As TBIJ marks its 15th year, our mission matters more than ever
In the spirit of its formidable founder, this newsroom has shown how rigorous reporting can change the world
Elaine Potter inspired me to join the Bureau. When I was interviewed for the position of CEO and editor-in-chief, she asked me what from my life story made me a good fit to lead this extraordinary and formidable newsroom. Curiosity and inclusion are a powerful thing.
And so is purpose.
Impactful public-interest journalism is what drives every single person who works at the Bureau. Purpose is firmly rooted in our DNA. Indeed it has been ever since we were established 15 years ago this week.
Elaine, who co-founded TBIJ with her husband David, was a pioneer of investigative reporting: a woman in a man’s world, with a fierce determination to shine a light on truth and hold power to account. She made her name during “a golden era of journalism” at the Sunday Times, where she saw first-hand journalism’s power to drive meaningful change.
“Week after week, month after month we ran stories about thalidomide,” she told Kingston University’s graduating students two years ago. “In the end we achieved a more than 10-fold increase in compensation for all the victims of the drug and, some years later, after an application to the European court. A judgment in our favour expanded press freedom in the UK.”
Those same values of rigorous reporting and real-world change have remained at the heart of the organisation she set up in 2010. In the years since, the Bureau has lifted the lid on US drone strikes, unrecorded deaths in police custody, Pentagon propaganda campaigns, Big Tobacco’s secretive payments, useless cancer drugs and killings on a Kenyan megafarm.
And our impact has been remarkable. The Bureau’s reporting has reshaped international supply chains, opened up access to medical oxygen and prompted human rights investigations. Our impact has also been felt within labour unions, inside parliament and even at major football clubs.
Today, our work is ever more imperative. The chaotic state of the world, the spread of mis- and disinformation, the erosion of trust in public institutions and failings in public accountability – all point to a real threat to democracy and the urgent need for strong accountability journalism.
There has never been a time where transparency and truth have mattered more. And the Bureau is stepping up our work, across all our areas of expertise: climate, big tech, anti-corruption, health and injustice in the UK.
Our reporting is nothing if not courageous. We follow the facts and hold power to account – in the public interest, for the public and sometimes alongside the public. We’re on a mission to shift the dial, one story at a time. And today, we’re aiming to be even more ambitious in our investigations, to diversify our talent, to reimagine inclusive storytelling.
I recently asked Elaine Potter for her reflections on the Bureau and its mission. She told me that its importance has, if anything, grown greater. “The alarming and chaotic state of the world, the difficulty in finding the truth and ensuring accountability for those with the power to avoid it,” she said. “The Bureau was built to address these very questions and will continue along this path of probing for the truth with fierce determination.”
Journalism is a force for global good, and our work continues – for today, tomorrow and proudly for the next decade to come.
