Dear friends, colleagues, partners, and supporters
The year coming to an end has been a challenging one, testing not only our resilience but also our journalistic skills to cover corruption schemes, issues of integrity in public service, a war that impacts us all, and the crises stemming from it. The team at the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJM) and the Anticoruptie.md portal has investigated and uncovered corruption schemes, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, rigged procurement processes, and integrity issues in the justice system and public sector, as well as hybrid warfare schemes of propaganda and disinformation. We kept a close eye on the reforms initiated by the government while remaining attuned to the citizens' problems.
The year 2024 has been tough, perhaps the hardest in the last 20 years, but we must acknowledge that we managed to overcome the difficulties and have come this far. The dedicated team at the Center for Investigative Journalism has accomplished remarkable work despite extremely limited resources.
This year, our small yet courageous team completed nearly 70 investigative reports and over 5,000 other journalistic materials. These were published on the portals www.anticoruptie.md and www.investigatii.md and were picked up by dozens of other media outlets in the country and abroad. We have upheld our commitment to honest, professional journalism, never competing with the armies of copy-pasters.
This year, criminal cases were again initiated based on our team's investigative reports, with some cases from previous years now reaching the courts. Former President Igor Dodon appeared in court over the Energocom case. This case originated from an investigative report our team produced in 2008. Integrity inspectors have also taken up cases of integrity violations by officials, judges, and prosecutors, which our CIJM team exposed in their press investigations.
This year, the team at the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJM) represented the Women Investigative Journalists Network (WIJN) from Eastern Partnership countries and became part of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). CIJM journalists collaborated on cross-border investigative projects with colleagues from Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia.
One major project focused on the environmental impact of the war in Ukraine on several countries. This series of investigative reports, conducted in partnership with Ukrainian colleagues, received local and international recognition and awards.
CIJM strengthened the Investigative Journalists Network of Moldova, which now brings together approximately 50 journalists from all regions of the country and various media outlets. Within this network, CIJM provided mentorship to less experienced journalists to help them develop investigative reporting skills. Meanwhile, journalists from the Anticoruptie.md portal worked closely with regional colleagues to uncover corruption schemes, embezzlement of public funds, and propaganda and disinformation networks.
This year, CIJM’s expertise was shared with journalists from Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Lithuania at various international and regional conferences and meetings.
In 2024, CIJM stood in solidarity with journalists in Kyrgyzstan, who have been unjustly imprisoned and convicted simply for doing their job professionally. In February, at the Kyrgyz Journalists’ Forum, CIJM presented a Courage Award to the team of journalists at Media Hub in Bishkek.
A highlight of the year was the launch of the inaugural Investigative Journalists Forum, held in March in Chișinău, which brought together over 60 participants from four countries.
CIJM journalists also teamed up with colleagues from Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan to conduct cross-border investigations.
However, the year also brought significant challenges. The CIJM websites, www.anticoruptie.md and www.investigatii.md, faced severe cyberattacks aimed at their complete destruction. Thanks to support from the Swedish organization Quirium Media Foundation , we managed to restore and maintain functionality. CIJM journalists were targeted on social media, with fake accounts created to discredit our work. Legal actions and criminal proceedings were also initiated against investigative journalists, often triggered by individuals exposed in our reports.
Despite these challenges, we persevered. We didn’t lose a single court case and successfully defended our rights, including access to public-interest information. We also supported dozens of investigative journalists facing difficulties by providing legal advice and assistance.
None of this would have been possible without the support we received from our funding organizations, including International Media Support (IMS) from Denmark, the Soros Foundation-Moldova, German Cooperation, and GIZ Moldova, as part of a larger project supported by the EU, Freedom House, and ERIM. We have also continued and initiated partnerships with organizations such as Lawyers for Human Rights, Transparency International Moldova, Expert Group, the Cu Sens media project, API, CAPC, the Echo of Cahul Association, and others.
As investigative journalism is resource-intensive, requiring significant time and human effort, we continue to rely on support from donors and contributions from citizens worldwide. We are deeply grateful to those who support us through small donations, including the 2% income tax contributions, those who read our materials, volunteer to share them, and those who use our resources or report cases to us, especially through the Corruption Map. These reports include cases of corruption, abuses by public officials, the fraudulent management of public funds, and integrity issues.
We thank all the active citizens, experts, and everyone who has assisted us in the documentation process for our investigations.
We are grateful not only for our successes but also for our progress in achieving higher performance goals this year. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our team, partners, and supporters, to whom we are endlessly thankful.
The Anticorupție.md portal, a specialized platform with a unique focus, was visited by over 1 million unique users who accessed our journalistic content more than 5 million times, according to Google Analytics. However, our internal site monitoring shows that monthly visits to our materials range between 5 million and 10 million.
Looking ahead to 2025, new challenges and projects await us. To meet them, we hope to stay united and strong, to live in peace, and for our loved ones to remain healthy. To all of you who stood by us in 2024, we are profoundly grateful. Thank you, and we wish you health, the presence of your loved ones, success in everything you pursue, and that your dreams come to life in the new year!
We encourage you to continue following us and standing with us in the new year!
Happy New Year!
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