WASHINGTON, D.C. September 21, 2005 — Members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are among the world's best investigative reporters, a special cadre of journalists who explore the world with unusually perceptive and skeptical eyes. They examine and challenge, and tell their fellow citizens of the planet what is happening that seriously affects them.

David Kaplan, ICIJ member and the chief investigative correspondent at U.S. News & World Report chats with ICIJ Director Wendell “Sonny” Rawls during a break from panel discussions at the ICIJ Members’ Conference held August 4th-8th, 2005 in London. Photo by Daniel Politi More than 60 of the 95 members, as well as guest speakers, panelists, ICIJ and Center for Public Integrity staff, board and advisory committee members gathered in London in August for the first global conference since 2001 and the first ever outside the United States. These remarkable, talented and courageous journalists shared their insights and ideas with their colleagues and departed with renewed vigor, enhanced morale and rejuvenated sense of mission. They also welcomed Wendell Rawls, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and editor, as the new Director of ICIJ.

The conference featured a number of panel discussions that examined our members’ successful investigations for their own news organizations, training sessions on the most effective use of computer-assisted reporting and database mining, reviews of ICIJ’s most successful investigative reports done since the last conference, and proposals for new projects for which we should pursue funding and undertake reporting.

The post-conference evaluations were highly positive. The members found the sessions useful, and more than two-thirds of those who responded said the meetings increased their interest in participating in ICIJ projects. One of the plans that received enthusiastic support was a possible switch to hosting three or four regional conferences a year instead of an annual global conference; the global gathering would then be held once every two or three years.

Mei-Ling Hopgood and Thomas Maier pose with their awards at the ICIJ Members’ Conference in London. Hopgood won the 2004 award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting for her work with the Dayton Daily News. Maier accepted the 2002 ICIJ award for a five-part series published in Newsday. Photo by Daniel Politi As should be expected from a group as diverse and ambitious as the ICIJ membership, the possibilities for new investigations were wide-ranging and challenging. Investigative interests were expressed about the activities of organized crime, corrupt governments, human traffickers, illegal financiers and human rights violators.

As was anticipated in London, ICIJ projects are being enthusiastically received by financial supporters. Funding for one has been approved, while funding for another has gotten initial approval as the international part of a larger ongoing project. ICIJ has received encouraging support for a third project; the Center has been told that the proposal will be forwarded to a foundation board with a staff recommendation for approval.

Socially, the conference was also a success. The Guardian newspaper and its editor Alan Rusbridger graciously hosted the conference at a cocktail reception and fellow ICIJ member and journalism legend Phillip Knightley gave a stirring and entertaining keynote address at the conference banquet. He looked back on his 50 years in journalism and looked ahead to what the future could bring in a shrinking, conglomerate-controlled journalistic world.

We also presented ICIJ Investigative Reporting Awards to Mei Ling Hopgood and Russell Carollo, of the Dayton Daily News, for 2004; and Thomas Maier, of Newsday, for 2002. Jeffrey Goldberg, of The New Yorker, the 2003 winner, was not present to be recognized. The awards are funded by the John and Florence Newman Foundation. The conference was funded by portions of a grant from the Lovelace Foundation.

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