Case Studies |

Winning over readers with a compelling story

Like many others, when I first began working as a newspaper journalist, I was told to construct my articles using the classic “inverted pyramid” model. The inverted pyramid sorts the article content by importance, with the need-to-know info coming first. At newspapers, as news rolls into the editorial department throughout the production cycle, what was […]

Using freedom of information requests

In Japan’s press club system, authorities only share information that they want to make known. Freedom of information (FOI) requests, on the other hand, can unearth facts that the authorities would rather keep hidden. It is the authorities’ legal obligation to disclose information requested, as stipulated in the Act on Access to Information Held by […]

Why investigative journalism is necessary in Japan

Waseda Chronicle once held a panel discussion about the intersection of investigative journalism and reggae music at a club in Tokyo’s Nogizaka neighborhood. One of the panelists, a DJ who goes by the name of Moofire, raised the following question. “I feel that Japan’s media just repeats the government’s statements. It’s like nothing’s changed since […]

The Panama Papers

‘Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data?’ The recipient, Bastian Obermayer, head of investigations at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, said he was. This simple message was a beginning of an avalanche that, a year later, would become known as the Panama Papers. ‘John Doe’ gave Bastian about 2.6 terabytes of data – more […]

State-Of-Play of Investigative Journalism in South East Europe

Investigative journalism is one of the best tools to fight back against organised crime, corruption, and abuse of power. This is especially true in regions like South East Europe where corruption has eroded all aspects of society for decades and other democratic institutions besides an active press remain weak. In recent years, however, established media […]

‘Skopje 2014 Uncovered’: How to create a useful database

When the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Macedonia initially started documenting ‘Skopje 2014’, it was searching for an answer to a question that was repeatedly asked by the public without a response: ‘how much the entire project costs’. Buildings and dozens of monuments rose but the silence of the institutions only led to rumours and […]

Why do we investigate and how do we develop a story? Two examples from the Center for Investigative Journalism Serbia (CINS)

Serbian governments come to power with two campaign messages: anti-corruption and anti-crime. The Corruption Perception Index, however, has been stagnant in Serbia for years. But how do we prove whether the state tackles corruption or not? The brains started working: we, the team of the Center for Investigative Journalism Serbia (CINS), knew what we wanted […]

Prepare yourself for traumatic experiences

Cait McMahon from the Dart Center of Journalism and Trauma explains how journalists can prepare themselves from possible traumatic experiences during investigations. Watch the video for her recommendations and find out what she thinks are the responsibilities of an editorial department during an investigation. You want to know more about the work of the Dart […]

Tips on how to find sources

Lkhagva Erdene told us how he finds his sources. Watch the video to know where the Mongolian journalists looks for his contact persons and what he thinks about anonymous sources. Find out more about sources in Chapter 3. In Chapter 6 you get information on how to protect your sources. Follow the journalists on Twitter: […]

How to proof a fact

Fact-checking expert David Schraven from Correcti!v explains in the video how a fact can be proven. Follow the journalists on Twitter: @David_Schraven