IJNotes: An IJNet podcast

In India, as in many other countries, abortion is a divisive social and political issue. Although it is legal to get an abortion in India, there are many obstacles to obtaining one.

In our latest podcast, we spoke with two reproductive health professionals from CommonHealth India, a coalition that advocates for increased access to sexual and reproductive health care for women and marginalized communities. Dr. Alka Barua l...

For our latest podcast on reporting on reproductive health, Sofia Heartney with the ICFJ communications team spoke with Dr. Camilla Fitzsimons, a professor in the department of adult and community education at Maynooth University and the author of “Repealed: Ireland’s Unfinished Fight for Reproductive Rights.” 

In this episode Fitzsimons discusses the role of journalists in the movement for reproductive rights, how reporte...

Mis- and disinformation surrounding reproductive health is not new. But since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. in June 2022, the consequences of the vast amounts of false information seeking to affect the reproductive choices of millions of Americans have made their way front and center in people’s minds. 

In our second IJNotes episode on reproductive health reporting, IJNet’s Disarming Disinformation Intern, Mya Zepp, spo...

Our new IJNotes podcast series will dive into reproductive health, how journalists globally are reporting on this highly personal and political issue, and the ways in which reporters can accurately and ethically cover the many related topics. To kick off the series, I spoke with Maya Miller, a reproductive health reporter at the Gulf States Newsroom, on the role local journalism plays in covering reproductive rights. 

In t...

In early June, environmental journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing in the Amazon while reporting on Indigenous peoples in the state of Amazonas. The two were later found to have been murdered, in one of the most high-profile kilings of environmental journalists in recent years, wich have also taken place in Mexico, India and Colombia. 

In the aftermath of the killings of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pere...

Environmental crime, also known as eco-crime, is any form of illegal activity — organized or otherwise — that has a direct and negative effect on the natural world. From illegal deforestation in the Amazon, to unregulated overfishing in the Indo-Pacific, to water, air and soil pollution caused by illegal gold mines, environmental crime doesn’t just harm the environment, it also often has devastating consequences for local communiti...

No two communities will experience the effects of climate change in the same way. As the climate crisis worsens, the need for comprehensive, educational and sometimes life-saving news coverage increases. 

While national and international media play an important role in covering the crisis, local outlets may be better able to understand how their communities view and bear its consequences, and what solutions are best for them. 

In add...

Extreme weather events and natural disasters have ravaged many communities around the globe, and their devastating consequences seem only to be intensifying. This past year alone, the world witnessed record droughts in the U.S. and Latin America, while China and Europe suffered fatal floods. Hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires also dominated headlines due to the significant destruction they’ve caused.

Are these events all related to...

The climate crisis doesn’t affect everyone equally. As more journalists report on environmental issues, it’s critical that they shine a light on the heightened consequences our deteriorating environment has on vulnerable communities. 

Environmental justice reporters do just this.

Although the environmental justice movement began more than 30 years ago, many newsrooms are only just beginning to report on the intersection of discrimina...

Today, from flooding and wildfires, to droughts, heat waves and hurricanes of increasing intensity and frequency, we’re experiencing these repercussions, and experts agree they’ll only get worse. 

In the coming years, more journalists than ever will be needed to report on our deteriorating environment. They’ll be tasked with covering the crisis and its fallout from all angles — and as comprehensively as they’ve reported on the COVID...

You may have heard about the groundbreaking Panama Papers investigation, which exposed how some of the most rich and powerful people around the world used offshore tax havens to conceal their wealth.

Former journalist Mar Cabra played a critical role during the groundbreaking investigation, as the head of the data and research unit at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the organization that spearheaded...

This summer, accomplished journalist and media consultant Hannah Storm published a personal story about her diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

The PTSD was a result of many traumas over the years, Storm wrote: it stemmed from experiences she had when reporting internationally on crises and disasters, and sexual assaults she survived when she was a young reporter. All were in some way related to her job.

While toda...

This episode is the fourth in our series on mental health and journalism.

Coverage of the anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter protests that erupted around the world following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor last spring has laid bare the unique challenges Black journalists across the U.S. face in the newsroom. 

As Black journalists cover these deeply personal protests, they must also na...

This episode is the third episode in our series on mental health and journalism.

More than 5 million Venezuelans have fled their country in recent years. They’ve done so to escape violence, economic turmoil, political unrest and more. The crisis is the worst of its kind Latin America has ever experienced, former Mexico foreign minister Jorge Castañeda wrote earlier this year.

Almost 2 million Venezuelan migrants h...

This is the second episode in our series about journalism and mental health. In this episode, we interview Dean Yates, a longtime journalist whose struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) led him to become an advocate for journalists’ mental health.

For more than 20 years, Dean worked in the Middle East and southeast Asia as a journalist and bureau chief for Reuters. He covered war and tragedy on numerous occasions, and s...

This episode is the first in a series on mental health and journalism.

From crime scenes and road accidents to natural disasters and wars, journalists often report on the frontlines of the world’s most challenging events. Today, journalists around the world are working overtime to cover the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covering these developments, whether major international stories or events much closer to home, can take ...

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens more than our health, but also our freedoms.

Threats to press freedom are cropping up all over the world, taking the form of physical and political attacks on journalists, the criminalization of journalists’ work, restrictions on free access to information and increased surveillance.

ICFJ global director of research, Dr. Julie Posetti interviews Prof. David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on the ...

Journalists are tasked with telling the truth, but sometimes it comes with a cost. 

Paolo Borrometi, a Sicilian investigative journalist, knows this cost all too well. When his reporting on the Italian mafia made him a target, he was forced to uproot his life. Years later, he still lives under 24/7 police protection, often confined to his own home. 

However, Borrometi is undeterred. He continues to report for his own news website, La...