Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo ( ''Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism''; abbreviated as ABRAJI) is an organization for Brazilian Journalists wanting to exchange information, experiences, and tips about

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

. They are a non-profit association maintained by the journalists themselves. Some of their goals include: holding congresses, seminars, and specialized workshops; taking care of the professional improvement of journalists; publishing books on the subject; and hosting forums for exchanging experiences.

History

The concept for the ABRAJI was realized in a seminar called Jornalismo Investigativo: Ética, Técnicas e Perigos ( ''Investigative Journalism: Ethics, Techniques and Dangers''). The event was organized by the

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened i ...

of the

University of Texas in Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 202 ...

and was directed by Brazilian journalist

Rosental Alves Rosental Calmon Alves (born 1952) is a Brazilian journalist. Alves began his journalism career at the age of sixteen. He studied journalism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Aged 21, he began lecturing and teaching journalism in Brazi ...

. There, the journalists asked themselves why there was no Brazilian institution for investigative journalists like

Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...

in the United States or the Centro de Periodismo de Investigación in Mexico. A group of 45 journalists from several newsrooms began exchanging emails at the initiative of Marcelo Beraba, the director of the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

branch of ''

Folha de S. Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã co ...

'', a Brazilian newspaper. Following a positive reception and the arrival of new journalists, Rosental Alves organized an email discussion list in the form of a

LISTSERV The term Listserv (styled by the registered trademark licensee, L-Soft International, Inc., as LISTSERV) has been used to refer to electronic mailing list software applications in general, but is more properly applied to a few early instances of ...

. The computers at the University of Texas, where Alves was teaching, hosted the discussion list. In 2020, the association conducted its first virtual congress due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The event was free of charge and hosted 10,000 attendees..

Investigative journalism

In 2018, Ctrl+X—a project by the association that monitors attempts to lessen information on the internet—reported that Brazilian politicians went to the

Brazilian Election Justice The Brazilian Election Justice () was created by Decree No. 21,076 of 24 February 1932, representing one of the innovations of the Brazilian Revolution of 1930. In 1932 the first edited Brazilian election code was passed. It was inspired by the e ...

340 times to hide information published on the internet, such as negative news and posts critical of the 2018 election candidates. In 2019, data from Ctrl+X reported that more than 800 Brazilian politicians resorted to lawsuits asking for internet content to be removed between 2018 and 2019. In 93.5% of the cases, they claimed "defamation" to censor information. In a survey done in March 2021, ABRAJI noted that at least 174 journalists had been blocked by Brazilian public figures on Twitter. Among these public figures included president

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

, his Twitter profile having blocked 50 journalists.

Books

Books written by ABRAJI's associates and promoted by the organization in its website: * ''10 reportagens que abalaram a ditadura'' (''10 news reports that shook the

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

''), published by Editora Record * ''50 Anos de Crimes – Reportagens policiais que marcaram o jornalismo brasileiro'' (50 Years of Crime – Police reports that have marked Brazilian journalism), published by Editora Record

Awards

, - ! scope="row" , 2003 , Melhor Contribuição à Imprensa (''Best Contribution to the Press'') , ExxonMobil Journalism Award , , for "contributing to the improvement of the quality of journalism, as well as the defense of the professional prerogatives of journalism" , , - ! scope="row" , 2012 , Liberdade de Imprensa (''Freedom of Press award'') , Associação Nacional de Jornais , , , , - ! scope="row" , 2013 , Personalidade de 2013 (''Person of 2013'') , Faz Diferença , , ,

References

External links