KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (CIJN) just launched with the unveiling of four deep dive exposés produced by over a dozen Caribbean journalists.
CIJN is a project of the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) which is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.
The four long-form multimedia investigative stories were led by former Los Angeles Times publisher and editor, Davan Maharaj; former CNN anchor and correspondent, Jim Clancy; senior Caribbean journalist, Wesley Gibbings; and Caribbean-based media executive, Kiran Maharaj.
Maharaj, President of MIC and Co-founder of CIJN, said the CIJN initiative was meant to “create space for our Caribbean region on the global map of quality investigative reporting…. in small island nations we are straddled with the constraints of lack of resources, and the constant fear that our identities will be known and our lives at risk.”
CIJN releases four hard-hitting investigations
- THE ISIS PHENOMENON IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Why is this twin-island nation the highest per capita supplier of foreign jihadists in Syria and Iraq?
- HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN PLAIN SIGHT: The economic collapse of Venezuela has resulted in an explosion of refugees to neighboring countries. In Trinidad, many Venezuelan girls and women are forced into prostitution by criminal networks who work with corrupt police, immigration authorities and businessmen.
- CHINA IN THE CARIBBEAN: How China is winning influence in the Caribbean. They might be behind that high profile project on your islands: A hotel. A highway. A port. The prime minister’s house. Read and SHARE why China might be winning the mad scramble for the Caribbean.
- VENEZUELA, PETROCARIBE AND THE “ORGY OF CORRUPTION“: How an oil alliance founded by then- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to confront U.S. influence in the Caribbean collapsed into broken deals, dashed hopes and rampant corruption.
Speaking at the launch, Jamaica correspondent, Steffon Campbell, said he saw the regional network of investigative journalists as being capable of seeing “the bigger picture; a regional picture; a transnational picture.”
MIC is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), Global Forum for Media Development (GMFD), Institute for Non-Profit News (INN) and the International Press Institute (IPI). Its Advisory Board comprises leading media leaders, journalists and media development players from North America, Europe and the Caribbean.
