The Centre for Investigative Journalism
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Bespoke Training

Alongside our scheduled courses, the CIJ offers bespoke training programmes. As part of these packages, we work closely with editors, research teams and their managers to understand the skills they currently possess, the skills they know they need, and the areas where our training can help in ways they may not be aware of. Regardless of the size of your organisation and the experience of your teams, we can put together a training programme that will enhance your investigations, save you time and increase your impact.

Who we’ve trained

Amnesty International
i News
Channel 5 News
ITV News
FT Specialist
Euromoney
The Times Educational Supplement
The Telegraph
Springer Nature
Liberty Investigates
Open Ownership
The Ferret
Incisive Media
iMEdD
Inclusive Development International
Good Morning Britain
King’s College London Student Society
Scottish Trades Union Congress
Oxfam: Fair Finance Asia
Vice Media
TV Asahi
Tobacco Tactics
Royal Academy of Art, Netherlands
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport

Testimonials

Over the years, ITV News journalists have benefited greatly from several different training courses provided by The Centre of Investigative Journalism. From valuable techniques on how to carry out an investigation with the ‘Story-based Inquiry Method’, to key skills in ‘Finding Stories with Data’, to the latest ingenious tips and tricks in ‘Digital Tools for Investigation’ – our teams have learned an invaluable amount from TCIJ training. We’re very grateful to be able to tap into TCIJ’s extensive network of expertise in so many different fields of journalism.

— ITV News
feedback on various training courses

I learnt so much on Jonathan’s course, from the Excel basics to cleaning and sorting data and to how to send out FOIs more efficiently. All the resources he showed us were incredibly helpful and will be invaluable to finding stories and telling them in the best way possible.

— i News
feedback on Data-Driven Investigations & Web Scraping

This course gave an excellent and clear insight into how to use Python, tailored to our project ideas.

 

— Liberty Investigates
feedback on Investigating Data with Python

I thought the training was excellent – engaging, interesting and full of useful information. I enjoyed it a great deal and am already thinking of how to use some aspects in our conversations with stakeholders here in Armenia. So our most sincere thanks to Leila and Jonathan for delivering such good sessions, and to Beth and Tom for dealing with all the organisation and planning.

— Open Ownership
feedback on Data Journalism training

FFA is proud to partner with the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ). Through engaging and interactive trainings, CIJ has supported FFA’s efforts to build the capacity of CSO partners and journalists to raise awareness on pertinent sustainable finance issues and cross-cutting themes like climate change and the energy transition.

— Oxfam: Fair Finance Asia
feedback on multiple training programmes

IDI’s team of corporate accountability researchers found CIJ’s training to be extremely valuable. It expanded our investigative tool box in important ways. In particular, the open source intelligence training was cutting edge and accessible. We’ve integrated many of the techniques we learned into our research methodology.

— Inclusive Development International
feedback on OSINT training

The bespoke Financial Education training course the CIJ put together for us was incredibly useful and practical. It will be invaluable in helping us to investigate companies that profit at the expense of Scotland’s workers and public services.

— Scottish Trades Union Congress
feedback on Financial Investigations

Our team of journalists have had two training sessions with CIJ – Digital Security and Companies House – and found both extremely useful. We feel it’s important to continually update our skill sets and CIJ offers a wide range of expert tutoring which is invaluable for investigative journalism.

— The Ferret
feedback on Digital Security and How to Use Companies House training

Many thanks to the CIJ for organising a terrific data journalism programme. My colleagues who attended are raving about it. This was a typical, and entirely unprompted, response:

“I’m now looking forward to seeing more data-rich investigations across our titles that deliver more valuable, actionable stories for our professional audiences.”

— Incisive Media
feedback on Data Journalism training

Potential Training Topics

Financial Investigations

Taught by forensic accountants and veteran finance journalists, this course is designed to show you how to understand company accounts and get beyond the corporate PR spin.

Data Journalism

The techniques of data journalism have evolved since the days of Computer-Assisted-Reporting, but the principles of Philip Meyer’s Precision Journalism still apply. From the Migrant Files to the Panama Papers, data has been providing leads, analysis, evidence and explainers for some of the best, hardest hitting journalism of recent times.

Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information legislation can be an incredibly powerful tool for journalists. This workshop explains how to make effective use of the UK Freedom of Information Act.

Source Protection

The task of source protection is arguably the most important responsibility for a serious investigative journalist. A crucial question for investigative journalists is how to marry information and communication technology with the need for security and privacy?

Investigative Methodology

Story-Based Inquiry treats investigative journalism as an integrated process focused on producing an original story. Based on a process developed by Mark Lee Hunter, a leading investigator and academic, and Luuk Sengers, a journalist and lecturer, this is a well-established methodology that offers practical training in producing an evidence-based narrative.

Open-Source Intelligence

From early conflict and munitions monitoring to high-profile investigations such as Anatomy of a Killing, using advanced internet research techniques has quickly developed to become a crucial practice for journalists in both breaking news and long-form investigations.