Behind the scenes

Jul 07, 2021

How reporting for ICIJ prepared me to become a certified anti-money laundering specialist

Years of complex exposés on the offshore financial system has bred a global army of journalists who know the right questions to ask to investigate dirty money, tax dodging and suspicious transactions. 

Jun 29, 2021

‘Accountability is key:’ Using the power and privilege of journalism to empower society

In this month's Meet the Investigators, Marian Wilkinson talks with ICIJ about going the extra mile on her stories, finding structure in documents, and the power of journalism to hold the powerful to account.

Jun 07, 2021

Watch: Press freedom in the Middle East, 10 years after the Arab Spring

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring, ICIJ hosted a panel of journalists to discuss the current state of press freedom in the MENA region, what can be done to combat threats and how global collaborations help free press thrive.

May 25, 2021

A decade of digital evolution to help reporting revolutions at ICIJ 

Groundbreaking journalism like the Panama Papers and FinCEN Files investigations wouldn’t be possible without creating our own cutting edge technology.

May 18, 2021

Secrecy, intimidation, and cracking the ‘iron wall’ around Cuba

In this month's Meet the Investigators, Barbara Maseda tells of the challenges of finding data and documents in Cuba, a country where journalists are threatened and harassed and where information is kept hidden away.

May 03, 2021

Covering corruption, coups, and war crimes in the Middle East

ICIJ’s Cairo-based investigative reporter Maggie Michael talks about the challenges of unearthing secrets and atrocities in a region where threats to press freedom abound.

May 03, 2021

Watch: Harnessing the power of collaboration for press freedom

To mark World Press Freedom Day 2021, ICIJ hosted a virtual conversation on the current state of press freedom, what we can do to combat threats and how global collaborations help free press thrive.

Apr 19, 2021

ICIJ’s 2020 annual report showcases huge impact in a challenging year

Our model of collaborative journalism was uniquely placed to circumvent the reporting obstacles imposed by a global pandemic and publish Luanda Leaks and FinCEN Files, two groundbreaking investigations.

Apr 13, 2021

Behind the scenes of the Panama Papers story that brought down Iceland’s PM

In this special fifth Panama Papers anniversary edition of Meet the Investigators, Iceland's Jóhannes Kristjansson relives an infamous TV interview and shares insights on telling stories from the heart.

Apr 03, 2021

From front pages to prison time: Behind the scenes of a Panama Papers criminal case

How prosecutors patiently launched criminal probes into American tax evaders and their lawyers — and why we may not have seen the last of the Panama Papers investigations.

Feb 10, 2021

How signatures in public data helped expose the UK’s dirty money cottage industry

Combining public data with leaked FinCEN reports, ICIJ’s data team plotted a matrix of shadowy straw men who filed false accounts worth more than $4.5 billion.

Jan 12, 2021

How our smallest FinCEN Files stories captured the biggest data lessons

Each Confidential Client profile amounts to only a few hundred words, but the huge data lift involved was emblematic of the entire FinCEN Files investigation.

Jan 04, 2021

FinCEN Files data team shares tools, tips and songs that inspire

Nov 12, 2020

From a global fentanyl ring to a grieving family in Garland, a reporter’s FinCEN Files diary

By investigating four names behind a mysterious $400,000 transaction, an ICIJ reporter chased dirty money flows and uncovered victims of a failed anti-money laundering system.

Oct 29, 2020

‘Enough is enough’: How FinCEN Files exposes a broken system that keeps dirty cash flowing

Three ICIJ reporters take us behind the scenes of the FinCEN Files investigation in this special edition of our Meet the Investigators series.

Feb 18, 2020

Luanda Leaks: How collaboration helped connect the dots

Project manager Fergus Shiel reveals how ICIJ came to possess the 700,000 Luanda Leaks files – and how the collaboration of 36 media partners came together.

Jan 06, 2020

How ICIJ will rock its tech in 2020

Technology and data are our never-ending stories at ICIJ. So, at the turn of this new decade, you could well be wondering: what is coming next?

Oct 08, 2019

Come one, come all – we’re opening ICIJ Insiders up to every donor

The support of ICIJ Insiders helps us stay fearless and powerful, so we're improving our membership program.

Sep 17, 2019

Counting the dead: How statistics can find unreported killings

When investigative journalists Sheila Coronel and her team began counting drug-related killings in the Philippines last year they turned to statistician Patrick Ball to reveal the truth.

Jul 03, 2019

Behind the scenes of the Bribery Division

We are often asked how cross-border investigations like the Bribery Division come about. Here we explain how it all happens.

Feb 20, 2019

How I ended up with my own medical device while investigating the Implant Files

In the course of ICIJ's global investigation into the implants industry, three of the journalists working on the project had a medical device implanted – including yours truly.

Jan 07, 2019

A reporting lesson: ‘Take a chance and show up’

Journalist Scilla Alecci went to India to report on Medtronic for the Implant Files and despite monsoon conditions, she makes some interesting discoveries.

Dec 19, 2018

How ICIJ Used Machine Learning Algorithms To Help Find Medical Device Issues

Using algorithms and careful analysis, ICIJ screened millions of records and found cases where patients had died, but the incident hadn't been reported as a death.

Dec 10, 2018

Investigative Reporting: Shoe-leather, data and empathy

For one reporter working on the Implant Files investigation, discovering the sisterhood – and the power – of women-led patient groups was an eye-opening experience.