COLPIN Conference Marks World-Class Reporting from Latin America
Despite heavy-handed governments, violent crime cartels, and economic challenges, investigative reporting is alive and well across Latin America. Underscoring the achievements of journalists in the region was the fourth Latin American Investigative Journalism Conference (Conferencia Latinoamerica de Periodismo de Investigacion, or COLPIN), held last week in Bogota, Colombia. The enthusiastic conference  brought together 200 of Latin America’s most enterprising journalists from 15 countries. Among the highlights was the awarding of the annual COLPIN prize, which went to three winners from Brazil and Peru, as well as 13 honorable mentions, selected from 209 nominated stories. Sponsored by Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), Transparency International, and Semana magazine, the conference showcased how rapidly the region’s journalists have embraced investigative work over the past decade. The conference ended with a rousing call by IPYS, Abraji, and GIJN to attend COLPIN13 next year, which will be held in conjunction with the Global Investigative Journalism Conference and Abraji’s national congress – in Rio de Janiero.
 
    
New Members Extend GIJN to 35 Countries
The GIJN warmly welcomes six new member organizations, extending the global network to 74 groups in 35 countries. Join us in welcoming:

• 100Reporters (USA), a cross-border network of veteran correspondents and citizen journalists focused on corruption
• Connectas (Colombia), a Bogota-based project that does cross-border reporting on key development issues in the Americas.
• Crimean Center for Investigative Journalism (Ukraine), a reporting and training center that covers Crimea, Ukraine, and Belarus
• Fundación Ciudadana Civio (Spain), that nation’s only nonprofit that produces investigative and data-driven stories
• Investigative Reporting Workshop, Wits University (South Africa), conducts teaching and research, administers awards and grants, and organizes Africa’s major conference on investigative reporting.
• Regional Press Development Institute (Ukraine), a Kiev-based nonprofit that provides legal assistance, training, conferences, and networking.  

Interested in joining GIJN? Membership is free and open to nonprofit organizations that actively support, promote, or engage in investigative journalism. Interested applicants should contact us at hello@gijn.org.. Individuals are welcome to participate in the GIJN’s Global Listserv and conferences and join us on the GIJN Facebook and Twitter communities.

Landmark Report on Investigative Journalism's Role in Deterring Fraud
On October 8, GIJN members Pascal Decroos Fund for Investigative Journalism and VVOJ, the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists, released the results of a landmark study for the European Parliament, Deterrence of Fraud with EU Funds through Investigative Journalism. The two groups led a team of European journalists on the five-and-a-half-month-long project. The nearly 300-page study makes a powerful case for the contribution of investigative reporting “to greater transparency on this issue, tracking irregularities, fraud and corruption, and uncovering misspending on different levels and scales in the EU member states and the EU institutions.”

Join Us in Johannesburg, Antwerp, Cairo, and Rio de Janeiro
Following in COLPIN’s impressive Latin footsteps are a trio of important regional conferences in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East for the global investigative journalism community. In Johannesburg starting October 29, the Forum for African Investigative Journalists (FAIR) joins again with Wits University’s Journalism Program to sponsor the Power Reporting Conference, sub-Saharan Africa’s premier investigative reporting conference. On Nov. 16-17, the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists (VVOJ) celebrates its tenth anniversary by hosting the European Investigative Journalism Conference in Antwerp, Belgium. A week later in Cairo, on November 23-25, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) pulls together journalists from across the Middle East and North Africa to its fifth annual conference. And don't forget the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Rio next October -- contact your local GIJN member organization about fellowships and travel grants. For a full list of events, check out the calendar on GIJN.org.