News

Five Essential Research Tips for Journalists Using Google

In the age of digital journalism, advanced online search techniques are becoming requisite skills for successful careers in journalism. With hundreds of millions of sites indexed, Google is undoubtedly the most powerful search engine, but it’s easy to miss out on a lot of that power if we don't know the best techniques for asking questions. Although Google will almost always have answers, the goal is to find the relevant ones.

Fortunately, there are a number of search techniques that journalists (and researchers in general) can use to dramatically improve search results.

Tanzanian Journalists Connect to Audiences With WhatsApp

In August of last year, Orton Kiishweko, a reporter with Tanzania’s Daily News, stumbled upon a story making the rounds on WhatsApp, the mobile messaging app.

“I read from a WhatsApp group that some Muslim Tanzanian clerics had been kidnapped by rebels in Eastern Congo and were demanding ransom,” Kiishweko recalls.

A bit of Googling corroborated the initial reports. But details were sketchy.

ICFJ Knight Fellows Showcase 10 Free Open Source Investigative Tools for Journalists

The ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellows create a culture of news innovation and experimentation worldwide to deepen coverage, expand news delivery and engage citizens in the editorial process.

United Airlines Renews Support for ICFJ’s Minority Reporting Program

CHICAGO - United Airlines has renewed its partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) to support the Bringing Home the World: International Reporting Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists. Under the partnership, United will be the sponsoring airline for the third year for several Fellows who will travel to Latin America.

ICFJ has selected 12 Bringing Home the World Fellows for 2016.

Data Journalism Academy Alum Defends Uses of Spreadsheets in Journalism

Dear fellow journalists,

I write to you with concern, as it has come to my attention that many, if not most of you dread working with spreadsheets.

I understand this fear. Journalists tend to come from arts or politics backgrounds, and so have never needed to interact with a computerized accounting tool.

Working on a spreadsheet might seem daunting, but how is this different from word processing? Back in the days before PCs, words were not processed but crafted.

ICFJ Knight Roundup: Fellows, ANCIR Staff to Highlight Tools at IRE Conference

_As part of the Knight International Media Innovators blog, the ICFJ Knight team will round up stories focused on how their fellows are making an impact in the field.

Inside The Hindustan Times' Reinvention From Print to Digital

Over the past year, the Hindustan Times, one of India's most venerated print media outlets, has transformed itself into a model for innovative digital storytelling in the country by bringing together journalists, technologists and product strategists in its newsroom.

HT has shifted its culture away from "an environment that's mostly concerned with getting tomorrow's newspaper out," said Chief Content Officer Nic Dawes.

ICFJ Knight Roundup: Webinar to Discuss Panama Papers' Cross-Border Impact

_As part of the Knight International Media Innovators blog, the ICFJ Knight team will round up stories focused on how their fellows are making an impact in the field.

Global Collaboration—The Future of Investigative Journalism

The kind of groundbreaking reporting that broke stories on the Panama Papers has opened a new era of cross-border collaboration among global journalists, according to an International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) panel held on May 17.

Investigative reporters who helped lead the massive project said they worked more safely and effectively through networks of journalists from South America to Europe to Africa to expose the financial dealings of powerful people in their regions.

“A lot of the success of our networks has been that ability to reach across borders,” said [Justin Arenstein](

2016 Knight International Award Winners Expose Rampant Corruption

NEW YORK - Investigative reporters from Bosnia and Mexico who have exposed financial crimes and misconduct at the highest levels are the winners of the 2016 Knight International Journalism Award, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) announced.