In this episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists’ podcast, OCCRP senior editor Rana Sabbagh takes us behind the scenes of the documentary “Syria: Addicted to Captagon.” During the year-long investigation, Sabbagh and her colleagues interviewed drug smugglers and drug addicts, battled authorities over crucial evidence and skirted danger to show how high-ranking Syrian officials have profited from the production and smuggling of a highly addictive amphetamine.

Sabbagh is a senior editor for the Middle East - North Africa for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. She is a longtime investigative journalist and the 2024 ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award winner.

• Syria: Addicted to Captagon (English)
• Syria: Addicted to Captagon (Arabic)
• Follow Rana Sabbagh on Twitter
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2024
• Learn more about ICFJ

In this episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists' podcast, Miami Herald Caribbean correspondent Jacqueline Charles tells the story behind “Made in Miami,” an investigative series about the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise in 2021. Charles worked with a team to uncover the details behind his assassination, developing the three-part series, including a play-by-play of his final minutes, the network of those involved and a contextual history of Haiti. The truth behind Moise’s assassination remains unsolved.

Charles is an award-winning, longtime reporter for the Miami Herald, covering Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean. She was ICFJ’s 2023 Excellence in International Reporting Award Winner. 

• “Made in Miami”
• Follow Jacqueline Charles on Twitter
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2023
• Learn more about ICFJ

In this episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists' podcast, documentary-maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy tells the story behind A Girl in the River, the film that won Obaid-Chinoy her second Academy Award. When Obaid-Chinoy heard of the story of a young Pakistani woman who survived an honor killing attempt by her father and uncle, she set out to make a documentary about her. The movie convinced the Pakistani government to review its laws on honor killings.

Obaid-Chinoy has made over two dozen multi-award films in over 16 countries around the world. She is known for her movies that highlight gender inequality. Obaid-Chinoy was ICFJ’s 2017 Knight International Journalism Award Winner. 

• A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2022
• Learn more about ICFJ

In this episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists' podcast, we hear from Syrian journalist Mais Katt. After the Danish government assessed that Damascus was now safe enough for Syrian refugees to return to, Katt and other journalists in Europe teamed up. They knew they needed to tell the stories of these refugees who had to leave Denmark, a country that turned from safe haven to another place they had to flee.

Katt is a freelance investigative reporter who focuses on the Middle East and has covered the Syrian war closely for 10 years. She is also a media trainer for ICFJ and was a panelist in our Arabic-language Pamela Howard Forum on Global Crisis Reporting. She is also a participant in Leap, ICFJ’s news innovation lab.

• Learn more about this investigative project
• Read Mais Katt’s story
• Follow Mais Katt on Twitter
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2022
• Learn more about ICFJ

In this episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists' podcast, Nigerian journalist Kiki Mordi shares how she and her colleagues went undercover, posing as young students, to expose sexual harassment at universities in Ghana and Nigeria. Their BBC documentary Sex for Grades started a movement across Africa, giving survivors a chance to speak up – and leading to anti-sexual harassment legislation in Nigeria.

Mordi is a freelance investigative reporter and radio presenter, as well as the founder of the media platform Document Women. She is also the winner of ICFJ’s 2020 Michael Elliott Award for Excellence in African Storytelling.

• Sex for Grades documentary
• Follow Kiki Mordi on Twitter
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2022
• Learn more about ICFJ

In the first episode of Chasing the Story, the International Center for Journalists' podcast, Czech journalist Pavla Holcová's shares how her reporting on her colleague’s brutal murder unmasked the perpetrators and helped topple the Slovak government.

Holcová is the founder and director of the Czech Center for Investigative Journalism. She is also the 2021 ICFJ Knight Award for International Journalism winner.

• Investigace.cz
• Follow Pavla Holcová on Twitter
• ICFJ Tribute to Journalists 2022
• Learn more about ICFJ