Editor’s Pick: 2021’s Best Investigative Stories in German

Despite myriad challenges, 2021 saw a number of remarkable investigations by German-language media. They uncovered scandals linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, investigations linked to big money and tax fraud, while others touched on morals and ethics. Other stories that made our list dug into the EU, working conditions at top restaurants, migration, and terrorism.

Here’s Why Investigative Reporters Need to Know Knowledge Graphs

Across the data science community, knowledge graphs have become a growing phenomenon in recent years, driving many applications including virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. Friedrich Lindenberg, from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, writes about how its data platform Aleph makes use of knowledge graphs to help investigative reporters analyze and cross-reference data.

How They Did It: The Azerbaijani Laundromat

In September, the Danish national newspaper Berlingske, in partnership with the OCCRP and other international media partners, exposed a complex money laundering scheme led by Azerbaijan’s elite. The stories revealed that, between 2012 and 2014, $2.9 billion connected to the country was siphoned through European companies and banks. Here’s how they got the story.

GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Sigma Awards, Campaign Trail Food, Data Cleaning Nightmares, Massive Leaks

What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 10 to 16 finds The Guardian US analyzing food expenditure on the Democrats’ campaign trail, The Washington Post’s Steven Rich sharing the pains of cleaning spelling permutations in data, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists explaining the process of handling the massive #LuandaLeaks records, and the Sigma Awards announcing its shortlist.

What Investigative Journalism Will Look Like in 2020

GIJN asked investigative journalists around the world to look ahead at what’s in store for 2020. Here are the trends, key forces, and challenges they expect will affect investigative and data journalism in the coming year, as well as the new skills and approaches we should be thinking about.

GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Air Pollution, China Cables, #29Leaks, Predators on Dating Apps

What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from December 2 to 8 finds The New York Times visualizing particle pollution in augmented reality; various media outlets investigating #29Leaks, a global reporting project based on a massive data leak from an offshore services provider; Columbia Journalism Investigations and ProPublica digging into the problem of sexual predators lurking in dating apps; and The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists breaking down the significance of the China Cables.