100 Reporters

Programs: Double exposure investigative film festival and symposium -- in line with its mission to present the finest investigative reporting to the widest possible audience and to expose corruption and wrongdoing, 100reporters launched the nation's first investigative film festival, double exposure investigative film festival and symposium, in 2015, and presented its second edition october 6-8, 2016 in washington, dc. Double exposure 2016 screened eight new films driven by the investigative instinct to audiences at the smithsonian institution's national portrait gallery. With one exception, the films were all washington, dc premieres. Their subjects included ivory poaching in africa; a major hedge fund's bet against herbalife as an illegal pyramid scheme; new york's only criminal prosecution--of a mom-and-pop bank in chinatown--in connection with the 2008 banking crisis; the tale of a swiss banker who blew the whistle on his nation's bank secrecy, and its complicity in tax evasion and the theft of billions of dollars from developing nations by corrupt leaders; a biopic on the practices and legacy of muckraker i. F. Stone, a giant in the field of investigative reporting; and much else. (the full program is available at http://bit. Ly/2akvtux. ) at the same time, a concurrent symposium brought filmmakers and journalists together for two days of networking, panel discussions and hands-on workshops. It did this in a bid to further dialogue and collaboration between these two distinct sectors whose work is increasingly converging, and to advance investigative projects underway. Workshop sessions taught concrete skills like working safely, protecting whistleblowers and taking stories from print to screen. The symposium made introductions to key funders, editors and producers; and tackled big-picture issues: race and police conduct, offshore tax havens that deprive national treasuries of billions of dollars in revenue each year, investigations born through personal experience, and more. Speakers in 2015 and 2016 included more than 100 award-winning filmmakers and journalists at the top of their fields.

civic accountability -- used 100reporters material, editorial and legal (e. G. , first amendment) resources to advance civic accountability through journalism worldwide. 100reporters published 10 original investigations and reports in 2016 that held government agencies, companies and international organizations accountable to the public. These included "custody in crisis: how family courts nationwide put children in danger," which exposed a perilous lack of oversight in the family court system and went on to win an award from the society for professional journalists for excellence in investigative reporting (published with salon. Com); "washed clean: in cameroon, kimberley officials launder conflict diamonds onto world markets," which investigated mislabeling of blood diamonds by the very officials charged with ensuring they are conflict-free; "training the planet," on the lack of oversight plaguing the vast apparatus of taxpayer-funded training of foreign military and security forces (published with the intercept); and "the blood rubies of montepuez: troubling pattern of violence and death for 'responsibly sourced' gems," which exposed brutal use of government forces against itinerant miners in mozambique to protect the interests of gemfields, a british company. Following the report, the actress mila kunis, brand ambassador for gemfields, ended her relationship with the company (published with foreign policy online), and many more. In addition,100reporters advanced civic accountability through several avenues: by seeking court review of freedom of information request to make publicly available monitoring reports filed with the us government following a corporate plea agreement over bribery charges. A favorable outcome would set a precedent for the public's ability to monitor the terms of corporate plea bargains by companies; by providing a global platform for indigenous investigative reporters, particularly from countries and regions that do not tolerate a free press; in 2015, 100reporters worked with local reporters in the u. S. And around the globe to develop, report and publish investigative news on issues and from places often overlooked by commercial media. It recruited top professionals to its corps of journalists, and it partnered directly with local and international news outlets to publish the resulting stories.