Grants are available for African, Asian and European journalists under the Money Trail project to investigate cross-border illicit financial flows, tax abuse and corruption in the continents.
Money Trail is a collaborative project between top journalism and training organisations – Finance Uncovered, Free Press Unlimited, Journalismfund.eu – and Oxfam Novib.
The project offers working grants for mixed teams of African, Asian and European journalists.
Training courses focused on how to investigate tax abuse, money laundering and corruption plus digital safety will also be offered during the implementation of the project.
Two trainings will be organised in London (Sept 2018, Nov 2019), two in Abuja, (June 2019, July 2020) and two in Jakarta (Feb 2019, Feb 2020).
Grant applications can be done here. The first deadline is on the 15th of July for the London training scheduled for 17 September 2018 – 21 September 2018.
Grant Project Senior Assistant & Communication, Journalismfund.eu Lisa Akinyi May who coordinates the Money Trail Grant Project was at the International Press Institute (IPI) was in Abuja Nigeria during which urge journalists to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the grant.
Participants at the training will be trained by expert financial journalists, forensic accountancy professionals and former law enforcement officials.
Applicants for the training do not need to have a financial journalism background to apply but evidence of investigative experience is essential. Class instructions will be in English.
“The courses will be divided into two sections. Over the first three days, Finance Uncovered will show you how to investigate corporate accounts, offshore tax avoidance activity and corruption. You will be shown where to find documents and learn practical tools to help uncover financial secrecy.
“A combination of hands-on training and guidance from senior practitioners will give you the basis to investigate financial corruption as well as offering the opportunity to network with other journalists and researchers. The course aims to help participants understand:
· the history, size and scale of the offshore world
· how to access and interpret company accounts
· where to access other company information
· the methodology behind the groundbreaking tax avoidance investigations into Google, SAB Miller and Vodafone – by the journalists who conducted them
· how to investigate and report corruption stories
· the steps required to keep safe and minimize personal risk
· the resources that can help you investigate the extractive industry
· how to track the international policy agenda relating to illicit financial flows
“ A safe working environment is essential for investigative journalists. Because journalists work with sensitive information that adversaries often prefer not to see published, training on keeping themselves, their data and their sources secure is paramount. So during the last two days of our training, Free Press Unlimited will focus on advanced digital security techniques, including encryption, secure communication and methods to stay “under the radar” during investigations. This includes:
· Device security how to keep one’s equipment secure
· Online security, how to safely operate online
· Mobile security, how to safely use digital equipment on-the-road, including telephones and other devices
· Social media security, how to safely use social media for research and publication
