Media Development Center joins Global Investigative Journalism Network

Birzeit University’s Media Development Center has become a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an organization focused on investigative reporting with members in more than 88 countries worldwide. The center was approved as a member by a unanimous vote of the network’s Board of Directors on December 15, 2021.

The network, founded in 2003, includes 227 member institutions and organizations worldwide. Through conferences, workshops and training programs, the network supports and strengthens investigative journalism around the world, especially in non-democratic countries and marginalized communities.

Emad Alasfar, the center’s acting director, said that they have succeeded in joining the Global Investigative Journalism Network after competing with 82 institutions, adding that the center was chosen for its efforts to advance watchdog reporting and promote free speech.

Alasfar said that the new membership was the fruit of the center’s efforts to offer resources and training on investigative journalism since its inception. “Our last project was developing a course on investigating corruption, which will be taught at Palestinian universities. We also organized a series of training workshops in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.”

With this membership, the Media Development Center will benefit from the network’s workshops and conferences, in addition to their resource center that provides advice, videos and reporting guides. This will help the center in their upcoming project, through which it will provide training on investigative reporting in the West Bank and Gaza.