Imagine an idyll in which any newspaper… one ‘picks up’ this type of journalism omnipotently holds other powers to account and the public vote according to the facts.
Imagine also another idyll in which power secedes from previous behaviour and aims to reconstruct itself on behalf of those same voters.
Imagine journalism where there is no attempt to obfuscate or lie…
‘The Panama Papers investigation, which saw more than 300 reporters on six continents collaborate to expose the “global scale of offshore tax havens”, has won a Pulitzer Prize.
Global network The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) was named as one of three recipients of the Explanatory Reporting prize, announced yesterday.
The consortium worked with news outlets across the globe, including BBC Panorama and The Guardian, on the Panama Papers investigation.
Eight journalists from the United Kingdom are among its 190 members.
The data dump contained private information from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. It was shared with German journalists Frederick Obermaier and Bastian Oberymayer by an anonymous source using the pseudonym “John Doe”.
The ICIJ, the McClatchy Company and Miami Herald all won for the Explanatory Reporting award “for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear presentation, using any available journalistic tool”.
The prize is worth $15,000.
The Guardian and Panorama’s coverage won them a British Journalism Award (BJA) in December in the Investigation of the Year category, sponsored by Transparency International.
BJA judges said of the Guardian’s The Panama Papers reporting: “The Guardian revealed secret billion dollar deals linked to Vladimir Putin and David Cameron’s links to secret offshore fund. This was another vast investigation by The Guardian which shone a light in some of the darkest corners of international finance.”
On BBC Panorama’s Tax Havens of the Rich and Powerful Exposed (also on the Panama Papers)
Judges said: “The BBC exposed a billion dollar money laundering ring in Russia and a criminal conspiracy with links to Vladimir Putin.
“It also showed how Mossack Fonseca helped launder the proceeds of the Brinks Matt robbery and it prompted the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister by revealing his secret offshore company. They managed to break down a vast investigation into a series of compelling stories which had global impact.”’ (Press Gazette)
Douglas James
