Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) hosts its second regional conference Nov. 20 through 22 in Amman. Presented in Arabic, English and French, with simultaneous translation, the conference will offer training sessions in investigating climate change, tracking corruption, advanced writing and interviewing techniques, conducting investigations with limited resources and without freedom of information laws, and a computer-assisted reporting  workshop using special Arabic software adapted by ARIJ. The conference opens with ARIJ and UNESCO's formal launch of ARIJ's investigative reporting manual, "Story-Based Inquiry," and culminates with an awards banquet. Last year's ARIJ conference drew 220 delegates.

Scoop, a network for investigative journalists in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, has received a €77,000 grant from the Open Society Institute to support Russian investigative journalists. Scoop will use the grant to fund activities including training seminars and participation in international conferences.

Scoop, established in 2003, has supported training seminars for investigative reporters organized by the Nordic Journalism Centre, and members of an international team investigating Gazprom – the company created when the Soviet Union transformed its natural gas extraction operations into a corporation.

 Scoop’s activities in Russia are conducted in cooperation with Föreningen Grävande Journalister (FGJ). Kajsa Norell, who is member of the board of FGJ, is the Swedish coordinator of Scoop Russia.

 

The Ujima Project has launched a Web site providing information on hidden lobbying efforts carried out by professional firms and non-governmental organizations on behalf African countries. The site, currently in beta version, offers searchable databases compiled through “reverse transparency” -- using official resources in other countries, such as the United States and the European Union, to reveal information that African nations won’t release.

Investigative journalists from across Africa will gather in October at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg for a three-day "Power Reporting" conference and hands-on training. This year will be the first that Wits Journalism will be recognized as an African Arm of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

The conference will feature top investigative reporters from Europe and the United States, including David Kaplan, investigative reporter with the Center for Public Integrity and author of books on organized crime and terrorism; Andrew Jennings, on corruption in FIFA; Danny Schechter, author of Plunder, on the economic crash; freed prisoner Raphael Rowe, on investigating wrongful convictions; and Brant Houston, Knight Chair of investigative journalism at the University of Illinois, former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors and coordinator of the Global network.

Investigative reporters doing research in Europe can apply for grants to underwrite their efforts through Journalismfund.eu, the European Fund for Investigative Journalism, courtesy of a €114.000 gift from the Open Society Institute. EFIJ will offer two rounds of grants, with applications for the first round likely due in early October. The second round will be awarded in spring 2010.

The Global Investigative Journalism network steering committee, who met in Lillehammer in October 2008, has mandated Geneva to host the 6th Global Investigative Journalism Conference. We have already started to work hard and are very excited to welcome you all at the Lake Leman, from Thursday, 22nd April to Sunday, 25th April 2010. Please go to http://www.gijc2010.ch/en  

Dear colleagues in the global field,

The Flemish-Dutch association of investigative journalists VVOJ, one of the investigative journalism organizations participating in the Global Network from the early days on, wants to share its further step into professionalization with the Global Network. VVOJ recently landed funding to appoint a (part time paid) director to the organization.