The Panama Papers, was a giant leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records that exposed a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies. PHOTO/ICIJ
By ABDULHAKIM SHERMAN
newsdesk@reporter.co.ke
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association donated US$ 1 million during the Golden Globes Awards ceremony in Los Angeles to International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is a global network of more than 200 investigative journalists in 70 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories.
Founded in 1997 by the respected American journalist Chuck Lewis, ICIJ was launched as a project of the Center for Public Integrity, focusing on issues that do not stop at national frontiers: cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. It defend the right of journalists to report news without fear of reprisal. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.
This marks the first time in the Golden Globes’ 75-year history that a donation has been announced during the live broadcast of the Golden Globes Awards ceremony.
“Being an association of journalists,” said the press association’s president Meher Tatna, “we are keenly aware of its importance, especially today.”
Tatna said that Truth is under attack – economically and politically – and now is the time to defend it.
“We are extremely grateful to the press association for its kindness to the ICIJ and its support of CPJ,” ICIJ director Gerard Ryle, said in a statement.
Mr Ryle said ICIJ will use the donation to support the investigative journalism that it is known for by bringing accountability on a global scale.
“Our unique style of collaborative journalism, which brings together giant teams of journalists worldwide, allows us to do this in ways never seen before,” he said.
He added that the generous donation will allow ICIJ to bring scrutiny to repressive and dangerous regimes and to systems designed to channel more and more of the world’s resources into the hands of the rich and powerful.
“It will help us serve the public’s need for openness and transparency,” he noted.
The ICIJ has been behind groundbreaking and trendsetting cross-border investigative projects that include Paradise Papers that revealed offshore interests and activities of more than 120 politicians and world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II, and 13 advisers, major donors and members of U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
The ICIJ was also behind The Panama Papers, a giant leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records that exposed a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies.
