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5 investigative videos from The I Files

The Center for Investigative Reporting launches a new YouTube channel. 

 

Michelle Jaworski

Tech

Posted on Aug 2, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 1:27 pm CDT

Investigative journalism is digging deep into YouTube.

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) launched an investigative journalism channel today. Working from Berkeley, Calif., The I Files is funded by a grant from the Knight Foundation and will feature some of the biggest news outlets such as the BBC, the New York Times, and Al Jazeera, as well as independent reporters and producers. The CIR will also work with the Investigative News Network.

“We hope to create a community of engaged viewers and video journalists who share a passion for discovering how the world really works and how it can change,” wrote CIR Senior Producer Stephen Talbot.

More people are going to YouTube for their news than ever, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism; YouTube even created a central hub where viewers could find video made and uploaded by citizen journalists.

The I Files plans to showcase investigative pieces from around the world and comes after a report by the Federal Communications Commision revealed that investigative journalism was “at risk at the local level.”

Two weeks before it launched, the CIR posted a preview to its channel and promised to produce groundbreaking investigations with information and insight.

Since its official launch, The I Files already has 463 subscribers.

“That’s our assignment at The I Files: to be timely and relevant, to provide an outlet for a citizen journalist who captures an incredible moment on camera, but above all to dig deeper and to present well-reported and engaging stories that offer real information and insights,” Talbot explained.

The CIR also plans to contact journalism schools across the U.S. and ask students to submit video for The I Files Future Awards contest, where the top 10 videos will be posted on The I Files, according to The I Files online engagement coordinator Julia B. Chan.

To give you a better idea of what The I Files has to offer, the Daily Dot picked out five recent videos.

1) “The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers”

2) “Syrian Army Steps up attack on rebels in Aleppo”

3) “Death in the Lab”

4) “Thailand Bomb Squad”

5) “Jane Doe 1”

Photo via YouTube

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*First Published: Aug 2, 2012, 4:22 pm CDT