NUIJ

On Wednesday, as part of a program initiated by the National Union of Iraqi Journalists last year, the fifth workshop dedicated to the fundamentals of investigative journalism for journalists from Baghdad and the provinces of Diyala, Wasit and Qadisiyah was launched.

Dr. Irada Al-Jubouri, the Director of Projects and Trainings in the National Union, said that “the workshop, which began this morning and which will last for four days (15-18 April), was attended by more than 10 journalists and reporters from Baghdad, Wasit, Qadisiyah and Diyala,. It will define the art of investigative journalism and explain its importance, highlighting the basic differences between investigative journalism and traditional journalism. It will also explore the emergence and development of investigative journalism in the world”.

Al-Jubouri added that “the content of the workshop (funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in cooperation with (Taqasi Network for Investigative Journalism in Iraq), will also include how to generate an idea for an investigative story, how to use the mechanisms needed to develop investigative hypotheses effectively, how to plan for an exploratory investigation, and how to identify the primary and secondary sources.  Participants will also learn about the art of conducting interviews in investigative journalism, as well as clear ways of writing the text of the article (introduction, body, and conclusion), as well as how to choose an appropriate and thought-provoking title,”.

Mohammed Al-Rubaie. the Executive Director of the Iraqi Taqasi Network, who gave the training, said that “The workshop will be an opportunity to choose a set of investigative hypotheses dealing with corruption and societal abuse and neglect and mismanagement in the environment, health and services sectors, in order to move onto the next phase”, noting that “at least two investigations will be implemented in cooperation between the National Union and the Iraqi Taqasi Network, while the remaining investigations will be part of a Taqasi network for 2015 work plan.

This was the fifth workshop held by the National Union, on educating for the art of investigative journalism.  It was preceded by a series of four other workshops held in Baghdad, Erbil, Babil and Basra. The Iraqi Taqasi Network took on the task of preparing and funding several investigative hypotheses, providing editorial oversight and legal review prior to their publication, as well as participating in Arab and international competitions with those investigation reports.