Bureau of Investigative Journalism

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Group.png Bureau of Investigative Journalism   WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
AbbreviationIWPR
Formation2010
HeadquartersLondon UK
Sponsored byBill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google News Initiative, Luminate

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) is a self-professed "independent, not-for-profit organisation that holds power to account" [1]. Dig a bit deeper, and you will find several signs of connections to intelligence services; 'scoops' that only marginally challenge power, collaboration with other intelligence cutouts, easy collaboration with eager major mainstream media outlets, a very neat website for an alternative media outlet, suspected intelligence workers as team members etc.


Intelligence ties

TBIJ states "we have been working with not-for-profit news organisation Correctiv in Germany to replicate the model over there." [2] Correctiv is an German intelligence cutout, a "fact finder" filled old spooks to discredit alternative news sites.

James Ball who was exposed as collaborator with Integity Initiative also works for TBIJ

Since its founding it has collaborated with Panorama, Newsnight, and File on 4 at the BBC, Channel 4 News and Dispatches, as well as the Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Times, among others.

Funding

Being well founded, it can afford to hire real investigative journalist to mix with spooks, unwitting to the TBIJ possibly at its core being controlled/influenced by the government. It yearly report 2018 states " our team has built a community of over 800 members who have worked together on 10 investigations." This kind of journalism is not cheap. Given that most alternative media run on shoestring budgets or is done for free out of necessity, this easy funding from big foundations is conspicuous.

Some of the workers there have worked for other sites that recieves Soros etc. funding, like openDemocracy.

The major sponsor is the rich married couple David Potter and Elaine Potter, the founders of TBIJ.

TBIJ has many funding partners, including Luminate, Rudolf Augstein Stiftung, Lankelly Chase Foundation,George Soros and his[Open Society Foundations]], European Journalism Centre, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Reva and David Logan Foundation, Google: Global News Initiative, The Evan Cornish Foundation, Pears Foundation, Agora Journalism Center, Adessium Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trustand Guardian.org Foundation

In addition, Google sponsored fellowships for new journalists at the Bureau, and they received pro bono services from Gorkana and Simons, Muirhead & Burton solicitors.

2018 budget: KEY: Donations from Individuals: £240,433, Trusts and foundations: £299,899, Project Grants: £610,312 TOTAL: £1,155,877<ref?https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6379061-The-Bureau-of-Investigative-Journalism-Annual.html</ref>