investigative journalism

Channel 4 commissions documentary into chef allegedly involved in hundreds of assisted suicides

James Beal sits in a darkened room, hands clasped in front of him and looking attentive

Kenneth Law lives in Toronto, and is accused of sending over 1,000 packages of poison around the world to people intent on dying by suicide.

The deaths allegedly connected to Law now number in the hundreds, including 97 in the UK. Due to stand trial for numerous counts of first-degree murder in Canada, a conviction would officially make Law one of the most prolific killers in history.

Open-source material is transforming the world of investigative journalism

The work that we do… is really expensive, resource-heavy and time-heavy. Maybe we can pull together a really big investigation every two months, but we see the impact and the audiences – that’s what keeps CNN and other [news] organisations… investing in investigative work.”

Nima Elbagir, CNN’s chief international investigative correspondent, was extolling the virtue of combining old-fashioned journalism with forensic open-source investigative techniques to compile reports from the world’s trouble spots.