Global Investigative Journalism Network (https://archive.gijn.org/tag/slavery/)
GIJN’s new guide to investigating organized crime in Asia’s Golden Triangle, with this chapter covering how drug trafficking works in the region, the major players involved, and resources for background information.
Throughout 2022, journalists have used data projects to track and assess the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing impacts of climate change, and important political elections around the world. Here, GIJN selects our top 10 data journalism projects of the year, which also includes a look at the polarization of the COVID vaccines in the US, a historical analysis of how debt burdened Haiti for centuries, irregularities in Spanish caesarean delivery rates, and the privatization of UK’s water resources.
Many of the lawmakers who made up the historical ranks of the United States Congress had a personal relationship with slavery with more than 1,700 being slaveowners, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Our weekly NodeXL curation of the most popular data journalism stories on Twitter also features a visualization of the size of the Tonga eruption, an analysis of how Twitter is being used ahead of a high-stakes election in the Philippines, and a critique of some of the maps used to illustrate the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border amid fears of a military incursion.
Satellite are being used by journalists to report on conflicts, climate change, refugees, forest fires, illegal mining, oil spills, deforestation, slavery and many other topics. GIJN’s resource page provides official sources for free satellite images and links to experts who can advise on finding images, using them, handling technical issues and more.
Slavery is not a vestige of the past, and according to UN data there are an estimated 40 million victims of modern slavery today. An all-star team of journalists, editors, and consultants who have investigated and exposed extraordinary cases of modern slavery and forced labor shared their stories and tips for reporters at GIJC21.
The democratization of satellite technology and the entry of private companies into the field of space means it’s now possible to have access to high spatio-temporal data at a very minimal cost, leading to interesting investigative stories. In the coming years as the democratization of satellite technology gathers pace, more and more cases that had been undocumented or unreported will see the light of the day.
More than 20 journalists worked across four countries to uncover the hidden abuses behind the production of sugar, cacao, bananas, coffee and African palm with slave-like conditions for workers, illegal business practices and sustained environmental damage. Here’s how they did it.
For generations, the workers in the Brazilian Amazon who cut the palm straw used for brooms have been functionally enslaved by a system of loans provided by the bosses. Thais Lazzeri, an investigative reporter for Repórter Brasil, had to win their trust as she delved deeply into this topic for her October 2017 article, “100 Years of Bondage” which was beautifully illustrated with photographs by Fernando Martinho.
Newsrooms in Asia have traditionally worked alone, guarding their sources and tip-offs fiercely and keeping their stories and investigations in-house. However, after attending GIJN’s Asian Investigative Journalism Conferences and participating in the global Panama Papers investigation, Indonesia’s top newsweekly and leading investigative outlet Tempo have been inspired to pursue their own cross-border collaborations.
In a very difficult year for journalism, newsrooms around the Bangla-speaking region have produced significant investigations to reveal and expose modern day slavery, corruption, abuse of public funds, and more.