The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) is "an international association of nonprofit organizations that support, promote and produce investigative journalism."[1][2][3][4] The association is headquartered in the United States,[5][6] and its membership is open to "nonprofits, NGOs, and educational organizations" that are active in investigative reporting and data journalism.[7] As of February 2021, GIJN had 203 member organizations in 76 countries.[8]
The organisation's projects include a help desk to provide investigative journalists with advice and assistance, a resource center with tips, tools, and manuals, and large training conferences that have attracted over 5,000 journalists from 100 countries.[9]
GIJN was formed in 2003 as a loose network in support of the biennial Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC), which had been launched two years earlier by veteran journalists Brant Houston and Nils Mulvad.[10][11] The GIJN secretariat was officially formed after participants of the 7th GIJC in Kiev voted for the formation of a provisional secretariat in 2013.[12][13] The organization registered as a nonprofit corporation in Maryland, United States of America, in 2014 and was approved as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in October 2014.[1][12][8][14][15]
In late 2023, GIJN was designated as "undesirable" in Russia.[16]
GIJN has 234 member organizations, as of November 2023.[17]
Some of the member organizations include the Center for Investigative Reporting, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ),[18] Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP),[19] Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ),[20] the Belarusian Investigative Center,[21] Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism,[22] Investigative Journalism Programme at Wits University,[23] Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, ProPublica,[24][2] Journalism for Nation Building Foundation-Philippines,[25] Interlink Academy for International Dialog and Journalism[26] among many others.
GIJN co-organizes a biennial Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC), to bring together investigative journalists across the globe to share their knowledge and expertise with each other and to form cross-border networks for collaborative reporting and referrals.[27][4]
The GIJC has been held in Copenhagen in 2001 and 2003,[10][28] Amsterdam (2005),[29] Toronto (2007),[30] Lillehammer (2008),[31] Geneva (2010),[32] Kiev (2011),[33] Rio de Janeiro (2013),[34] Lillehammer (2015),[35] Johannesburg (2017)[36] and Hamburg (2019).[37] The latest conference was held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2023.[38] In 2021, owing to the Coronavirus pandemic, the conference was held online only.[39]
Since 2014, GIJN has organized investigative journalism conferences in Asia. The first Asian Investigative Journalism Conference was held in Manila (2014), the second in Kathmandu (2016), and the third in Seoul (2018).[40][41][42]
GIJN gives out Global Shining Light Awards for excellence in investigative reporting "in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions."[43][44]
The awards are presented to recipients in an awards ceremony held every two years at its biennial GIJC events. Past recipients include the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP),[45][46] Khadija Ismayilova from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,[44] Sonali Samarasinghe from The Sunday Leader,[47] and Venezuelan investigative news site Armando.info.[48]