ARIJ’s investigation “The Kalamata Trap: Hundreds of Migrants Drown on Their Way to Europe” exposes a legal system designed to dissuade migrants from travelling from Africa to Europe, rather than prosecuting criminal human traffickers or exposing the true causes of mass migrant drowning disasters. Focusing on a major disaster in June 2023, when approximately 750 migrants were lost after an overloaded fishing boat sank near Greece, this project by ARIJ revealed a legal “trap” in which nine Egyptian migrants were detained and prosecuted, in order to deflect political and media attention from the real causes of the catastrophe.
As for “The Gaza Project“, This groundbreaking investigation focused on the deaths of at least 176 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The project examined whether these deaths were the result of deliberate targeting by the Israeli military. With a forensic focus on several individual incidents, the project found damning evidence that directly challenges consistent claims by Israel’s government that their military operations never target the press. Their case studies include the destruction of Press House and the deaths of journalists including Mohammed Al Jaja and Ahmed Fatima; the tank shelling of a building housing the AFP Gaza Bureau; and an airstrike that killed three Palestinian journalists who believed they were standing at a safe distance from an announced bombing, following a false evacuation order.
Every two years, the Global Investigative Journalism Network presents the Global Shining Light Award, a unique award which honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions.
There are two award categories: Small/Medium Outlets (organizations with staff of 20 or less, including freelancers); and Large Outlets (organizations with more than 20 staff).
