Following the money
There’s an old adage in journalism: follow the money. It means to look beyond the obvious story and find who benefits financially, who’s getting paid, who’s writing the checks. When those investigations threaten powerful interests, journalists can face serious consequences.
The scale of risk
Corruption investigations span from local contract fraud to international money laundering operations. The scale of financial interests at stake often correlates with the level of risk journalists face. Large-scale corruption typically involves networks of people who have significant resources to protect their operations.
