Case Studies | Investigative Journalism Manual

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

Panama Papers: How to convert datasets into stories

We talked with Bastian Obermayer from the Süddeutsche Zeitung about how the Panama Papers investigation team converted the datasets into stories. He remembers: “When we started with the Panama Papers we were no data-specialists, so we hired someone. We hired Vanessa Wormer. Without her we would have had some stories, but we would have never […]

Lkhagva Erdene’s recommendations for Mongolian journalists

Listen what Lkhagva Erdene has to say to Mongolian journalists. Follow the journalists on Twitter: @Lkhagva

Traumatic experiences during investigations

Cait McMahon from the Dart Center of Journalism and Trauma explains what trauma is and how an investigative journalist can identify it. If you are suffering from the mentioned symptoms the Dart Center of Journalism and Trauma can support you on further steps.