Participant Story

ICFJ Elliott Award: Kunle Adebajo, on Building a Data Journalism Career

Kunle Adebajo is a journalist and editor covering illicit financial flows, information manipulations, the environment and more, with a focus on Africa. He is currently the editor of the African Academy for Open Source Investigations at Code for Africa (CfA). He is the 2023 winner of the ICFJ Michael Elliott Award. “The capacity-building work ICFJ does, both online and offline, is immensely important. We have many talented young journalists who only need some guidance and support to reach their full potential,” he says.

ICFJ Elliott Award: Zainab Bala, Producing People-Centered Stories That Drive Accountability

Zainab Bala is the team lead and editor of The Scoop Storytelling Initiative, a non-profit journalism platform dedicated to expanding underrepresented voices in Nigeria. She covers gender, climate, community affairs and other topics, with a focus on West Africa.

Hans Staiger Award Winner Investigates Russian Soldiers Secretly Treated in Belarus Hospitals, Including Those Linked to War Crimes

Leaked data from the Russian Defense Ministry shook the story loose. A team of investigators found that during the first 21 months of the invasion of Ukraine, nearly 1,000 Russian soldiers were treated at Belarusian hospitals, including war crime suspects. These “secret patients,” as they were known, directly tied Belarus to Moscow’s war effort.

ICFJ Fellow Builds Community of Women Journalists in Post-Assad Syria

When Bashar al-Assad’s government was overthrown at the end of 2024, Mais Katt, a Syrian journalist who has lived in exile for 14 years, immediately returned to her country. She was one of the first journalism trainers to enter Damascus after the fall of the regime. Her goal? Help prepare women journalists to take advantage of their newfound freedoms.

ICFJ Fellow Investigates Government Failures in West Bank Refugee Camps

Aziza Nofal, a Palestinian freelance journalist and an ICFJ Jim Hoge Reporting Fellow, through her fellowship, conducted a months-long investigation into the shortage of aid for refugees living in West Bank refugee camps. When Nofal was covering Israeli incursions into West Bank refugee camps for outlets like Al Jazeera, she observed a lack of support from Palestinian authorities.

ICFJ Fellow Uncovers Alleged Profiteering From Occupied Regions in Ukraine

Maria Zholobova, a journalist working at investigative outlet IStories, has long been interested in who is financially benefiting from Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine. So, for a story supported by the Jim Hoge Fellowship, Zholobova turned to customs data and export records, hoping to find something. And she did. She noticed that a company registered to a run-down building on the outskirts of a Russian town had, over the past two years, exported nearly half a million tons of coal labeled as “Russian” but produced in Ukraine’s occupied territory, primarily to Turkey.

ICFJ Voices: Adam D. Williams, on Investigations with Impact

Adam D. Williams is a freelance journalist who mainly covers Latin America and the U.S. He’s also reported from southern Africa. He writes about social issues, energy, business, the environment, health and other topics. Williams has been reporting internationally since 2009. “Above all, ICFJ’s support gives journalists time and resources to produce impactful, important stories across the world that might not have been previously told,” Williams says.

ICFJ Voices: ICFJ "Broadens the Lens of Journalists," Says LaMont Jones

LaMont Jones is the managing editor for education at U.S. News and World Report. Through an ICFJ study tour, he deepened his knowledge of the Middle East, connected with colleagues and published articles. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Jones is based in Washington, DC.

Rubryka's Solutions Journalism Offers a Beacon of Hope in War-torn Ukraine

As Russian tanks rumbled toward Kyiv in February 2022, many Ukrainians took up guns to defend their homeland. Anastasia Rudenko has taken a different path. She turned to solutions journalism to fight the horrors of war. 

How to Deal with Mis- and Disinformation in Times of Uncertainty

There is evidence that disinformation is designed to take advantage of our emotions. It also tends to spread farther and more rapidly during times of change and uncertainty. When people have questions and there are gaps in information, the disinformers (those who profit from lies), take advantage, “magically” putting forth what appear often to be simple answers or solutions. Here are some tips to protect yourself from falling for or sharing false or alarmist content as the U.S. transitions into a second Donald Trump presidency.