Until The Truth Is Found - Data Journalism #20

This issue presents how investigative journalism innovates and keeps a watchful eye on crime, law enforcement abuses and attacks on human rights.

Crime Expands in Latin America

38 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are Latin, according to the latest report of the Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice.

This crisis has various reasons and manifestations. The CONNECTAS media, for example, reveals that one of the patterns that stands out the most is that the state weakness of the region (es) allows big criminal organizations to become de facto powers.

One such case is Venezuela’s prison system (es), where international drug trafficking, extortion, illegal mining and human trafficking networks operate.

Spying and leaks

In the last few days, two news reports have resounded, which directly impact the exercise of freedom of the press in Mexico:

• The use of Pegasus software (es) has once again put activists, journalists and women human rights defenders at risk, according to the investigation #EjércitoEspía (es). As a result, 99 Latin American organizations, including Datasketch, and more than 170 individuals joined in demanding security and justice (es) for victims of illegal surveillance.
• The hacker group Guacamaya obtained more than 4 million emails (es) from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena). The documents contain information (es) on military operations such as the arrest of the son of drug trafficker Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, internal allegations of sexual abuse in the army, new details on the Ayotzinapa case (es) and even information on the health of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Anti-crime investigations

Since 2015, the DIG Awards have been awarded annually to the best journalistic inquiries in the world. The 30 finalists are selected from more than 400 submissions. Most of these reveal details about war financiers, mercenaries, dictatorships and other stories of human rights violations and state violence.

The winners of the last edition explored cases such as the Wagner group, a paramilitary organization, and its possible links to the Russian state; the inconsistencies in the Bugaled Breizh ship accident, which has been unsolved for 18 years; and the narration of the last hours of the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose dictatorship collapsed in 2011 with the beginning of the Arab Spring.

Latin American journalism continues to innovate.

From October 26-29, the LATAM Digital Media and Journalism Festival will be held in Mexico City. Distintas Latitudes organize it. The event will have guests from different countries to share experiences on storytelling, monetization, project management and audiences.

Our COO, Edu Martín-Borregón, will be one of the panelists at the Festival. Along with Laila Abu Shihab and Patricia Mercado, they will discuss the challenges of moving from journalists to media managers and entrepreneurs.

🗒️ See details

To keep on the radar

• 🇩🇪 32 years after Germany’s unification, this is how its faith is divided | Nerdy Maps
• 🏞️ The climate crisis requires our swift, committed and global action | Daily Maverick
• 🌎 15th edition of the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (LACIGF15)
• 🗳️ Who participated in the 2018 midterm elections? | USA Facts
• 🔫 Here’s what U.S. arms exports were like from 1950 to 2017 | Will Geary

Thanks for reading this issue!