Global Investigative Journalism Network (https://archive.gijn.org/tag/transparency/page/5/)
Non-transparent media ownership in Hungary has created a government-friendly and controlled media environment, but investigative journalists such as Hungarian-born Tamás Bodoky are increasingly going online to report on “sensitive” topics including corruption. Small investigative outlets in the country have so far survived with crowdfunding campaigns and institutional grants.
The increasing lack of credibility and growing political meddling in Romanian mainstream media in recent years has resulted in many journalists leaving these outlets and starting their own independent sites. Some of these initiatives support themselves by relying on crowdfunding. But is it viable in the long term?
Two French investigative journalists are launching Disclose, a nonprofit newsroom which plans to produce investigative reports free of commercial pressures – and generate the impetus for meaningful change. Olivier Holmey writes about the new media group on the block for GIJN.
When the Bureau of Investigative Journalism asked to see a contract between property developers and the North London borough of Haringey, its reporters were disappointed to receive a heavily-redacted document. This was part of a drive by the UK nonprofit to test the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, which gives citizens and journalists the right to access the accounts and related documents of city councils and other local authorities.
From my experience of more than eight years managing transactions and capacity building programs in Latin America and Africa, a radical approach to transparency is the key to enable public-private partnerships to deliver more and better infrastructure services. The crude truth is that opaque policies serve a lot of interests, but almost none of them benefit service users or taxpayers.
Late last year, the number of official deaths during Hurricane Maria were at a surprising low. That’s when the journalists at Puerto Rico’s Centre de Periodismo Investigativo kicked into high gear, forcing government to be more transparent and accountable.