It will be harder to bury the news

“These groups are tackling perilous subjects that know no borders, such as human trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering. As the networks expand, the protection of information increases.”

An investigative reporter from a city in central Mexico uncovered unsavory links between a notorious cartel member and the Mexican government. The piece was meticulously reported. The trouble was, the editor refused to publish it for fear of the consequences. But the story didn’t die there.

The journalist was part of the Connectas investigative journalism network formed in 2013. Connectas links gumshoe reporters across the Americas, who collaborate on cross-border stories. Incensed by his boss’ refusal to touch the story, the reporter offered it to Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui, who is not intimidated by the authorities. When the three-part series finally ran in Aristegui Noticias, it made headlines nationally and across the region.

In the coming year, it will be even harder to suppress the news thanks to regional investigative journalism alliances. These groups are tackling perilous subjects that know no borders, such as human trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering. As the networks expand, the protection of information increases. And expanding they are in Latin America, the former Soviet bloc and Africa. Increasingly, U.S. news organizations are joining in, a trend that will intensify in 2018.

At first, these networks were formed to collaborate on transnational stories involving crime and corruption. They came into their own with the groundbreaking Panama Papers project. These regional groups were also designed to protect vulnerable journalists. How so? By publishing stories in multiple countries, the network would deflect attention from a single reporter or news organization. This really matters in countries where journalists can be attacked with impunity.

What these groups soon discovered was that they were not only protecting journalists, but also protecting information. If stories can be shared through the network, journalists can bypass major media owners who are cozy with the government or small newsrooms that are vulnerable to serious threats. This sharing of news circumvents self-censorship.

There is tremendous power in this growing network. As journalists join forces, they ensure their exposés will not be easily spiked. On top of that, an increasingly diverse group of funders sees the value in supporting these cross-border alliances.

Here’s to a year when journalists band together and counter suppression as never before.

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Julia Beizer   A longer view on the pivot

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Eric Ulken   The year local publishers get smart(er) about change

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Edward Roussel   Eyes, ears, and brains

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John Keefe   Scooped by AI

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Jamie Mottram   From pageviews to t-shirts

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Dannagal G. Young   Stop covering politics as a game

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Rodney Gibbs   Tech workers turn to journalism

Pablo Boczkowski   The rise of skeptical reading

Craig Newmark   Working together toward sustainable solutions

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Caitria O'Neill   The new court of public opinion

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Bill Keller   A growing turn to philanthropy

José Zamora   Revenue-first journalism

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Joyce Barnathan   It will be harder to bury the news

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Joanne McNeil   Gatekeeping the gatekeepers

Dheerja Kaur   Fun with subscription products

Dan Shanoff   You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)

Vanessa K. DeLuca   Women’s voices take center stage

Yvonne Leow   The rise of video messaging

Mary Walter-Brown   Show a little vulnerability

Sara M. Watson   Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters

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Felix Salmon   Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin

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Tamar Charney   We get serious about algorithms

Mike Caulfield   Refactoring media literacy for the networked age

Taylor Lorenz   Social and media will split

Raney Aronson-Rath   Transparency is the antidote to fake news

Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán   The editorial meeting of the future

Charo Henríquez   Training is an investment, not an expense

Imaeyen Ibanga   Longform video leads the way

Usha Sahay   Wallets get opened

Tim Carmody   Watch out for Spotify

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Ruth Palmer   Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities

Mariana Moura Santos   Think local, act global

Laura E. Davis   Writing answers before you know the question

Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer   Skepticism and narcissism

Will Sommer   The year local media gets conservative

Claire Wardle   Disinformation gets worse

Mario García   Storytelling finally adapts to mobile

Brian Lam   Sketchy ethics around product reviews

Amie Ferris-Rotman   More female reporters abroad (please)

Jennifer Choi   Standing up for us and for each other

Jesse Holcomb   Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you

Errin Haines   At the ballot, it’s time to count black women

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Evie Nagy   Pivot to mobile video frustration

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Frédéric Filloux   External forces

Elizabeth Jensen   Show your work

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Monika Bauerlein   The firehose of falsehood

Sam Sanders   Shine the light on ourselves

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Andrew Losowsky   The year of resilience

Gordon Crovitz   Serving readers over advertisers

Lucas Graves   From algorithms to institutions

Miguel Castro   The arrival of the impact producer

Andrew Haeg   The year journalists become relationship builders

Cory Haik   Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact

Alastair Coote   The year of self-improvement

Tanya Cordrey   Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention

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Cristina Wilson   The year of the Instagram Story

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Heather Bryant   Building the ecosystems for collaboration

Nikki Usher   The year of The Washington Post

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Juleyka Lantigua   Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time

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Damon Krukowski   Reviving the alt-weekly soul

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Michelle Garcia   Navigating journalistic transparency

Sarah Marshall   Loyalty as the key performance indicator

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