June, 2020 Update: This podcast was first produced exclusively for ICIJ Insiders, a community of readers who support our journalism financially. Read more about our membership program here.

 

In honor of World Press Freedom Day in 2020, we’re trying something new. We want to connect you with the reporters we work with every day. These brave journalists defeat the odds to expose corruption and collect facts that are often hidden from the public.

Hear stories from Namini Wijedasa (Sri Lanka), Jacob Borg (Malta), Jimmy Alvarado (El Salvador), Diana Moukalled (Lebanon), and Ignace Sossou (Benin).

After we first published this podcast, Sossou returned to court in Benin and sentenced to six months in prison for his Tweet. Sossou will be released on June 24 and must pay an $800 fine – ten times the average monthly salary of a journalist in Benin.