Caribbean L 26 ife, Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2020
Davan Maharaj, former Los Angeles Times publisher and editor.
USC / Gus Ruelas
The Caribbean’s first
non-profit investigative
news network launches
KINGSTON, Jamaica —The Caribbean
Investigative Journalism Network
(CIJN) just launched with the unveiling
of four deep dive exposés produced
by over a dozen Caribbean journalists.
CIJN is a project of the Media Institute
of the Caribbean (MIC) which is headquartered
in Kingston, Jamaica.
The four long-form multimedia
investigative stories were led by former
Los Angeles Times publisher and editor,
Davan Maharaj; former CNN anchor
and correspondent, Jim Clancy; senior
Caribbean journalist, Wesley Gibbings;
and Caribbean-based media executive,
Kiran Maharaj.
Maharaj, president of MIC and cofounder
of CIJN, said the CIJN initiative
was meant to “create space for our Caribbean
region on the global map of quality
investigative reporting…. in small
island nations we are straddled with the
constraints of lack of resources, and the
constant fear that our identities will be
known and our lives at risk.”
The ISIS story reveals a trail of
activities related to the recruitment
of Islamist militants by a network of
organizations in the twin-island state.
Human Trafficking in Plain Sight
explores the sordid realities of human
trafficking arising out of the turmoil
in Venezuela. The existence of criminal
networks working in tandem with corrupt
police, immigration authorities
and businesses is investigated in harrowing
detail.
The team’s investigation of heavy
Chinese investments in the Caribbean
traces the growing influence of
the Asian economic giant on regional
development. Using supporting
data, the story examines the impact
of opaque investments in Caribbean
mega-projects on a legacy of debt and
geo-political influence in the Americas
. CIJN reviews the ill-fated PetroCaribe
energy deals with the Caribbean;
unravelling details on how an oil alliance
founded by Chavez to confront
U.S. influence in the Caribbean collapsed
into broken deals, dashed hopes
and rampant corruption.
Speaking at the launch, Jamaica
correspondent, Steffon Campbell, said
he saw the regional network of investigative
journalists as being capable of
seeing “the bigger picture; a regional
picture; a transnational picture.”
MIC is a member of the Global Investigative
Journalism Network (GIJN),
Global Forum for Media Development
(GMFD), Institute for Non-Profit News
(INN) and the International Press Institute
(IPI). Its Advisory Board comprises
leading media leaders, journalists and
media development players from North
America, Europe and the Caribbean.
CIJN stories can be accessed at cijn.
org. All content can be freely republished
with attribution and without
amendment. For more information,
email: cijninfo@gmail.com.
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