CIMA-Investigative Journalism - Dave Kaplan

CIMA Research Report: Global Investigative Journalism
the responding groups reported editorial priorities largely consistent with those from the 2007
survey. The top five reporting topics in 2011: corruption, social issues such as poverty and
minorities, business, and organized crime, and environmental affairs.
Many of the reporting centers have embraced data journalism. Spreadsheets and data
visualization software are used by about half of the groups surveyed, and about a quarter
use database managers and data scraping techniques. More than a third produce or integrate
databases into their story production.
Asked to rank their biggest threats, two areas emerged as the biggest concerns: more than
two-thirds of responding groups (71 percent) each ranked legal challenges and harassment and
intimidation by private individuals. Nearly half (46 percent) also cited harassment and threats by
government officials. Seventeen percent cited criminal prosecution as a major concern.
Other facts derived from the survey:
● Most of the groups reported that they publicly disclosed their funders, although
more than a fifth (21 percent) did not. 58
● More than one fifth (21 percent) lacked an ethics and standards policy.
● More than half (55 percent) published or broadcasted in more than one language.
● Social media was widely embraced, although seven groups (14 percent) did not
believe it is important.
Finally, the survey found that women are playing a significant leadership role in the various
nonprofits. Despite investigative journalism’s reputation as a somewhat “macho” field, women
served as presidents or executive directors of 38 percent of the groups.
36 Center for International Media Assistance