The Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC) today released “The Feminist Investigative Journalism Handbook,” a  new resource and  global guide to applying feminist principles to investigative reporting.

Centring the expertise of a diverse, worldwide network of journalists—including contributors like Kiki Mordi, Juliana Ruhfus, Talia Lavin, Eliza Anyangwe, Sophia Smith-Galer, and Tan Hui Yee—the Handbook provides actionable strategies to investigate issues of injustice, power, and inequality.

Edited by the acclaimed feminist investigative journalist Claire Provost, this publication is a truly global collaboration, bringing together the knowledge of veteran reporters, groundbreaking researchers, and media innovators from six continents. The breadth of voices ensures the book’s guidance is relevant and adaptable to journalists from  around the world.

"Investigative journalism needs a feminist revolution to move beyond simply exposing injustice and to truly confront systems of power," said Claire Provost, Editor of the Handbook. "This resource is designed to be immediately useful for everyone, from experienced editors seeking to transform their newsrooms' approach to reporting, to younger journalists and journalism students who are passionate about centering equity in their work. It’s a roadmap for a more inclusive and impactful future for the field."

The Feminist Investigative Journalism Handbook reflects ongoing work by people around the world to practically challenge the exclusion of women, LGBTQI people, and racialised communities from investigative agenda – and teams. 

The Handbook has five parts, each of which contain two case studies and a methodology chapter. Part 1: The Unheard, focuses on whose voices are listened to (because there’s no such thing as ‘the voiceless’). Part 2: The Uncounted, focuses on data gaps and doing data journalism when datasets don’t already exist. Part 3: The Under-attack, looks at organised opposition to women’s and LGBTQI rights and transnational networks, finances and strategies of this opposition – which investigative journalists have done a lot to reveal. Part 4: The Unaccountable, looks at investigative journalism that seeks to go beyond exposing injustice – to challenging it, and how linking up across disciplines can also help with this. Finally, Part 5: The Underrepresented, focuses on efforts to transform the journalism sector – and make the media more representative of diverse audiences and communities.

Justin Schlosberg, Media Studies Professor at the University of Westminster, said: "This handbook could not have come at a more prescient time. As journalism educators we urgently need a new set of tools, perspectives and approaches. As this handbook reveals, it is not just a question of what stories are told, but also in what ways and to what audiences. In doing so, it signposts a path towards a more inclusive, diverse and ultimately impactful culture of investigative journalism, and it shows us that only with a rigorously feminist orientation can the watchdog truly bark."

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About the Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC)

The Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC) is a non-profit initiative bringing together current and future journalists, researchers and activists in service of journalism’s core social purpose: to support democracy. 

Contact:

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Co-Founder/Co-Director

nana@theijsc.org