GIJN provides investigative journalism tools and training worldwide
Published on 27 October 2026 at 05:50 GMT
By Editorial Team SDG16
Investigating abuses of power involves more than finding a promising lead. Reporters also face questions about evidence, source protection and the time available to pursue a story. The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) provides shared resources and professional connections for this work. Its activities illustrate how investigative journalism training reaches beyond individual newsrooms, while leaving unresolved the separate questions of press freedom, financial survival and public access to records.
GIJN describes its mission as supporting investigative journalism worldwide, with particular attention to journalists in repressive regimes and marginalised communities. Founded in 2003 at a gathering in Copenhagen, it is an international association of non-profit journalism organisations. Its public services include a free Resource Center, a Help Desk and training events. These offer several entry points: a published guide for a reporting problem, assistance with a query, or contact with colleagues through a professional event.
Sharing methods across newsrooms
A concrete example is the introductory guide published in November 2024 by GIJN in collaboration with iMEdD, through its Ideas Zone training programme. The organisations identified a gap in basic investigative skills despite the availability of advanced online training. The guide appeared simultaneously in English and Greek. That approach places introductory material alongside more specialised techniques rather than assuming every reader already has an established investigative practice.
Its chapters cover finding sources, public records, interviewing, internet research, following money and data journalism. Separate chapters address fact-checking, digital security, collaboration and editing. The range presents investigation as a process extending from an initial question to the checking and publication of findings. A database or search technique is one component; the guide also includes the handling of people, evidence and editorial decisions.
For a smaller newsroom, this format offers access to published methods without commissioning a separate training programme for each subject. It also gives reporters material that can be revisited during an investigation. The existence of a guide, however, does not establish that a newsroom has the staff time to use it, or that the records discussed are available in a particular jurisdiction. Access to instruction and the conditions for applying it are distinct.
What the activity figures show
In its February 2026 account of work during 2025, GIJN reported responding to more than 2,000 queries and assistance requests. It also reported 60 or more training activities benefiting more than 3,800 journalists, covering subjects including digital threats, data reporting and collaboration. These are the network’s own activity figures, rather than an independent assessment of subsequent reporting quality or institutional change.
The same account recorded nearly 130 fellows from 80 countries and territories at its 2025 global conference in Kuala Lumpur. Fellowships are one route into an international professional gathering, where participation otherwise involves practical costs and travel arrangements. Their reported reach demonstrates participation across many settings. It does not identify every newsroom or reporter excluded by cost, language, availability or other constraints.
The distinction between activity and outcome affects how support networks are assessed. A question answered, a course attended and a guide published are observable outputs. Whether those activities lead to a verified investigation, a wider readership or a response from an institution is a separate question. The cited annual account supplies evidence of service delivery, but it does not establish a causal relationship between those totals and changes in public accountability.
Support beyond reporting techniques
The GIJN Advisory Services platform extends its stated remit to legal support, safety and security, management and sustainability. Its resource structure includes editorial, business and fundraising sections, alongside a journalist security assessment tool available in several languages. This brings organisational questions into the same support framework as reporting methods. The resources concern the operation of watchdog media as well as the investigation itself.
That structure is relevant to smaller outlets because an investigation sits within an organisation’s available resources and exposure to risk. A reporting plan can raise questions about secure communications, legal review and the money available to continue the work. The advisory platform treats these as identifiable areas of newsroom support. Its description of services does not, by itself, demonstrate that participating outlets have achieved financial stability or reduced their legal exposure.
Public information and accountability
The connection to SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) lies in its targets on accountability and information. The United Nations framework includes accountable and transparent institutions under target 16.6 and public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms under target 16.10. Investigative reporting concerns these subjects when it examines how power is exercised and makes documented findings available to the public.
The framework also distinguishes information guarantees from journalists’ safety. Its indicators cover both the adoption and implementation of access-to-information guarantees and verified cases of serious violence or abuse affecting journalists and other groups. This distinction explains why a professional network’s training activities cannot be treated as a measure of the wider legal and political environment. Reporting skills, access to records and freedom to publish concern different parts of the process.
Training participation and the evidence made public through reporting are different measures of investigative journalism support. GIJN provides a documented infrastructure of guidance, assistance and professional exchange. Its published material allows the services themselves to be examined. Their contribution to particular investigations, newsroom survival or institutional responses remains a question for evidence from those individual cases.
Written by a human author, edited with AI assistance.
Further information:
GIJN, About Us. Describes the network’s origins, mission and public support services.
GIJN, Guide Introduction to Investigative Journalism. Documents the 2024 collaboration with iMEdD and the guide’s reporting, verification and security topics.
GIJN, GIJN in 2025 by the Numbers. Provides the network’s own figures for assistance requests, training activities and conference fellowships.
GIJN Advisory Services. Sets out the platform’s areas of organisational support and its resource categories.
United Nations, Goal 16. Provides the targets and indicators concerning accountable institutions, information access and fundamental freedoms.
