Investigative journalism with science – Journalism Science Alliance

Investigative journalism with science

The Journalism Science Alliance team has collected a few examples of investigative journalism, where specialists from different fields – sociology, medicine, environment, law, security, technology – have played a role. Below you will find examples of interdisciplinary investigations, including both cross-border and local projects. This collection aims to inspire journalists and scientists to join forces for uncovering stories of public interest and contribute to a stronger and better-informed world.

Oil companies leak toxic gas across Texas — making local residents sick

Tens of thousands of people live close to oil and gas wells where they risk exposure to hazardous levels of hydrogen sulfide. Regulators do little to protect them.

2024 | The Examination and Houston Chronicle

The Forever Pollution Project – Tracking PFAS across Europe

The Forever Pollution Project showed that nearly 23,000 sites all over Europe are contaminated by the “forever chemicals” PFAS.

2023-2025 | elDiario.es, Latvijas Radio, RADAR Magazine, The Guardian, Le Monde, Knack, YLE, SZ, NDR, NRC, Datadista, Watershed, Denik Referendum, WDR, Reporters United, Le Scienze, Follow the Money, The Investigative Desk, SRF, The Guardian, Politiken, rtbf.be, Investigative Reporting, MIT Tecnology Review, Il Bo Live, FACTA.EU, investico.nl, fd., Oštro, elDiario.es, sverigesradio, KLASSEKAMPEN, De Groene Amsterdammer, lavialibera, RADAR Magazine, L’Espresso, france.tv, The Black Sea, Dagens ETC.

Suspicion Machines

Unprecedented experiment on welfare surveillance algorithm reveals discrimination.

2023 | Lighthouse Reports, WIRED, Vers Beton, Follow the Money, VPRO

Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows

Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating.

2023 | The Guardian

The Border Graves Investigation – IJ4EU

A cross-border team of eight journalists has confirmed the existence of 1,015 unmarked graves of migrants buried in 65 cemeteries over the past decade across Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Poland, Lithuania, France, and Croatia.

2023 | Al Jazeera, Avgi, Balkan Insight, CBC, Deutsche Welle, Dnevik, Documento, Efsyn, El Diario, Index, Jutarnji list, Kathimerini, L’Espresso, Lesvosnews, Lithuanian Radio Television, Madrid No Frills, News247, Novi list, Radio 3 Mondo, Solomon, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Telegram, The Guardian, Tportal, Unbias the News

This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk

Almost half of products cleared so far under the new federal biofuels program are not in fact biofuels — and the EPA acknowledges that the plastic-based ones may present an “unreasonable risk” to human health or the environment.

2023 | ProPublica

Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown

Exclusive: Oil and gas majors are planning scores of vast projects that threaten to shatter the 1.5C climate goal. If governments do not act, these firms will continue to cash in as the world burns

2022 | The Guardian

Black Waters: A Collaborative Investigative Journalism Project into Corruption and the Environment

Black Waters is a hybrid investigative-research and advocacy project that responds to the need for engaging reporting on environmental damage, corruption and the consequences for social justice in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Over twelve months a team of researchers, journalists and audio-visual artists will develop novel multimodal methodologies, conduct mixed-methods research, and report their findings using audio, visual and textual media.

2020 | ALATSZO, BalkanInsight, VSquare, Interviuri SG – Radio Civic, Medium

The Daphne Project

In October 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally killed by a car bomb just meters from her home. The investigation into her killing is ongoing, but there is little doubt that she was murdered because of her work. With a brazen, unapologetic and uncompromising style, she denounced corruption, nepotism, clientelism, and all kinds of criminal behaviors in her tiny EU member state.

2018-2022 | Forbidden Stories, IRPI, Süddeutsche Zeitung, La Reppublica, Radio France, The Guardian, Reuters, Premières Lignes Télévision / France 2, The Times of Malta, Die Zeit, Le Monde, The New York Times, WDR/NDR, Tages-Anzeiger, Freelance, Journalism School, Columbia University, Direkt 36

Everything you need to know about the Implant Files – ICIJ

The Implant Files is a global investigation that tracks the harm caused by medical devices that have been tested inadequately or not at all.

2018-2024 | La Nación, Perfil, Infobae, ABC, Australian Financial Review, De Tijd, Knack, Le Soir, Agencia Publica, Piaui, CBC – Radio Canada, Toronto Star, Labot, Czech Center for Investigative Journalism, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, Politiken, El Universo, Yle, Le Monde, Premières Lignes, Radio France, NDR, Süddeutsche Zeitung , WDR, Direkt36, The Indian Express, Tempo, Irish Times, L’Espresso, Report (Rai3), Asahi Shimbun, Kyodo News, NHK, ARIJ, Daraj, Mexicanos Contra La Corrupción, Proceso, Quinto Elemento Lab, Le Desk, Avrotros, Trouw, Aftenposten, The News, Ojo Público, Oštro, Newstapa, El Confindencial, La Sexta, SVT, TT, Tamedia, Inkyfada, BBC, British Medical Journal, The Guardian, AP, ICIJ, NBC

Hurricane Maria was a partly manmade disaster. Hundreds of families told us what really happened

An investigation by Quartz, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Associated Press has identified and interviewed hundreds of Hurricane Maria’s survivors. It is the most extensive record yet of who died and why. Many families say that the real cause of death was government inaction.

2017 | Quartz, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) and Associated Press

Follow The Post’s investigation of the opioid epidemic

The Post has reported extensively on the opioid crisis’ key figures: manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, doctors and the DEA itself.

2016-2023 | The Washington Post

Reuters finds lead levels higher than Flint’s in thousands of locales

A Reuters analysis of blood lead-test results across the U.S. finds thousands of communities with poisoning rates above those seen in Flint, Michigan

2016 | Reuters

While the examples above are truly inspiring stories, the Journalism Science Alliance is a totally innovative programme in what concerns teamwork between journalists and scientists, so some of these examples may not entirely fulfil the selection criteria for the JSA grants. Our invitation is for teams to go beyond what has been done and reinvent new forms of collaboration between science and journalism.

If you come across other stories of investigative journalism where science and journalism pair to uncover stories of public interest, please share them with us.