InSight Crime Participates in Seminar for Journalists in Washington, DC

This month, 15 journalists from eight Latin American countries converged in Washington, DC, for an annual seminar uniting reporters from all corners of the region. The event, hosted by the Center for Media Integrity, serves as a platform to share experiences and insights on the unique challenges of practicing journalism in Latin America. Among those selected for the cohort were two InSight Crime researchers.

The week-long seminar provided space for dialogue between journalists, officials from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and US government institutions, in addition to representatives of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism of the University of Maryland.

UNDP experts gave presentations on a range of issues, including governance, poverty, inequality, gender, migration, and climate change. The presentations not only showcased the United Nations’ research, they also sparked discussions about how journalism can draw attention to these issues and their possible solutions.

InSight Crime staff shared tips on best practices for conducting investigative journalism in Latin America and outlined the risks involved when covering organized crime.?

Our presentations drew from the findings of a series on in-depth investigations. One study, entitled “Women and Organized Crime in Latin America: More than Victims or Victimizers,” demonstrated how women’s roles in crime go beyond binary narratives and addressed how criminal groups routinely use violence against women to consolidate power.

Other investigations include deep dives into environmental crimes, such as ilegal gold mining, timber, and wildlife trafficking, based on field research conducted deep in the Amazon. In our latest report, we investigated the roots of environmental crimes in the borderlands straddling Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil.

To learn more about our coverage of organized crime in Latin America, visit www.insight crime.org.