Newsletter June 2021

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During the first half of 2021 we realised a record number of 17 publications, many of which drew widespread attention. I ask your special attention to the ones resulting from our international collaborations with Le Monde (FR), Knack (BE), VRT (BE), Die Zeit (DE) and The BMJ (UK). Two of those collaborations stand out: Behind the Pledge (tracing the European Covid-vaccine billions) and Spooky Mayfly, an international project we set up ourselves to examine the privacy effects of new tracing and monitoring technologies.

Since investigative journalism is expensive, we try to organise our work as efficiently as possible. For each investigation, we develop a clear plan, form a tailor-made project team and offer close editorial supervision and guidance. In order to further professionalise this approach,  we streamlined our research and production processes and our editorial team in early 2021.

On our website you will find our financial report and our director’s report on 2020. Despite the Covid-19 crisis, The Investigative Desk did well. We use general and thematic donations to develop the first stages of our projects, for which we then try to acquire project subsidies and of course publication fees. Based on this ‘leverage’, we managed to double our budget.

We present ourselves as a collective of specialised journalists. To develop these specialisations,  we try to build a sustainable organisation with a sustainable financial basis. Despite our successes in acquiring project subsidies and publication fees, we will continue to rely on donations – both financial and in-kind. So if you’re interested in supporting our work, please contact us and we’ll be glad to discuss the possibilities.

June 2021

Marcel Metze, editor-in-chief & director

Read the full newsletter here.