CIMA-Investigative Journalism - Dave Kaplan

CIMA Research Report: Global Investigative Journalism
such as trainings or investigations into topics such as human trafficking, the
environment, and corrupt practices.
● Donors that come out of the technology industry are making important
contributions to foster open data and news applications that can help investigative
journalism. Millions of dollars have been spent on grant competitions in Africa,
Europe, and the United States to fund such projects as document and data
managers, mapping software, security measures, and data analysis tools. Among
the backers: Google, the Knight Foundation, and the Omidyar Network.
Investigative Implementers
Although the range of activity is broad, international efforts to support the spread of
investigative reporting appear largely uncoordinated and without a central strategy. As in
media development generally, a lack of communication among donors and competition
among implementers is often blamed. Complicating matters is a bifurcation among those
active in investigative media development– on one side, U.S. officials and the NGOs they
fund, and on the other, the professional investigative journalist community, which has largely
steered away from participation in government-backed programs. Most notable is the absence
of IRE, likely the world’s largest trainer of investigative journalists. The independent-minded
IRE refuses to accept any federal funding. The result: despite IRE’s central role in the field,
several U.S. media development officials interviewed for this report knew little or nothing about
the organization.
Supported by membership and training fees, foundation grants, and volunteer staff, IRE has
played an important role in international investigative reporting. The organization has helped
start or inspire investigative journalism centers in a half-dozen countries, co-sponsored global
conferences and scores of workshops, and reached thousands of journalists abroad through its
online resources and consulting. IRE’s annual conferences, which regularly attract a thousand
journalists, were once largely domestic affairs; they now draw about 10 percent of their attendees
from overseas, including top journalists from East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The State
Department now times its annual investigative journalism visitors’ program to coincide with the
IRE conference –exposing them to more than a hundred panels of reporters and editors sharing
tips and techniques, including the latest in data journalism.
The lack of contact between the media development community and the professional journalism
community can produce some surprising results. International assistance program staff often
know little about journalism, and even less about investigative journalism. How else can one
explain how USAID funded a Dyncorp subsidiary to run an investigative reporting program
in Timor-Leste in 2012? 42 Dyncorp, a Pentagon contractor that provides security in hot spots
worldwide, has attracted controversy in years past over allegations of sex trafficking, contract
mismanagement, and misspending and has been the focus of reporting by journalists. 43
24 Center for International Media Assistance