ARIJ conference to bring investigative journalists from region, world to Amman

AMMAN — Over 500 Arab and international investigative journalists will meet in Amman on Friday to discuss “the role of media in a radicalised world –– a global challenge of enormous importance amidst an explosion of digital tools and widespread Internet trolling”.

The three-day meeting, organised in Jordan for the 11th time since the creation of the Amman-based Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) in 2005, is the “largest ever” regional gathering of Arab investigative journalists, according to an ARIJ statement.

The forum will allow journalists to share experiences, learn from expert speakers and trainers, network and find new partners for their next investigations into issues of concern to the public for the benefit of accountability. 

The plenary sessions will examine the disruption of technology and the battle for truth in a radicalised world where American media platforms are now the largest distributors of news –– taking away revenue from media and enabling the “insidious manipulation” of local politics and citizenry, according to the statement.

Delegates will benefit from more than 40 training sessions and workshops on data journalism, open source investigations, audio storytelling, fact checking, physical and digital safety, online investigative tools, mobile journalism and bullet proofing investigations from a legal perspective. 

Other sessions will feature using Google tools for research and news verification, combining high-tech and traditional reporting and mastering the investigative interview.

Rana Sabbagh, ARIJ co-founder and executive director, in the statement thanked the government of Jordan for providing all needed permissions for convening the forum.

“Independent journalists in the region are under attack," said Sabbagh in the statement, adding that this has not stopped hundreds of journalists trained, funded and coached by ARIJ to “willingly take risks to themselves and their families, and unearth issues of interest to the public for the benefit of rule of law and greater transparency”.

Support group sessions at the forum will highlight the “important role” the Amman-based ARIJ is playing in promoting investigative reporting and supporting the culture of “accountability journalism” in the region.