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It’s good to know that the kind of investigative journalism pursued by our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry is playing a key role in protecting innocent people from crooks and fraudsters, as we receive yet another message of support, and new details emerge about one of the countless journalistic organisations which are providing intelligence to the Ukrainian authorities.
Sometimes investigative journalism does some good.
A free independent media is essential, and on numerous occasions I have been contacted by potential victims of the crooks we have exposed, to praise stories on The Eye which have helped them.
The most recent was just a few days ago, with the message ending: “Thank you for saving me with your article”.
All of this has been put centre stage for me by more information coming to light about undercover journalistic groups that play an important role in assisting the Ukrainian authorities, as they try to repel Russia.
Some of them (like The Eye) have NO state funding whatsoever, and operate on a purely freelance basis.
There is, for instance, InformNapalm.
This organisation was set up by journalists, an IT specialist as well as a dentist, and is proving to be a particular thorn in the side of the Russian military.
The Informnapalm.org website was created in March 2014 after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and unlawful annexation of Crimea.
They’re all volunteers and they have conducted two major investigations into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, as well as gathered evidence about the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory (which was denied by Russia).
They collect and analyse OSINT-information, found in open sources, including on social networks.
InformNapalm’s investigation of the Russian 53rd Artillery Brigade commander Colonel Sergei Muchkayev, suspected of killing the MH17 passengers and other atrocities, was crucial.
Their involvement in subverting a publicity photograph was central in identifying members of the 960th Assault Aviation Regiment.
Then there’s Bellingcat.
It is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking.
It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014, and has published the findings of both professional and citizen journalist investigations into war zones, human rights abuses, and the criminal underworld.
In his first book Mr Higgins told how open source investigation has redefined reporting in the 21st century, and argued that the internet can be a force for good, despite bad actors, complacent technology firms and an explosion in alternative so-called ‘facts’.
The site’s contributors also publish guides to their techniques, as well as case studies.
Bellingcat began as an investigation into the use of certain weapons in the Syrian civil war.
Its reports on the Russo-Ukrainian War (including the downing of the Malaysian flight), the Yemeni Civil War, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, as well as the killing of civilians by the Cameroon Armed Forces have attracted international attention.
More power to their elbow I say.
Sometimes all the abuse and empty legal threats I suffer (and I’m sure Bellingcat as well as InformNapalm get the same) are worth enduring!
The memories of Phil’s astounding, decades long award-winning career in journalism (when investigations exposed huge wrong-doing, but abuse invariably followed) as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now.
From Russia without love part two comes soon, where Phil looks at how more worrying details are emerging that Russia’s covert measures have reached a “level previously unseen” with journalists on The Eye also being targeted.
