The Daphne Project is a collaborative, cross-border investigative journalism project by major news organizations from around the world, coordinated by Paris-based investigative non-profit newsroom, Forbidden Stories, to continue the work of Maltese investigative journalist

Daphne Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (; 26 August 1964 – 16 October 2017) was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta. In particular, she focused on investigative journalism, repor ...

. Their work has been facilitated through the

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...

(OCCRP), a member of

Global Investigative Journalism Network The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) is "an international association of nonprofit organizations that support, promote and produce investigative journalism." The association is headquartered in the United States, and its membership i ...

. They published their first in a series of reports in April 2018.

Background

On April 17, 2018, Forbidden Stories launched The Daphne Project by publishing the first of a series of reports by a consortium of 45 journalists from 18 news outlets to complete Caruana Galizia's investigative work. The Daphne Project journalists "work to unpack the circumstances of Caruana Galizia’s murder and expose the web of corruption in Malta that made it possible".

Publications

Laurent Richard's article "A warning to the corrupt: if you kill a journalist, another will take their place", was published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' on April 16, 2018. It was the first in the series and Richard's message was to let "those who tried to halt Daphne Caruana Galizia’s work in Malta" know that they failed. On April 17, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' published a lengthy article, "In Journalist's Murder, a Test for Malta, and the European Union", citing a European Parliament report, "The brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia was aimed at instilling fear in everyone, especially those involved in investigating and prosecuting cases of money laundering and corruption." The ''Times'' described Galizia as, " ted by many but read by all, her post about alta's economy minister, Christian Cardonahad 547,146 page views; Malta has 460,000 people." ''Reuters'' in-depth April 17 publication entitled "The silencing of Daphne", included a production crew with photography and video. Photography by Darrin Zammit Lupi; Development by Ashlyn Still, Matthew Weber; Data by Crina Boros; Video by Matthew Larotonda, Adam Wiesen; Visual editor by Sarah Slobin; Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Additional photography by Matthew Larotonda ''Reuter'' cited

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

parliament member,

Ana Gomes Ana Maria Rosa Martins Gomes (born 9 February 1954), better known as Ana Gomes, is a Portuguese former diplomat and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). She earned wide recognition for her role in negotiating independence for East Timor, a ...

, who led an EU mission to Malta in 2016, to "examine the rule of law and progress on preventing money-laundering". She said, "The culture of impunity in Malta ... fosters corruption, organised financial criminality and state capture. And it was that culture that created the conditions for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia." In their November 9, 2018, OCCRP article, ''Reuters'' journalists, Stephen Grey and Tom Arnold, revealed that ''Reuters'' and The Daphne Project had obtained documents showing details about 17 Black Limited, a company that Galizia had mentioned in her blog eight months before she was killed.Grey and Arnold wrote in their November 9, 2018, OCCRP article that, according to a Dubai bank and UAE banking correspondence, Yorgen Fenech was owner of 17 Black. In 2013, the Maltese government granted a contract worth 450 million euros ($517 million) to build a gas power station on Malta. The documents showed that Konrad Mizzi—Malta's energy minister from 2013 to 2016—and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, "owned two Panamanian companies and expected to get payments from an offshore company connected" to Yorgen Fenech, CEO of Tumas Group, that had won a large Malta government concession to build a multi-million dollar gas power plant on Malta. Mizzi, Schembri, and Fenech deny any wrongdoing. This story was confirmed by ''

The Malta Independent ''The Malta Independent'' is a national newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide v ...

''.

Members

Most Daphne Project journalists have also worked with

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C. with pe ...

(ICIJ) or the

(OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists. They have worked with major news outlets, such as ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'', ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', the ''

Times of Malta The ''Times of Malta'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Malta. Founded in 1935, by Lord and Lady Strickland and Lord Strickland's daughter Mabel, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Malta. It has the widest circu ...

'', and "top papers in France, Italy, and Germany", a collaborative effort to complete Caruana Galizia's investigative work.

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning German investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer with the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

-based newspaper ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

'' (SZ), helped found the Forbidden Stories platform and serves as Vice President.It was Obermayer who received the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

from an anonymous source. According to an April 4, 2016 ''Wired'' article, Obermayer said, "that the source contacted him via encrypted chat, offering some sort of data intended 'to make these crimes public.' But the source warned that his or her 'life is in danger,' was only willing to communicate via encrypted channels, and refused to meet in person."

Popular culture

In Venice on August 30, 2019,

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

, who has the lead role in

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker. Soderbergh's direc ...

's '' The Laundromat'', which is about

Mossack Fonseca Mossack Fonseca & Co. () was a Panamanian law firm and Corporate services, corporate service provider. In the film, which premiered on September 1 in Venice, Streep's character is a Texan widow who inadvertently exposes the directors of Mossack Fonseca as she seeks answers about her late husband's savings.

Jürgen Mossack Jürgen Rolf Dieter Mossack (born 20 March 1948) is a German-born Panamanian lawyer and the co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm headquartered in Panama City which had more than 40 offices worldwide. The firm gained global notoriety ...

is played in the film by

Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...

, and

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

plays Ramón Fonseca. Soderbergh's inspiration for the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

was

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's 1964 ''

Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...

'', a

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

about the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and

nuclear arms race The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuc ...

between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Soderbergh said that, "a dark comedy would have the best possible chance of remaining in the minds of the viewers and also gave us the opportunity to use the complexity of these kind of financial activities almost as a joke, almost as a setup for a punchline. Otherwise viewers would feel as if they were being educated as opposed to entertained."

Notes

References

External links

The Daphne Project
at Forbidden Stories {{DEFAULTSORT:Daphne Project, The Journalism organizations