Lessons from the learning curve involved in big journalistic collaborations and data projects like ICIJ's Offshore Leaks. 
Tax authorities in the U.S., Britain, and Australia announced they are working with a gigantic cache of leaked data that may be the beginnings of one of the largest tax investigations in history. 
Some 150 investigative and data journalists and programmers from all across Europe took part in a great harvest of ideas and digital research methods. 
de las preguntas más recurrentes que recibimos estos días es la siguiente: ¿Cómo habéis logrado que 86 periodistas de todo el mundo trabajaran juntos? 
The ICIJ won 1st Place honors in the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Awards for the "Skin and Bone" investigation into the global trade in human body parts. 
Learn how ICIJ's journalists dealt with huge packs of data in our offshore leaks investigation at the Data Harvest Conference in May. 
For one Offshore Leaks reporter the data was daunting, but reporting at home was even more challenging. One of the most frequent questions people ask us these days is “How in the world did you get 86 journalists to work together?” 
At ICIJ we collaborate on “deep dive” stories that cross borders, then release our findings to media partners without cost. Here's how we choose which reporters to work with, and the organizations to publish the finished work. Germany’s top finance official says offshore reports could spur action. 
The Council of the European Union calls for efforts “to combat tax fraud and tax evasion” and announces the council’s presidency plans to ask ICIJ to supply EU member states with the ‘offshore leaks’ names. One of the many reactions from our series on offshore tax havens has been government agencies from Germany, Greece, South Korea, Canada and the U.S. asking for access to the 2.5 million files that form the basis of our reporting. 
It’s certainly one of the the biggest single leaks of documents in the history of investigative reporting. And it names names. 
British tax authorities identify over 100 people who benefit from offshore financial structures, as well as more than 200 accountants, lawyers and other middlemen. 
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has just launched the next part of our multi-year project aimed at stripping away the biggest mystery associated with tax havens: the owners of anonymous companies. INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS LIFTS VEIL ON OFFSHORE WORLD Read more about ICIJ Lifts Veil on Offshore World
Investigative reporting is expensive, time-consuming, and risky. We should know -- we're revealing a world that’s dominated by the rich and powerful. 
You're right on deadline and need to verify that claim flying around on social networks. Henk van Ess explains how the internet can help you to debunk the internet -- in real time. 
You're right on deadline and need to verify that claim flying around on social networks. Henk van Ess explains how the internet can help you to debunk the internet -- in real time. 
Swedish investigative reporter Fredrik Laurin knows that power corrupts, but also that resistance in the form of journalism can have effect. Swedish investigative reporter Fredrik Laurin knows that power corrupts, but also that resistance in the form of journalism can have effect. In this Q&A he shares how his team identifies good investigative stories, and the value of constant networking. 
Your definitive guide to formatting, uploading and publishing your long-form journalism as an e-book to the various digital marketplaces. 
In this final part of our definitive guide to publishing your long-form journalism yourself as an e-book, learn how to deal with pesky issues such as DRM and tax. 
So your work of long-form journalism is nicely formatted for the various e-book platforms. Take the next step: uploading.
The first nonprofit investigative reporting center has just been set up in Italy. Long-time ICIJ member Leo Sisti explains how it all came about and what lessons might be there for reporters in other countries. 
VVOJ's Henk van Ess previews Facebook's powerful new Graph Search (still in beta). What could be a boon for investigative reporting also raises major privacy issues. 
Nonprofit muckraking organizations are mushrooming, but most of these have budgets less than $50,000 and five or fewer people on staff. 
Fred Schulte, Joe Eaton, David Donald and Gordon Witkin of the Center for Public Integrity have won 2012’s Philip Meyer Award, recognizing journalism done using social science research methods. Here the Center's data editor, ICIJ's David Donald, explains the computer-assisted analysis behind the story. 
Strong words in defence of dedicated journalists, and unbeatable tips for investigative reporters young and old, from ICIJ's award-winning Thomas Maier. Find subjects where you can break new ground. Record key interviews on video or audio. And remember that a lot of your own faults can be overcome by sheer reporting effort. Stellar tips for investigative reporting from award-winning author and journalist Thomas Maier. 
ICIJ member Sheila Coronel explores whether an argument can be made for mandating that the highest officials disclose the taxes they pay. 
Mar Cabra is one of ICIJ's data journalism gurus and is at the forefront of investigative journalism and journalism education in Spain. Here she discusses data journalism: its role in investigative reporting and the essential tools and skills for this field. 
The Guardian's investigations editor lists the essential skills to get a journalism job, discusses the mindset required, and shares the most important lesson he's learned over the years. 
The Guardian's investigations editor lists the essential skills to get a journalism job, and the most important lesson he's learned over the years. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration threatens recall after bacteria and contaminants were found in human tissue products made by a top supplier to hospitals in the U.S. and around the world. 
Asian countries will soon surpass the United States in many global power metrics, the U.S. intelligence community confirms in a new report. 
ICIJ's revelations about offshore finance secrecy prompt the British government to investigate any abuses revealed involving sham nominee directors. 
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists today launches the first part of a multi-year project aimed at stripping away the biggest mystery associated with tax havens: the owners of anonymous companies. 
Investigative journalism is not glamorous. It's hard work and mostly boring. But that's not why it's in crisis. 
The Lancet warns about the dangers of “profiteering” in the $1 billion international trade on human tissue and the lack of sufficient regulation worldwide – echoing the findings of ICIJ's investigation. 
Whatever the state of the news media, long-form investigative journalism is finding a home in published books. Here are some of the best recent reads around, all by ICIJ journalists. 
Societies become susceptible to organized manipulation when commercial media organizations cut resources for journalism, argues ICIJ's sole New Zealand member. 
Snubbed at a cocktail party versus jail or death: US journalists have it easy compared to many of their colleagues around the globe. 
The riches contained in this questionnaire with multi-award-winning investigative journalist Michael Bilton rival the wealth of his decades-long output at the London Sunday Times and as a documentary film-maker.
Read on to learn details about his research methodology, and why a significant investment of time is the most critical component of each investigative report. 
Can investigative journalism be instrumental in the detection of and fight against corruption and fraud with EU funds, and if so, how? Why a significant investment of time is the most critical component of each investigative report. 
Dipping your toe into Computer-Assisted Reporting? We know most newsrooms don't offer training in this area, so we have put together some video tutorials demonstrating relatively simple Excel functions to help you wrangle spreadsheet data and find meaning in your numbers. 
The ICIJ’s Sheila Coronel shares how to investigate illicit money trails ahead of her Tracking Corruption Internationally presentation at the 2012 IRE conference. 
You’d think that getting the names of the shareholders of a company would be fairly easy. Such information should be routinely available. Not if you’re talking about private companies, which have managed to elude public scrutiny even in an era of increasing transparency. In this series of video tutorials, ICIJ reporter Kate Willson demonstrates four basic yet essential Excel functions to assist with data analysis during investigative reporting. 
The digital media guru explains how eBooks make investigative journalism easier to access and read on mobile devices, and how they could provide a valuable revenue stream. 
Maud Beelman, founding director of ICIJ and now deputy managing editor for investigations and enterprise at The Dallas Morning News, has a strategic four-part checklist which helps her prioritize which stories to go after. She shares them here, as well as the most important lessons learned over the years, and how to make the most of the limited time and resources you are given. 
Maud Beelman shares how investigative reporters can make the most of limited time and resources using a four-part checklist to help prioritize which stories to go after. 
A New York judge has postponed a civil trial that would have delved into how a major player in the global trade in human tissue obtains skin, bones and other body parts that are recycled into medical devices.
Never go up against defenseless people. Never lie to your sources. Use the "two-step" approach when questioning. Investigative reporting techniques and journalism's moral code according to Portugal's "troublemaker" Rui Araujo. 
Jack mackerel, decimated by years of free-for-all overfishing in the southern Pacific, now stands a strong chance of recovery with new legally binding measures to protect it. 
Reporters for a new cross-border journalism group, Connectas, traveled 700 kilometers along the new highway cutting through the Amazon to document its impact. Here’s an excerpt of the series from ICIJ member and Connectas founder Carlos Eduardo Huertas. 
There is no democracy without efficient institutions and too many journalists passively accept this, says Portuguese investigative journalist and "troublemaker" Rui Araujo. There were several important developments in recent days linked to our exposure of the international trade in human tissues. Here's how investigative reporters can work together to produce better journalism and effect change. 
Whenever I get discouraged about the business I work in, I turn to my favorite books about journalists who struggled to overcome these obstacles and expose all manner of bullies, charlatans, grafters and kleptocrats. Here are some of my favorites. 
What makes a good investigation? How should an investigative reporter select stories? Here are the three criteria we apply to every investigation. 
They are four independent investigative journalists in three continents, all women, doing the painstaking, unglamorous and often dangerous work of following the paper trails, finding the patterns and asking the questions others ignore. 
Offshore tax havens enable arms dealing, child pornography, insider trading, embezzlement, political bribery and money laundering. Help ICIJ shine a light on these illicit global networks. 
Caterpillar Inc.’s top executive vows to campaign on U.S. government debt. But he doesn't mention claims that the company may have contributed to the federal debt by using offshore tax havens to dodge U.S. taxes. 
The story behind the digital rebranding of ICIJ's parent organization, the Center for Public Integrity. 
In this extract from the new book The Social Media (R)evolution: Asian Perspectives on New Media, ICIJ's Syed Nazakat outlines best practices for investigative reporters using social media. In this extract from the new book The Social Media (R)evolution: Asian Perspectives on New Media, ICIJ member Syed Nazakat outlines different ways investigative reporters are harnessing social media around the globe. 
Bulgarian investigative journalist and author Alexenia Dimitrova reveals how she uses Freedom of Information laws in several countries to uncover hidden secrets of the Cold War, how the imprisonment of her father spurred her on, and the rewards of patience. 
How Morton Mintz produced three decades’ worth of Page One stories for the Washington Post the hard way -- by mining documents and testimonies. 
Bulgarian investigative journalist Alexenia Dimitrova reveals how she uses Freedom of Information laws in several countries to uncover secrets.
The Sidney Hillman Foundation has announced that a 13-journalist team led by the ICIJ has won the August Sidney Award for "Skin and Bone," a sweeping investigation of the global trade in human tissues.
Is human tissue always better? Germany's leading experts say "No."
When ICIJ began discussing how to write a story about the untraceable and opaque trade in human tissues, our intent was not to propel readers to toss out their donor cards. 
The World Health Organization plans to create a coding system to track human tissue used in medical products. 
There are no limits on doctors importing from abroad medical materials made from human tissue for treatment of patients. There are also no laws in Japan for controlling use of human tissue, such as skin and bones. 
How we identified relationships between data on tissue imports, inspections, adverse events, and accident reports filed with the Food and Drug Administration. 
Why do our investigative reports take so long to compile? Quite simply, very few organizations do this kind of deep, labor-intensive, and expensive journalism any longer. When working in cross-border investigative reporting teams, what's even more important than the work itself? The U.S. is the world's biggest trader of products from human tissue. ICIJ’s eight-month, 11-country investigation probes how the industry sources the corpses it requires for its merchandise. WASHINGTON, DC, July 17, 2012 – The business of recycling dead humans has grown so large you can buy stock in publicly traded companies that rely on corpses for their raw materials, a new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found. Read more about Business of Recycling Dead Humans Rouses Concerns
Tips for writing about espionage and military intelligence, from the authors of the explosive new book which asserts Israel killed five Iranian nuclear scientists. ICIJ member Leo Sisti shared how he finds sources and information in Italy as part of the Covering Justice in Europe and the US panel at the 2012 IRE conference. The UN estimates that 85 percent of the world's fish stocks are beyond sustainable levels. We looked into why nobody was taking action; here's how we did it. Jessica Plautz of the Investigative News Network offered advice on how to stand out from the internet crowd on the Promoting Your Investigation panel at the 2012 IRE Conference. Terri Langford shares the tips she presented on the Nonprofit/For-Profit Collaborations: Navigating the Terrain panel at the 2012 IRE conference. 
There is no watchdog culture in Spanish newsrooms, nor even a Freedom of Information Act. Now a group of journalists will train a new generation to investigate corruption. The ICIJ’s Sheila Coronel shares how to investigate illicit money trails ahead of her Tracking Corruption Internationally presentation at the 2012 IRE conference. 
Update October 8: Blaž Zgaga and Matej Surc have won the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism 2012 for their investigative work on arms dealing in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, which led to the bestselling trilogy In the Name of the State. Read more about Creating an Investigative Reporting Best-Seller
A look at the data on ICIJ's 158 member journalists: which part of world they work in, where they work, and the gender ratio of our membership. Read more about Who are ICIJ’s Members?
ICIJ member Ana Arana talks about the reporting process behind the six-month investigation about a Guatemalan tragedy published by ProPublica, Fundacion MEPI and This American Life. Read more about How We Found Oscar's Story
New York-based Jenny Nordberg discusses how she applies knowledge of human behavior to her interviews, the thrill of finding disturbing things just under the surface, the pretentiousness of the term ‘investigative journalist’, and how global networks like the ICIJ help expose "juicy" stories.
Experts can be bought by powerful interests, which is why New York-based Jenny Nordberg has learned to look past their opinions when reporting. Read more about It Pays To Look Beyond So-Called ‘Experts’ in the Field
Colombian ICIJ member Carlos Eduardo Huertas talks about the traits of a good investigative journalist, his experience with Wikileaks and why tackling the big, important themes – and sticking to them – matters.
Carlos Eduardo Huertas, investigations editor at Colombia’s Semana magazine, talks about the traits of a good investigative journalist, and why it is essential to stick on a story.
What do you consider some of the most important lessons you have learned over the years? Read more about ‘Know Who You’re Working For and Why You’re Working’
ICIJ member Susanne Reber has been named senior coordinating editor for multiplatform projects and investigations at the Center for Investigative Reporting. Reber left NPR last week where she had been deputy managing editor for investigations. Read more about Reber Joins CIR as Senior Editor
ICIJ member Syed Nazakat of The Week talks about the risks and benefits of conflict reporting in "the most dangerous place on earth". Read more about ‘No story is worth dying for but some stories are worth taking a bit of risk’
When you report on crime and corruption in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics, you can expect to get your fair share of grief or threats. But this hasn’t stopped Khadija Ismayilova in Azerbaijan. Read more about An Exceptionally Brave Journalist
The first thing to keep in mind about investigative journalism is that it’s not glamorous. (We can blame television with its “undercover” reporters and “hidden cameras” for this mistaken image.) It’s actually hard and often boring work. 
Investigative journalists Sarah Shipley Hiles and Marina Walker Guevara wrote one of the earliest exposés of mining giant Renco Group’s deceptive practices in the town of La Oroya, Peru, in 2005. 
Paul Radu of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project walks his talk when it comes to sharing information and know-how. Here the Investigative Dashboard creator shares how he tracks down the money across borders. ICIJ reporter Kate Willson demonstrates how to background a person using public records on Nexis. Find state or local court records, criminal history, voter registration, property owned, divorce proceedings, neighbors, and more. Read more about How to Background a Person Using Lexis
Bill Birnbauer, Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Monash University in Australia, shares the methodology and techniques which have served him best as an investigative journalist.
What are the most important tools of the trade that you, as an instructor, pass on?
The most important tool for investigative reporters is their attitude. They should: Read more about ‘Be annoying, and don’t give up’
A video introduction to the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER). Read more about How To Search Federal Court Records Using PACER
Sam Smyth of the Irish Independent and Sunday Tribune newspapers talks about the greatest threat to investigative reporting, and how he gets his stories.
1. Tell us about the defamation case you were involved in recently Read more about ‘A reporter’s trustworthiness and reputation for integrity is their greatest asset’
A video guide to searching the Lexis database for companies. Read more about How to investigate companies on Lexis
Ireland’s most powerful politician and one of its wealthiest oligarchs were ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell on Ireland Day, the Monday after St Patrick’s Day. Read more about A St Patrick’s Day prank on Irish investigative journalism
WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2012 – Asian, European and Latin American fleets have devastated fish stocks in the southern Pacific, once among the world’s richest waters, a new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found. Read more about Free-for-All in Southern Pacific Decimates Fish Stocks
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 2, 2011 —The Spanish fishing industry has received more than $7.8 billion (€5.8 billion) in subsidies since 2000 to expand its capacity and global reach. That public fortune supports a fleet with an extensive record of flouting rules – and breaking the law – according to a new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Read more about Nearly $8 billion in subsidies float Spain’s ravenous fishing fleet
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has added 15 new reporters to its roster of more than 100 journalists in 50 countries. ICIJ is the international arm of the Center for Public Integrity, one of the country’s oldest and largest investigative news organizations.
The Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has added 41 new members to its roster, expanding the network’s reach to 158 news professionals working on an array of media platforms in 61 countries. ICIJ is a global network of reporters who collaborate on in-depth, cross-border stories and is a project of the Center for Public Integrity. Read more about International Consortium Adds 41 Investigative Journalists
The Center for Public Integrity, one of the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit investigative news organizations, has named Gerard Ryle, director of the Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Going to the IRE-NICAR conference is like traveling to the future for me. Not only because I advance my skills in computer-assisted reporting, but also because I always learn things that I would have never dreamed even existed. Read more about Back to the future at #nicar12
‘Spain is different’ has been the tourism slogan for the Southwestern European country for years, since dictator Francisco Franco’s regime used it in the 60’s. I’d argue Spain is different for something else too: its lack of transparency.
Mar Cabra presenting at NICAR 2012. Photo: Ben Welsh Read more about Against All Spanish Odds
The Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has added 41 new members to its roster, expanding the network’s reach to 158 news professionals working on an array of media platforms in 61 countries. ICIJ is a global network of reporters who collaborate on in-depth, cross-border stories and is a project of the Center for Public Integrity. Read more about International Consortium Adds 41 Investigative Journalists
A previous version of Interpol's Red Notices used by some to pursue political dissenters, opponents erroneously listed North Korea as an Interpol member. North Korea is not a member of Interpol. Read more about July 18, 2011
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