Amman – August 2025

ARIJ has concluded a series of 9 weekly interactive webinars totaling 14.5 training hours, held during June, July, and early August, aimed at enhancing the skills of university professors, academics, journalists, and media students across the Arab world. The series is part of the project “University Partnerships and Investigative Research Curricula,” supported by the Carnegie Corporation.

The webinars were based on the ARIJ Investigative Journalism Manual and covered the entire process of producing investigative reports, from idea generation and hypothesis formulation to evidence gathering, interviewing, writing, fact-checking, and preparing for publication.

Broad Participation from 27 Countries

The sessions saw wide engagement from across the Arab world and beyond, with over 1,249 journalists from 27 countries. Sessions were led by some of ARIJ’s top trainers, who delivered rich content through interactive methods and real-world examples drawn from their experience in investigative journalism across local and regional contexts.

Webinar Topics Included:

• What is Investigative Journalism?
• Using Hypotheses: The Core of the Investigative Method
• Timelines and Source Maps
• The Power of Open Sources
• Working with Human Sources: Interviews, Undercover Work, and Safety
• Uses of the Masterfile and How to Create One
• Writing Investigative Reports
• Fact-Checking
• Building Impact through Partnerships

Toward Practical and Professional Journalism Education

Through this initiative, ARIJ aims to bridge the gap between academic education and professional practice in investigative journalism by continuously developing the Arabic-language curricula and strengthening university-level training through hands-on learning.

These sessions also offered journalists, trainers, and students the opportunity to learn strategies and tools that help them produce high-quality journalism that serves the public interest and fosters a culture of transparency and accountability in Arab societies.

It is worth noting that applications remain open for the ARIJ Student Competition until September 30, 2025. The competition encourages students to explore the contents of the manual and creatively transfer its knowledge and skills into short videos, as well as register to attend ARIJ’s annual forum.