the term ‘investigative journalist’, and how global networks like the ICIJ help expose "juicy" stories.
- Journalism of Outrage
Investigative Reporting and Agenda Building in America
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1991
Examines the myths and misconceptions of investigative journalism and presents empirical research to support a model that challenges the classical theory.
- Journalism: Truth or Dare?
Resource Type: Book
Published: 2003
Ian Hargreaves discusses the history, development, future and ethics of journalism and describes journalists' relationship with the public. He focuses on the increase in journalism's influence and the criticism thrown at journalism today by all sectors of society.
- Know who you’re working for and why you’re working
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Colombian ICIJ member Carlos Eduardo Huertas talks about the traits of a good investigative journalist, his experience with Wikileaks and why tackling the big, important themes – and sticking to them – matters.
- Manning verdict blow for investigative journalism and its sources
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Reporters Without Borders regards today's verdict in U.S. Army private Bradley Manning's trial as dangerous. Although acquitted of "aiding the enemy," he was found guilty of five counts of espionage and five counts of theft, for which he could
- Mastering disaster: How to get the facts to cover humanitarian crises
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
In a midst of a humanitarian crisis like the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, information on the disaster pours to and from the media. The situation is in flux and the needs are great, and troubling fragments of news drop in continuously from on-the-ground reports, government briefings, humanitarian responders and social media. It’s often incredibly difficult to answer the basic questions: How many victims? How much destruction? Who will help pay for the emergency response and help with the recovery? Who has already donated money and resources?
- The Muckraker's Manual
How To Do Your Own Investigative Reporting
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1980
The skills of investigative reporting described for non-journalists.
- Never Forget You Have Only One Boss: the Truth
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Find subjects where you can break new ground. Record key interviews on video or audio. And remember that a lot of your own faults can be overcome by sheer reporting effort. Stellar tips for investigative reporting from award-winning author and journalist Thomas Maier.
- New website to assist crime and corruption investigations
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
For journalists and civil society researchers seeking information to help expose organized crime and corruption across borders, there’s a new “Ghostbusters” to call on for assistance.The Investigative Dashboard, a research tool for cross-border investigations from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), is launching a redesigned web site, expanded databases for public searching and a new feature for subscribers that will help crack cases across the globe.
- No story is worth dying for but some stories are worth taking a bit of risk
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
ICIJ member Syed Nazakat of The Week talks about the risks and benefits of conflict reporting in "the most dangerous place on earth".
- OCCRP Launches New Search Engine for Investigative Journalists
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2016
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit network of investigative journalism centers in Europe and Eurasia, has launched a new data platform to enable journalists and researchers to sift more than 2 million documents and use the findings in their investigations. People using the new data platform, called ID Search, will be able to set up email alerts notifying them when new results appear for their searches or for persons tracked on official watchlists. They can also create their own private watchlists.
- Open up as much dialogue with reporters in other countries as possible
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Paul Radu of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project walks his talk when it comes to sharing information and know-how. Here the Investigative Dashboard creator shares how he tracks down the money across borders.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - June 18, 2015
Corruption
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 2015
Corruption - or at least some types of corruption - are much in the news, with the ongoing scandals in the Canadian Senate and the recent U.S. targeting of the Swiss-based football federation FIFA for alleged bribery. In this issue, we look at these and other forms of corruption. Diana Johnstone writes about the double standards displayed by U.S. institutions, which happily target enemies and rivals, while ignoring the much greater corruption that underlies the power structures in Washington. We feature an article detailing how much money U.S. Senators received from corporations prior to their vote on the TPP negotiations, as well as materials on criminal conduct by some of the world's biggest banks, and an article on the work of investigative journalists in exposing corruption.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - May 7, 2016
Tax Evasion
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 2016
Employing a network of accountants, tax lawyers, corporate shells, tax havens, secret bank accounts, and other methods, the 1% have become extremely adept at evading even the low rates of taxation they are subjected to.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - December 20, 2016
Fake News
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 2016
"Fake news" is the latest mania to convulse the mainstream media. All at once, we're being subjected to an outbreak of hand-wringing articles and commentary about obscure websites which are supposedly poisoning public opinion and undermining democracy by spreading "fake news." Since we don't like to be left out when a new fad comes on the scene, Other Voices is jumping on the bandwagon too, with this, our last issue of 2016, devoted to "fake news." Our focus, however, is not so much on the crackpots and trolls making mischief on the fringes, but on the dominant actors in the fake news business: governments and the corporate and state media.
- The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Resource Type: Organization
An independent, nonprofit media agency that specializes in investigative reporting. It was founded in 1989 by nine Filipino journalists who realized, from their years on the beat and at the news desk, the need for newspapers and broadcast agencies to go beyond day-to-day reportage.
- Raising Hell
A Citizen's Guide to the Fine Art of Investigation
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1983
- Raising Hell: How the Center for Investigative Reporting Gets the Story
Resource Type: Book
Published: 1983
- A reporter's trustworthiness and reputation for integrity is their greatest asset
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Sam Smyth of the Irish Independent and Sunday Tribune newspapers talks about the greatest threat to investigative reporting, and how he gets his stories.
- Revealing the Secret World of Private Companies
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
You’d think that getting the names of the shareholders of a company would be fairly easy. Such information should be routinely available.To be sure, there’s a wealth of information on listed companies. But good luck researching a private firm.
- Social Media and Investigative Journalism
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
In this extract from the new book The Social Media (R)evolution: Asian Perspectives on New Media, ICIJ member Syed Nazakat outlines different ways investigative reporters are harnessing social media around the globe.
- Sources HotLink - June 30, 2016
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Published: 2016
Articles about the FBI and the information it gathers, Donald Trump and the media, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in suppressing information.
- The website of I.F. Stone
Resource Type: Website
Website devoted to the journalism and life of radical journalist I.F. Stone (1907-1989).
- Stop harassment and legal action against leading investigative journalist
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
The Azerbaijani authorities should immediately lift the travel ban imposed on Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova's arrest on crimi
- There are no bad sources, only incompetent reporters
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
There is no democracy without efficient institutions and too many journalists passively accept this state, says Portuguese investigative journalist and "troublemaker" Rui Araujo.
- Tips for investigating the mining industry
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2012
Here Marina shares her top tips on investigating the mining industry: from unearthing disclosure of litigation in company reports to checking who funds mining research.
- Try and find Narnia in the wardrobe: inside the work of a research specialist
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2014
Paul Myers is an internet research specialist working in the U.K. media. He talks about the role of the researcher in the investigative story and tools journalists can use.
- Two out of Three Investigative Journalists in US Believe They're Being Spied On
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2015
In the wake of the NSA mass surveillance scandal, a vast majority of investigative journalists believe that the U.S. government is spying on them, and large numbers say that this belief impacts the way they go about their reporting.
- Why I quit my job as an investigations editor in Egypt
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Hisham Allam is an award-winning investigative reporter based in Cairo. He was an investigative editor for the El-Watan newspaper, but the recent crackdown on the Egyptian press has taken a toll on his freedom to report the truth. In this Secrets of the Masters interview, he describes his groundbreaking coverage of the Egyptian revolution and explains why he recently quit his job.
- Will We Ever See Al Jazeera's Investigation Into the Israel Lobby?
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2018
So when am I going to be able to watch Al Jazeera's hard-hitting investigation into Israel’s powerful lobby in the United States? Remember Al Jazeera? The tough, no-holds-barred Middle East satellite channel that transformed Qatar into a media empire whose reports frightened dictators and infuriated potentates and presidents alike? Why, George W Bush once wanted to bomb its headquarters in Doha – so it must have been doing something right. It even has an office in Jerusalem.
- The work of authentic journalists is the most important thing for social movements
How Mercedes Osuna became a rebel with a cause
Resource Type: Article
Published: 2013
Not an activist, social organizer nor a defender: Mercedes Osuna would rather define her work as human labor, something that she has dedicated an entire life to. She was born in a place were true words are heard with the heart and she lived out her convictions at a young age.
- Writings by I.F. Stone
Resource Type: Website
- Barrie Zwicker
Media Profile in Sources
Resource Type: Organization
|
AlterLinks
© 2021.
|