Forbidden Stories: Continuing Investigations When Journalists Are Silenced

The Mission of Forbidden Stories

• 🎯 Forbidden Stories is an organization dedicated to continuing the work of journalists who have been silenced, intimidated, or killed.
• 💡 Their core message is: "Killing the journalist won't kill the story."
• 🤝 The organization emphasizes that collaboration between newsrooms makes them stronger and provides protection.

Protecting the Right to Know

• ✊ Forbidden Stories believes their work is crucial for protecting democracy and upholding the public's right to access information.
• 🔍 Journalists they support often investigate critical topics like money laundering, environmental crimes, and corruption.
• 🌍 The organization operates in regions where press freedom is under attack, from Mexico to the Philippines and Ghana to Malta.

Investigating Environmental Crimes

• 🌳 A significant focus for Forbidden Stories is environmental journalism, as over 745 journalists have been threatened or attacked for investigating environmental issues in the past 15 years.
• ⛏️ Their "Green Blood" project highlighted investigations into the mining sector, one of the most opaque industries, involving cases in India, Tanzania, and Guatemala.
• 🔗 They investigate the global supply chain, revealing how illegal gold, for instance, can be mixed with legal gold and end up in major companies.

Combating Impunity

• ⚖️ Forbidden Stories' role is to reveal crimes and expose perpetrators, acting as a deterrent against impunity.
• 📢 While their primary role is journalistic investigation, their work has led to sanctions by entities like the EU against individuals involved in networks like Wagner.
• 🛡️ They believe that exposing crimes is more feared by killers of journalists than mere statements against them, making their approach a powerful deterrent.

Navigating Risks and Ensuring Safety

• ⚠️ Forbidden Stories conducts thorough risk assessments before starting projects, sometimes deciding not to proceed if it could endanger sources or relatives of slain journalists.
• 🌐 In countries where physical investigation is impossible, they utilize remote investigation techniques and open-source intelligence.
• 📰 They stress that democracy requires information, and information requires journalists, making their mission vital in a world where press freedom is globally under attack.