On Thursday September 10, 2015 the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and CONNECTAS in collaboration with Asociacion Sobrevivencia Cultural began a three-day Investigative Journalism training workshop in Guatemala City. The project is part of an ICFJ initiative to foster investigative journalism in Latin America. Guatemala is one of three countries in Central America to benefit from the training workshops Honduras and El Salvador have already hosted similar events. The three-day workshop brought together over 10 Guatemalan journalists from various media, including community radio.
The event began discussing “ Opportunities of the digital era for new media platforms” with the participation of well-known journalists like Sandra Crucianelli from SoloLocal.ingo Argentina, Enrique Naveda from PlazaPublica Guatemala, Carlos Eduardo Huertas from CONNECTAS Colombia and Daniel Lizarraga Aristegui from Noticias Mexico. An open discussion panel was held from 6:00pm-8:00pm on Thursday September 10, where over 30 journalists attended to hear about the experiences and advice from these recognized media leaders.
Investigative Journalism is a form of journalism that allows journalists to deeply investigate a topic of interest in their community. Investigative journalism allows journalist of all areas to bring out stories in their communities that can impact the world. “Latin America is very rich in stories, both good and bad, however there are very few investigative journalists in Latin America due to the delicate state of the job and the lack of tools to pursue it” said Carlos Eduardo Huertas from CONNECTAS Colombia, trainer and panelist.
The event concluded on Saturday September 12, with a lunch and follow up plan for the participants. The participants are expected to propose a subject for an investigative journalist story and present it at the end of the year. Investigative journalism is gaining ground in countries like Guatemala where corruption and human rights abuses are very common.
