INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO RECEIVE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

By Lisa Vives

Aselect group of investigative reporters from the global South will be recognized this year for outstanding work at the 11th Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, from September 19-22.

Their prize, the Shining Light Award, honors journalists whose work was done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions.

The finalists were selected by an international panel of gative Journalism Network is an association of 182 organizations in 77 countries.

Among the finalists are Viewfinder (South Africa) with “Above the Law”. A multiyear investigative series reveals a brazen lack of accountability by South African police officers implicated in such crimes as rape, torture, assault, and even murder — as well as a system that enables rogue cops to reoffend. It also held individuals to account, despite the constant risk of reprisal.

Viewfinder — a tiny nonprofit news organization — also created a unique, easily searchable public database of tens of thousands of registered complaints about police misconduct. Said one judge: “There was very intense reporting, and the storytelling is good, and, in every couple of sentences, you see a link to evidence the reporter provides — all kinds of documents.”

Africa Uncensored - (South Sudan) with “The Profiteers”. A three-part documentary shines a light on how certain members South Sudan’s elite profited from the civil war and plun- dered their nation,