"This handbook is broadly divided into three sections: this first focuses on understanding business and human rights, its themes and topics. The second part looks at the practicalities of reporting business and human rights stories: from finding ideas and spotting stories through to the process of r
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esearch and carrying out interviews. The third part looks at how you can tell business and human rights stories, and ‘sell’ them to your audience and editors. Whilst some media law is discussed, it is as general introductory information only and should not be construed as or relied upon as legal advice." (Page 8)
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"Experts say having a law for access to public information is important to enhance public transparency, but it’s only the starting point in the battle against state secrecy. How can journalists benefit from such laws and why should the news media care about it? This paper is divided into four part
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s: the first chapter gives a brief summary of what FOI is and some practical examples of stories that have been published with it. The second chapter explores the data from a national survey about how journalists are using the law. The survey was conducted with the help of Maria Esperidião at the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), an association where I am also a director. The third chapter is a series of interviews with experienced Brazilian journalists from different fields to see their views on FOI and what journalists can do to improve its use. The questions that I asked them were based on the Abraji survey results. The final chapter is a small guide on how to start a FOI section in your newsroom – a combination of guidance obtained during the interviews and my own previous experiences." (Introduction, page 5)
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"This manual was designed in order to provide readers with an overview of state of the art practices in investigative journalism, with a focus on illicit financial flows and asset recovery. It has an introductory to intermediate level. It is the result of over three years of collaboration between Ci
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FAR and civil society organizations specialized in various fields of expertise relevant to the practice of journalism, beginning with the launch of our first training and mentoring program Investigate the Meditarranean in 2017. Our Introduction to Investigative Journalism manual aims to cover points that we have identified as being important for investigating grand corruption, financial crime and asset recovery, the main areas of investigative reporting useful for, namely: theoretical and research frameworks, investigative resources for deep web research, databases and access to information, as well as digital safety. Three supporting case-studies have been added as an illustration of the use of these tools and techniques, based on three investigative cross-border stories published by some of our trainees. This last part is designed to provide a “behind-the-scenes” overview of the investigative work of these three journalists that, we hope, will be useful for current and new early career investigative journalists." (About this manual, page 2)
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"Esta publicación, de libre acceso, comprende 32 reportajes y crónicas periodísticas de investigación en materia de inversión pública, de 32 periodistas, 20 varones y 12 mujeres, correspondientes a 16 regiones del país: Cusco, La Libertad, Piura, Junín, Lambayeque, Arequipa, Lima, Puno, Ica,
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Huánuco, Pasco, Áncash, Tumbes, Amazonas, Ayacucho y Tacna. Las y los periodistas han revelado las problemáticas que son más sensibles en sus regiones; denunciando, visibilizando, sensibilizando, y también dando una señal de esperanza de que las cosas pueden mejorar en el contexto actual que el país atraviesa, con un nuevo gobierno, que pretende ser mucho más cercano a la ciudadanía más vulnerable. Con mucha satisfacción podemos concluir que el curso denominado con el mismo nombre de la publicación, en su primera edición, ha logrado su objetivo principal: fortalecer las capacidades de las y los periodistas en el análisis, producción y difusión de noticias para fomentar acciones de vigilancia ciudadana sobre los recursos públicos y reconocer el rol fundamental que cumple el periodismo para la defensa de la democracia." (Presentación, página 6-7)
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"Open-source intelligence (OSINT) gathering and analysis techniques are used by investigators from a variety of fields, owing to their accessibility and exceptional capacity for corroboration. It has previously been argued that proposed data protection legislation can chill the free press, but there
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have been no studies assessing the effect of such reforms on more general OSINT capabilities. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented in the UK through the 2018 Data Protection Act (DPA) to protect personal data against exploitation. This study surveyed 16 OSINT gathering and analysis practitioners across public and private sectors to determine firstly, what, if any impact the implementation of the GDPR/DPA have had on their ability to successfully operate as OSINT analysts and secondly, if they have noticed any subsequent changes in UK public perception around issues of the surveillance state and digital privacy. I argue that this initial survey shows that the GDPR is merely a first step in establishing societal expectations and regulations around digital privacy. While some changes to OSINT practice have been reported, to date few substantive changes to OSINT methods or analysis resulted or seemed poised to take effect, one year after the advent of the GDPR/DPA." (Abstract)
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"Arab journalists operate in an entirely different environment from their counterparts elsewhere. They face not only censorship from state and society, but also the impossibility of obtaining even basic open source information. The need to present models that speak to all the contradictory aspects o
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f the Arab experience was at the forefront of our minds throughout the writing process. We do not want to separate investigative journalism from its essential task of holding the powerful to account. Nor do we want to lose its spirit in pernickety detail. But this handbook is less about the theory of investigative journalism and more an introduction intended to help you develop the conscious and considered tools and skills required by this very particular kind of journalism. In this handbook we are not looking to reduce investigative journalism to a set of strict pedagogical rules. We hope to equip journalists with the skills to do research, to think critically, to fact-check and to make good use of their common sense." (Pages 4-5)
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"This article details the role of collaborative journalism during the process of rebuilding investigative journalism at its core thus assuring enduring investment in its quality. We will start by characterizing the concepts of investigative journalism and collaborative journalism, using leading scho
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lars in both of these complementary areas; we will, then, identify the pressures that constrains investigative journalism, and analyse how journalistic collaboration has a potential for resistance that can protect both investigative journalism and the journalists who practice it. Our article path will be complemented with the case study of the "Daphne Project", the first project of the consortium "Forbidden Stories", the international platform created by Laurent Richard. This project will be characterized through a documentary analysis and with interviews we conducted with both its founder, Laurent Richard, and Mathew Caruana Galizia, the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese journalist murdered on October 16th 2017, during her investigations. The Daphne Project was created for the purpose of keeping alive stories of journalists who have been killed, imprisoned or, for some reason, were unable to pursue their investigations. Not only does collaborative journalism protect investigative journalism and investigative journalists, but cross-borders collaboration also allows "sharing the risk across a wide range of international players" (Sambrook, 2017). If the absolute exposure of the lonely investigative journalist turns him/her into a target in territories where freedom of speech is threatened, the murder of this Maltese journalist, followed by the murder of Slovakian Ján Kuciak, in 2018, placed Europe as an unlikely set on the risk map. While acknowledging the problems caused by international consortium of journalists, this research highlights, above all, how these partnerships, anchored in "radical sharing" (Guevara, 2016)1, are contributing to enhance investigative journalism." (Abstract)
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"Despite the growing scholarship on investigative journalism in Latin America, very few studies have addressed collaboration across newsrooms in the region. By analyzing the responses of 251 journalists who work for investigative units in Latin American news outlets, this study explores a) the reaso
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ns why Latin American journalists are increasingly seeking to participate in national and transnational collaborative enterprises, b) the challenges they identify, and c) the role digital technologies are playing in this trend of transnational collaboration. Using mixed methods, we found that collaborations occur to enhance the impact of investigative projects, to reach larger audiences, and to achieve a big-picture coverage. We also found that safety is an important motivation to work in conjunction with other newsrooms—by collaborating, journalists are able to strengthen security measures and challenge censorship. Yet, coordinating teams—especially at the transnational level—remains the biggest challenge to overcome. Digital technologies are significantly related to reporters’ likelihood of collaborating, but these technologies require other reporting skills to be useful for investigative journalism. Implications for research and practice are discussed." (Abstract)
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"Hace doce años, un equipo de periodistas compartió el sueño de mejorar la investigación en Colombia y para cumplirlo definieron un plan de trabajo y se juntaron durante meses. Querían crear una red de periodistas de investigación y un espacio para intercambiar experiencias y conocimientos con
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otros colegas del país y del mundo. Este sueño los llevó a asociarse. Buscaron el apoyo de la Universidad Javeriana, tocaron a las puertas de cooperantes internacionales y realizaron un encuentro público de periodismo. También esa aspiración los llevó poco a poco a hacer investigación conjunta, a crear una asociación en la que participaran con decisión los periodistas de las regiones. Contactaron a investigadores de diversas zonas del mundo y los invitaron a comp artir sus métodos. Para fortalecer el periodismo en el país, empezaron a apoyar medios locales y capacitaron a los emprendedores que, en medio de los avatares de la industria informativa, venían desarrollando sus propios medios emergentes. Estos pioneros generaron intercambios de saberes, divulgaron el conocimiento, publicaron guías de investigación y bases de datos para su uso periodístico. Ese sueño que se empezó a materializar hace doce años se llama Consejo de Redacción, una organización que hoy está integrada por más de ciento veintiocho periodistas de veinte departamentos de Colombia. Este libro, escrito por sus protagonistas, cuenta cómo se conforma una organización periodística y demuestra de qué forma el trabajo en equipo, la solidaridad y la cooperación son valores imprescindibles para defender en nuestro país el derecho a investigar, hacer memoria y contar nuestra propia realidad." (Cubierta del libro)
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"Open-source intelligence gathering and analysis (OSINT) techniques are no longer predominantly the remit of private investigators and journalists. An estimated 80-90% of data analysed by intelligence agencies is also now derived from publicly available material. Additionally, the massive expansion
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of the internet and, in particular, social media platforms, have made OSINT increasingly accessible to civilians who simply want to trawl the Web for information on a specific individual, organisation or product. In May 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented in the UK through the new Data Protection Act, intended to secure personal data against unjustified collection, storage and exploitation. This document presents a preliminary literature review of work related to the GDPR and OSINT, which was collated as the basis for an as-yet-unpublished study evaluating the effects of the GDPR on OSINT capabilities in the UK. The literature reviewed is separated into the following six sections:‘What is OSINT?’,‘What are the risks and benefits of OSINT?’,‘What is the rationale for data protection legislation?’,‘What are the current legislative frameworks in the UK and Europe?’,‘What is the potential impact of the GDPR on OSINT?’, and ‘Have the views of civilian and commercial stakeholders been sought and why is this important?’. As OSINT tools and techniques are accessible to anyone, they have the unique capacity for being used to hold power to account. It is therefore important that new data protection legislation does not impede civilian OSINT capabilities." (Abstract)
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"At the start of 2016, Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and Tempo Institute, the NGO arm of Tempo Media Group, shared the ambition to create a new generation of investigative reporters and promote a culture of accountability throughout Indonesia in the design of “Investigating with Tempo”. In this pro
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gramme, talented journalists from local media based outside the capital were selected for a six-month fellowship to research a topic that affects the lives of citizens and local communities. The fellowship worked towards publishing an in-depth investigative story in Tempo Magazine, mentored by senior journalists of the Tempo newsroom. During this time, the fellows received a living and travel allowance, which enabled them to fully focus on the issue that they were investigating [...] This book gives insight into how social change through independent journalism happens in practice. Tempo Institute has managed to create and foster a culture of investigative journalism, and their work resulted in stories that contributed to policy changes and positively impacted the lives of marginalized groups. Individual stories can have a societal impact, either in the form of provoking power-holders into action or by bringing issues into the public sphere that would otherwise not be talked about." (Foreword, page viii-ix)
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"This publication has featured a great variety of investigative media, each of them with their unique history, spirit and organizational culture. And yet they have a lot in common: constantly being on their feet, exploring and trying out new ways to ensure their media stays viable; adhering to quali
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ty and ethical journalism, thereby building relationships of trust with their audiences; knowing who their audience is and building loyal communities; and integrating new digital technology and processes into their work where possible. This has led to another fundamental viability ingredient: a very strong brand that has made investigative journalism an integral part of their DNA. Analyze markets strategically: The The investigative media in this publication look at what their markets can offer, where the limitations are and how to deal with the biggest threats to their business-in terms of finances, legal threats and qualified staff. Integrate people dedicated to business: Rappler (Philippines), Atlatszo.hu (Hungary) and Tempo (Indonesia) are examples of media that all have staff who spend a large amount of their time, if not all of it, on ensuring their outlet stays financially afloat. Seek collaborations: Tempo has carried out joint investigations with other media in neighboring countries, Rappler has teamed up with a fact-checking agency, Agência Pública (Brazil) cooperates regularly with NGOs or international media and has a dedicated media relations officer. Cooperate with dedicated donors or sponsors that meet their standards: FrontPageAfrica (Liberia) managed to attract the biggest telecom operator in Liberia as an advertiser thanks to their quality reporting, Plaza Pública (Guatemala) is hosted by a university, Premium Times (Nigeria) has created a not-for-profit newsroom to attract funds from international donors. Invest in capacity building: Tempo, Rappler and Mada Masr (Egypt) are training their own staff in investigative reporting and journalism standards. Interact with their audience and experiment with new distribution channels: KRIK (Serbia) is using drawings instead of photos on their website, Mada Masr mixes their investigations with recipes, lifestyle pieces and sharp-tongued comics, and Agência Pública set up an interactive website to highlight the plight of those families that lost their home during the construction of the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Make tech an integral part of their work: Whether this is about research techniques or distribution methods. Rappler has been investigating online trolling, Mada Masr continues to distribute their reports via Facebook and VPN despite being blocked by the authorities. Interact with their audience and build a community that helps to investigate by providing information, protests when the media gets threatened, pays for its products or contributes financially through crowdfunding, such as is the case at Atlatszo.hu." (Synopsis, page 68)
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"Our findings show that there is a viable future for investigative journalism (IJ) at all levels, local to international, if systematic, predictable, stable funding for networks, centers, journalists, technologies and collaborations can be found. Funders acknowledge that most manifestations of IJ ar
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ound the world will be non-profit, with remarkable, honorable exceptions. That said, all interviewees agree that IJ needs support for an infusion of skills in organizational management and development as a springboard for its future progress, especially if donors want to encourage IJ groups to develop greater revenue diversification as a route to viability." (Executive summary, page 6)
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