"This booklet contains a series of stories and essays on the impact and rationale behind the various PubLeaks platforms that Free Press Unlimited has helped set up over the years." (Publisher description)
"The media can play a paramount role in exposing corruption and initiating legal, political and penal action against it. Different media genres unfold their respective strengths and show their limits as anti-corruption tools depending on the different levels on which they take effect, on the audienc
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es they address and on the broader media ecosystem on which they rely." (Page 1)
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"Jagendra Singh hatte wieder und wieder über einen Minister der Regierung im Bundesstaat Uttar Pradesh berichtet, der in den illegalen Abbau von Sand involviert gewesen sein soll [...] Singh ist einer von weltweit mindestens 13 Journalisten, die seit 2009 mutmaßlich getötet wurden, nachdem sie ü
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ber Ressourcenausbeutung oder Umweltverschmutzung berichteten. Zahlreiche weitere wurden angegriffen, eingeschüchtert oder mit Klagen überzogen, um ihre Berichterstattung zu behindern. Die Organisation Forbidden Stories, ein internationaler Zusammenschluss investigativer Journalisten, hat deshalb das Projekt "Green blood" - grünes Blut - ins Leben gerufen. 40 Journalisten von 30 Medienorganisationen haben in den vergangenen Monaten zusammengearbeitet, um die Arbeit von Kollegen fortzuführen, die bei Recherchen über Umwelt- und Ressourcenausbeutung getötet oder beeinträchtigt wurden. Darunter Reporter von Guardian, Le Monde, El País und den deutschen Medien Süddeutsche Zeitung, WDR und Die Zeit. Forbidden Stories hatte bereits im vergangenen Jahr die Arbeit der ermordeten maltesischen Journalistin Daphne Caruana Galizia fortgeführt, um ein Signal zu setzen: Wer einzelne Reporter zum Schweigen bringen will, muss damit rechnen, dann einer Vielzahl von Reportern gegenüberzustehen. So kam es auch im Fall von Jagendra Singh und dem verdächtigen Minister Rammurti Singh Verma. Reporter von Forbidden Stories sprachen mit Hinterbliebenen, der einzigen Zeugin des Vorfalls, ehemaligen Kollegen und anderen Journalisten vor Ort. Sie erfuhren, dass Verma der Familie des verstorbenen Journalisten umgerechnet etwa 45 000 Dollar gezahlt hatte mit der Bedingung, dass sie auf weitere Anschuldigungen gegen ihn verzichten und die von der lokalen Polizei verbreitete Darstellung der Todesumstände akzeptieren würden: Singh habe Selbstmord begangen." (https://www.sueddeutsche.de)
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"Defining tabloid journalism practice as an infotainment genre, the book examines corruption exposure by tabloids in Arabic, Portuguese and Francophone speaking countries across Africa, making it a unique addition to the field. In doing so, it also builds an understanding of the evolution of anti-co
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rruption tabloid journalism in Africa and gains insights into the relationship between the anti-corruption actions of the state and the anti-corruption reporting by tabloid journalists focusing on major corruption scandals. Providing evidence of the successes and struggles of journalistic practice in Africa, the book concludes by providing a synthesis of the emerging patterns and divergences from the cases analysed, looking to the future of corruption in the continent and the role of tabloid journalism in uncovering and challenging it." (Publisher description)
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"Communication for and about development are significant components of international development cooperation, interlinked in practice though separated in research. This article examines their interaction in donor-driven aid through the lens of journalism. How is bilateral development cooperation com
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municated about in the news? How does a donor agency communicate for and about development? And what are the links between one and the other? In 2016, a prime-time exposé aired by the Swedish public TV reported on alleged corruption in aid to Zambia, depicting events as the double failure of donor and recipient. Our analysis clarifies how (a) how the news media in a top donor country covers public development aid for its citizen audiences; and (b) how a bilateral donor agency understands and practices communication as it interacts with the news media on the one hand, and with partners and beneficiaries on the ground on the other. We focus on the news media as mediator of the donor’s communication with its tax-paying citizen audiences, demonstrating the potential of an integrated conceptual approach to communication for and about development, and raising questions for future research." (Abstract)
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"Following the enormous political, legal, and media interest that has surrounded high profile cases of whistleblowing, such as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, the fundamental ethical questions surrounding whistleblowing have often been obscured. In this fascinating book Eric Boot examines the et
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hical issues at stake in whistleblowing. Can the disclosure of classified government documents ever be justified? If so, how? Why does it require justification in the first place? Can there ever be a duty to blow the whistle? When is breaking the law justified? On a more practical level, this book also considers the various whistleblower protection documents and finds them often lacking in consistency and clarity, before providing an argument for a plausible "public interest" defense for whistleblowers." (Publisher description)
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"The issue of soli (Soli is a Ghanaian journalistic parlance referring to the practice where journalists accept money or other forms of gifts as sitting allowance after covering an event.) or content-influencing gifts and its relations to the professional practice of journalist and other media worke
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rs has become a subject of discussion among academic researchers and general audiences. It is against this background that this article examines media practitioners’ understanding of the culture and moral implications of soli and its effects on professional journalism in the northern region of Ghana. Using qualitative approaches, the study revealed that in Ghana, soli is both a moral and cultural problem, and when accepted, it undermines objective, balanced, and independent news reportage. This project concludes that any discourse on soli must take into consideration the cultural and philosophical foundations of journalism within a developmental context, as well as the various global socio-cultural institutions Ghanaians are exposed to." (Abstract)
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"This book investigates the pervasive problem of corruption across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on the specifics of the local context, the book explores how corruption in the region is actuated through informal practices that coexist and work in parallel to formal institutions. When inf
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ormal practices become vehicles for corruption, they can have negative ripple effects across many aspects of society, but on the other hand, informal practices could also have the potential to be leveraged to reinforce formal institutions to help fight corruption. Drawing on a range of cases including Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia or Israel the book first explores the mechanisms and dynamics of corruption and informal practices in the region, before looking at the successes and failures of anti-corruption initiatives. The final section focuses on gender perspectives on corruption, which are often overlooked in corruption literature, and the role of women in the Middle East." (Publisher description)
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"The first chapter is devoted to the project development phase. It includes advice and guidance to anyone considering using participatory video (within the context of anti-corruption work) together with recommendations for key elements in the planning stage. Subsequent chapters explore critical tech
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niques for facilitating corruption-focussed projects; from the workshop stages through to fieldwork and audience engagement. A collection of detailed case studies conclude the guidebook. These describe the participatory video projects implemented by Transparency International and InsightShare, together with an extra case study from a project that addressed corruption in the school system implemented by the India-based organisation Video Volunteers. The basic techniques and approaches of participatory video are not included in this guide. The guide does not include exercises for participants to learn technical skills, develop story structures, undertake group-based filmmaking, or ice-breakers and other complimentary workshop activities [...] Instead, this guide presents specific considerations for those designing corruption-focussed projects and provides a range of exercises for the facilitators. While the focus is on addressing issues of corruption, many of the ideas and approaches will be useful to practitioners in general. The sections on Choosing Participatory Video, Participant Selection, Project Structure, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent are likely to be relevant to a wide-range of projects." (Page 9)
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"On 16 October 2017, the editors of two popular Ugandan newspapers—the Daily Monitor and Red Pepper—were summoned to the Criminal Investigations Directorate in Kampala following the publication of stories revealing the allocation of a Ugandan Shillings 715 m (almost £150,000) budget for a plann
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ed 10-day cross-country consultation, to be undertaken by the Parliamentary Affairs Committee." (Abstract)
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"Corrupt individuals have proven very adept at finding ways to get around formal constraints, which is why grassroots and bottom-up approaches to fighting corruption tend to be more sustainable in the long run than isolated institutional and legal reform. Often, well-intentioned laws are poorly enfo
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rced and institutions lack the “teeth” to make anticorruption efforts truly effective. Civil society and media are essential in applying pressure and keeping governments honest and accountable. Freedom of association, or the ability of people to form groups and influence public policy, is vital to anti-corruption. CSOs play a key role in denouncing violations of rights or speaking out against breaches of law. Similarly, a free and independent media serves an important function in investigating and reporting incidences of corruption. The voices of both civil society and journalists put a spotlight on bad actors and can help trigger action by law enforcement and the court system." (Page 1)
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"Media reporting and investigative journalism, including by NGOs, is a vastly useful, but possibly underexploited, source of information for allegations of transnational corruption. The exposure of recent scandals through effective international cooperation by transnational networks of journalists a
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s well as NGOs has amplified the impact of investigative reporting and significantly raised awareness of cross-border financial crime. While the OECD Secretariat regularly monitors global press for foreign bribery allegations and brings these to the attention of law enforcement officials in Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the OECD Working Group o Bribery (WGB) will, in turn, continue to ensure that countries allocate appropriate human resources, expertise, foreign-language skills, training and software, to monitor and act upon media reports of bribery in international business. A constructive relationship between the media, civil society and law enforcement could also be further strengthened while ensuring the independence and integrity of the different actors. Effective press freedom, open data, access to information and whistleblower protection frameworks are essential to enable free and credible reporting. Nevertheless, the number of journalists killed while reporting, many on corruption stories, is alarming. Governments must make press freedom and the protection of journalists, and their sources, a priority. Two-thirds of Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention still do not provide satisfactory whistleblower protection despite significant progress made by several countries in recent years. Given the importance of whistleblowers and the protection of sources in bringing allegations of corruption to light, the OECD will continue to work with countries to establish effective legislative frameworks for the protection of both public and private sector whistleblowers." (Conclusion)
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"This memo presents evidence based on a survey experiment embedded in a national survey of Ukrainians and a laboratory experiment conducted with Ukrainian university students. The findings indicate that anti-Corruption messaging that emphasizes the success of anti-Corruption campaigns (i.e., a “po
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sitive” message) may reduce citizens’ willingness to give bribes. By contrast, anti-Corruption messaging emphasizing that corruption is a growing problem (i.e., a “negative” message) appears to be less effective and, in some circumstances, may even inadvertently increase citizens’ willingness to engage in corrupt acts." (Page 1)
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"With regards to actual implementations of ICT tools for anti-corruption, six main categories emerge: r-government and the digital public services; crowdsourcing platforms; whistleblowing platforms; transparency platforms; news reporting and dissemination platforms; DLT & blockchain technology. The
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report analyses each category of tools, using reviews of existing literature as well as interviews with key experts and leaders of ICT anti-corruption projects to offer insights on use cases, implantation considerations, and advantages and disadvantages of a given tool. For example, crowdsourcing platforms benefit significantly from the existence of a follow-up mechanism that allows citizen complaints to be acted upon, and transparency platforms centred on freedom of information requests are likely to succeed only if citizens feel empowered to make requests of their own without fear of being seen as confrontational or facing retribution." (Executive summary)
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"The insights in this study identify that we should not only deal with the whistleblowing concerns much further upstream, but we should also support whistleblowers much earlier in the process by ensuring that not only is the concern dealt with but that the individual who raised it is provided with t
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he necessary support and protection from the outset before any detrimental treatment or retaliatory action can take place. All of the whistleblowers interviewed for this study suggested that they had wanted their concern to be addressed and for it to be the end of the matter. Unfortunately, a chain of events, often led by retaliatory practices by their organisations, meant that the whistleblowers suffered, and continue to suffer unnecessarily. This highlights that whilst it is extremely important for states, and the European Union as a whole, to consider the implementation of whistleblower protection laws, we must not lose sight of the fact that we also need to educate and support organisations and society as a whole to treat whistleblowers better in the first place, thus removing the need for individuals to have to make a choice between not raising the concern and years of life-changing psychosocial, physical and familial consequences. For some jurisdictions and some organisations, supporting and handling whistleblowers from the outset of them raising their concerns will require a substantial shift in understanding towards a more inclusive and accepting response towards whistleblowers. Civil society and other actors working on whistleblowing can support this process by actively engaging with stakeholders at multiple levels. The below table provides an illustration of the different suggested levels, potential stakeholders and several examples of engagement and technical assistance." (Conclusion)
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"Erdöl, Gas, Kupfer, Coltan - ohne diese und andere Rohstoffe wäre unser Lebensstil nicht denkbar. Einerseits ist die Weltwirtschaft von ihnen abhängig, andererseits spielt ihre Herkunft in der öffentlichen Debatte wohlhabender Länder kaum eine Rolle. Einige der größten Vorräte dieser Bodens
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chätze liegen auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent – und ihr Abbau ist mit weit reichenden politischen, gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Folgen verbunden. Der Investigativjournalist Tom Burgis hat unter anderem in Angola, Nigeria, Südafrika und der Demokratischen Republik Kongo recherchiert. Präzise und faktenbasiert beschreibt er die in höchstem Maße intransparenten Strukturen des Rohstoffhandels und stellt personelle Netzwerke und Verflechtungen dar. Nutznießer, so Burgis, seien oftmals international agierende Konzerne, gut vernetzte Geschäftsmänner, aber auch Kleptokraten, Kriegsherren und Schmuggler. Wenig Nutzen aus dem Rohstoffreichtum ziehen hingegen die lokalen Bevölkerungen. Weil die Gewinne aus dem Rohstoffhandel vielerorts den Großteil der Staatseinnahmen ausmachen, würden Autokraten und ihre Cliquen gestärkt, politische Partizipation unterbunden, Konflikte geschürt und Anreize zu Korruption und Selbstbereicherung geschaffen. Damit sei der aktuelle Umgang mit Afrikas Bodenschätzen in vielen Ländern ein massives Hemmnis für deren ökonomische und demokratische Entwicklung." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This study, which covers 121 UNESCO Member States, represents a global benchmarking of journalistic source protection in the Digital Age. It focuses on developments during the period 2007-2015. The legal frameworks that support protection of journalistic sources, at international, regional and coun
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try levels, are under significant strain in 2015. They are increasingly at risk of erosion, restriction and compromise - a development that is seen to represent a direct challenge to the established universal human rights of freedom of expression and privacy, and one that especially may constitute a threat to the sustainability of investigative journalism. In many of the countries examined in this Study, it was found that legal source protection frameworks are being actually or potentially: overridden by national security and anti-terrorism legislation; undercut by surveillance – both mass and targeted; jeopardised by mandatory data retention policies and pressure applied to third party intermediaries - like ISPs, telcos, search engines, social media platforms - to release data which risks exposing sources; outdated when it comes to regulating the collection and use of digital data, such as whether information recorded without consent is admissible in a court case against either a journalist or a source; and whether digitally stored material gathered by journalistic actors is covered by existing source protection laws." (Executive summary)
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