Study and Panel Discussion on Cyprus’ Media Coverage of the War in Ukraine
December 11, 2023Sounding the CIReN
May 22, 2024
Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network launched
The Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network CIReN was launched in Cyprus on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, as a new, independent, non-profit, investigative media platform committed to the highest professional and ethical standards of quality journalism on issues of public interest.
On its launch, CIReN joined the OCCRP Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Network, a network of 67 member centers around the world, as well as four regional partners, to systematically collaborate on investigative journalism, according to an OCCRP announcement on Monday, May 20.
CIReN, created and managed exclusively by journalists, will investigate major news stories and provide support to other professional journalists across Cyprus seeking a platform to pursue and publish their work.
CIReN's chief editors and members of its Board of Directors are journalists Esra Aygin and Kyriakos Pierides, who lead the Network's team of reporters, researchers and fact-checkers.
The maiden story, published on Wednesday, explores how Cyprus was at the centre of the international business empire of a sanctioned Afghan politician and his son, both holders of a Cypriot passport since 2014 and sanctioned by the U.S. in December last year.
This investigation was part of “Dubai Unlocked”, a cross-border investigative project involving 140 journalists from 74 media organizations.
How Dirty Money Finds a Home in Dubai Real Estate - OCCRP
CIReN was created with the support of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (OCCRP) and the Institute of Mass Media (IMME). It emerged as a necessity following a training programme developed in 2022, in which journalists from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities worked together to investigate news that had an impact on the island.
The network that grew through the project and discussions that were had made it obvious that corruption and poor governance not only affected both sides of the UN buffer zone and often fed on the decades-long political division, but that instances of wrongdoing were not adequately being reported by the majority of the media on the island.
CIReN seeks to contribute to fill that vacuum. Stories will appear in English, Greek and Turkish, and where possible will be translated in all three languages for maximum impact. It will seek to work with other independent media and journalists, universities, relevant NGOs, and other organizations to foster this meaningful investigative journalism.
CIReN is dedicated to accurate and evidence-based journalism rooted not just in rigorous research and fact-checking but in strict editorial processes and transparency.
CIReN Code of Conduct https://ciren.cy/code-of-conduct/
For questions and suggestions: editor@ciren.cy
A project supported by OCCRP and IMME
