We are a co-operative of specialized investigative journalists. Our reporters focus on the defence & security, energy, food, pharmaceutical & healthcare, and tobacco industries.
Our mission is to investigate the workings of power in businesses, governments and other institutions, and produce thorough stories about these workings, in order to stimulate the public debate and ā if possible ā spur the reform of unjust, illegal and abusive practices.
We put much emphasis on professional and international collaboration, both in our research and in our publications. We believe this is the best way to strengthen our reporting and expand our readership.
We focus our investigations on topics of concern to citizens across Europe and in other continents. We therefore actively seek collaboration with outstanding journalists whenever and wherever we can. We also welcome tips, leaks and suggestions for articles from the public, informed insiders and whistle-blowers (for whom we have a separate, secure communication channel).
Postal address:
The Investigative Desk
Tolstraat 160
1074 VM Amsterdam
The Netherlands
We fund our work with donations, structural subsidies, grants, project-related subsidies and publication fees.
We are fully independent in the selection, investigation and publication of our topics. Our donors have no role or substantive say in this, and we do not align the timing of our publications with them. Some donors earmark their donations to one of our specialised desks. In such cases, the same principles apply.
We maintain our journalistic independence from our donors by:
The Dutch tax authorities have awarded us the status of public benefit organisation (PBO). As a result, donations to our foundation are tax deductible.
The Investigative Desk is an independent platform for investigative journalism, focusing on large international industrial sectors such as tobacco, food and chemicals, finance, energy, pharmaceuticals and health care, defence and security.
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