News

Financial forensics for reporters: To find a culprit, think like a criminal.

“If you were a criminal, how would you launder drug money?”

That was the question Paul Radu, executive director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP), and Carlos Eduardo Huertas, director of Connectas, posed to a group of investigative journalists this month in Panama during an ICFJ-Connectas training session on using financial forensics to report on crime.

Google News Lab to Expand Reach of First Global Survey of Newsroom Tech

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 5, 2016 – With new support from Google News Lab, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will expand its groundbreaking global survey on the adoption of newsroom technologies from seven to 12 languages.

The upcoming survey, the State of Technology in Global Newsrooms, will shed much-needed light on how news media professionals use digital innovations for reporting, storytelling and distribution in newsrooms around the world.

Leading Mexican Journalist Says She Worries about the Trump Presidency

A prominent Mexican journalist said a Donald Trump presidency would be catastrophic if he carries out his campaign pledges to build a border wall or take economic steps against her country. She said a free and independent press is needed to respond to the challenge he presents.

“Trump has unleashed the worst hatred and has given force to racism and xenophobia,” said Carmen Aristegui in accepting the Knight International Journalism Award given by the International Center for Journalists.

The basics of phishing attacks: What journalists need to know to stay safe

Unless they cover technology, most journalists probably could not explain exactly how a cyberattack happens.

What We Learned Training South Africa's New Generation of Data Journalists

When Code for South Africa launched Africa’s first data journalism academy in February this year, we were trying to address a problem facing local newsrooms. We saw that South African newsrooms lacked the internal technical skills to start wrangling datasets and using them to find stories or to complement investigations.

Digital Wars: Quality Journalism Faces Off With the Forces of Deception

ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan spoke at the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA)'s Annual Assembly in Mexico City on the topic of "The Press, Digital Revolution and Democracy." Her remarks:

"I once heard that it takes 40 years to understand the full impact of a new technology. If that’s the case, then we are still in the middle of a digital revolution that is disrupting every industry from retail to banking and the media. It also takes time to understand the negative impact of that technology.

As Zika Spreads, Scientists Scramble to Understand the Disease

As the Zika virus spreads around the world, a panel of journalism and health experts said there was an urgent need for basic research to answer key questions about this devastating disease. Are women infected with the Zika virus able to have healthy children in the future? Can you develop immunity against the disease? Why is there a disproportionate number of children in Brazil with brain damage as a result of Zika? Are pregnant women the only ones at risk?

The panelists spoke at an Oct.

Investigative Journalism: Invaluable but Underfunded

ICFJ’s Patrick Butler led a fascinating session on the future of investigative journalism at Global Forum for Media Development’s major gathering in Indonesia this week. The importance of collaboration in an era of scarce funding and unprecedented dangers was a key topic.

Global Media Innovators Share New Tools, New Thinking at U.S. Digital News Gathering

A group of journalism pioneers, working as Knight International Journalism Fellows, highlighted a range of digital innovations before an audience of U.S. newsroom leaders at the 2016 Online News Association (ONA) conference in Denver, Colorado.

How Pakistan’s Express Tribune reported its biggest online project

In 2015, ICFJ Knight Fellow Shaheryar Popalzai was embedded at The Express Tribune, one of Pakistan’s largest daily newspapers, to help them design and build data-driven online media projects.