Several of the world’s top investigative journalists have been honored for their contributions to ground-breaking reporting in a new alumni category created by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The journalists include long-standing members of the ICIJ who have retired from active investigative work.
The consortium’s Network Committee felt that the contribution that these journalists made in exposing pressing global issues and holding power to account should be highlighted in a prestigious new category of ICIJ membership.
“These journalists are pioneers in global collaborative investigative journalism and have made enormous contributions to the success of the ICIJ. They were the forerunners to more recent projects like the Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers and the Implant File projects,’’ said Minna Knus-Galán, who heads ICIJ’s Network Committee.
ICIJ’s alumni journalists will continue their close relationship with the organization, assisting members with advice, contacts and story ideas.
The first group of honored alumni members:
David Leigh, a British investigative journalist who worked for The Guardian, Granada TV and currently teaches investigative journalism at London’s City University. He has written or co-authored nine books.
Gwen Lister, founder of The Namibian, executive chair of the Namibia Media Trust and a World Press Freedom Hero award recipient from the International Press Institute.
Alain Lallemand, a former investigative reporter for Le Soir in Brussels, Belgium, who wrote extensively on organized crime, drug trafficking and guerrillas and was the author of numerous books on the Russian mafia in Europe.
Hans Leyendecker, a former political editor and columnist at Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, who previously worked as an investigative journalist and special projects editor at Der Spiegel. He was written several investigative books.
Goenawan Mohamad, founder and editor of Indonesia’s Tempo magazine, founder of the Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information and a recipient of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award.
Timo-Erkki Heino, a former producer of cultural, social and investigative documentaries for YLE, the Finnish Public Service Broadcaster, and executive producer of Ykkösdokumentti on TV1. He is the founding member of the Association of Investigative Journalism in Finland.
Andreas Harsono, currently with Human Rights Watch in Indonesia, previously worked for Pantau magazine, The Nation in Bangkok and The Star in Kuala Lumpur. He helped create several journalism groups including the Alliance of Independent Journalists in Java and the Institute for the Studies in Free Flow of Information.
ICIJ’s Network Committee deals with membership issues and is responsible for approving new members.
Knus-Galán congratulated the first group of alumni members for their outstanding contributions to global investigative journalism and said the committee would be expanding membership of the alumni group in coming months.
More detailed profiles of the journalists can be found here.