ISOJ panel on collaborative journalism: How the lone wolf investigative reporter joins regional & global packs


Investigative reporting used to be the work of a solitary journalist known in the newsroom as a lone wolf. Since the advent of the internet, however, the lone wolves have discovered the advantages of being part of packs — regional and global, transnational networks that take advantage of collaboration, especially in investigations of topics that are not exclusive to a single city, country or even region. 

Five international investigative journalists will explore the impact of collaborative reporting in regional and global networks in a panel discussion at the 22nd International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ). The panel will provide insights into working independently and as members of global networks, such as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and collaborating on groundbreaking investigations. 

The panel will be on the first day of ISOJ Online, Monday, April 26, at 1 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time (-5:00 UTC). Use this or any other time zone converter to find out the equivalent time in your region. But first, visit ISOJ’s website for more details and register here for ISOJ.

The executive editor of the Pulitzer Center, Marina Walker Guevara, will lead the panel. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with profound experience and a clear global perspective. Before moving to the Pulitzer Center a year ago, Walker held leadership positions for 14 years at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of reporters in more than 90 countries who collaborate on stories of global concern. At the Pulitzer Center, she continues to promote collaborative journalism around the world.

Panelists come from different countries and a variety of media outlets and investigative journalism networks:

  • Scilla Alecci is an investigative reporter and videographer for ICIJ, where she also serves as partnership coordinator of Asia and Europe. Alecci’s work has been published by The New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Japanese magazine Shukan Asahi and more. She details her work with the Panama Papers and modern waves of investigative journalism in her recently published book: The New Frontier of Journalism: From the Era of the Lone Wolf to Cross Border Collaboration.
  • Carlos Eduardo Huertas joins the panel from Latin America, where he founded and directs CONNECTAS, the regional journalistic platform and a network of investigative reporters. Huertas is an award-winning investigative journalist reporting on corruption, human rights violations and environmental issues. Additionally, Huertas is the Chief of Party of the Investigative Reporting Initiative in the Americas for ICFJ. 
  • Purity Mukami will join the panel from Nairobi, Kenya, where she works as a reporter and data scientist specializing in statistical data investigative journalism. She has worked with Africa Uncensored, BBC Africa Eye, the ICIJ, Finance Uncovered, The Elephant and more, giving her a unique perspective on collaborative reporting sourced from statistics.
  • Alia Ibrahim joins from Beirut, Lebanon. She is the founder and chairman of Daraj Media, a digital media organization that participates in the production of conversational journalism for Arab millennials. Ibrahim has been a reporter for Al-Arabiya News Channel, the first Beirut based correspondent for Dubai TV, a member of the ICIJ, and an instructor of journalism at the Lebanese American University since 2016.

Don’t forget to register for the Knight Center’s International Symposium on Online Journalism to join this conversation. Register now: https://isoj2021.splashthat.com/w