100Reporters has a proud record of working with whistleblowers on stories involving the World Bank, Veterans Administration hospitals and corporate misbehavior. Our partnership with WildLeaks will..help us expose new types of graft and corruption.
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) February 20, 2014
The investigative reporting news organization, 100Reporters (http://www.100R.org), has just agreed to partner with WildLeaks (http://www.wildleaks.org), a secure, online portal much like its own Whistleblower Alley, which welcomes tips from anonymous sources offering information about crimes against wildlife. Sponsored by the Elephant Action League, WildLeaks, launched earlier this month, is the first whistleblower platform dedicated to wildlife and forest crime.
“As the new federal ban on the commercial import of ivory highlights, the slaughter of wildlife for body parts has become big business,” said 100Reporters Executive Editor Diana Jean Schemo. “In this area as in so many others, whistleblowers are essential to exposing these networks, creating awareness and supporting justice.”
Wildlife trafficking threatens many endangered species, including elephants, rhinos and pangolins. Trade in illegally logged timber is destroying forests and wildlife habitats around the world. Relevant tips might include the names and personal details of wildlife traffickers, documents that demonstrate a financial transaction linked to illegal poaching, names of ships or shipping companies involved in the traffic, names of international buyers and businesses linked to illegal logging, corrupt public officials, and even shops and factories that deal with illegal wildlife products, like ivory.
“100Reporters has a proud record of working with whistleblowers on stories involving the World Bank, Veterans Administration hospitals and corporate misbehavior. Our partnership with WildLeaks will provide the organizers with our reporters’ proven abilities to investigate anonymous tips fully and effectively and craft meaningful news stories with the information. It will also expand 100Reporters’ ability to expose new types of graft and corruption worldwide.”
In addition to the California-based Elephant Action League, others involved in creating WildLeaks include the Environmental Investigation Agency (UK), Oxpeckers Center in South Africa, EcoJust in the Netherlands, Global Eye (which operates in Africa and Southeast Asia), 100Reporters, and other organizations that prefer to remain anonymous for security reasons.
National Geographic Special Investigations director Bryan Christy is a founding member of WildLeaks and said, "The most important weapon the world has against international wildlife traffickers and corruption is an informed public. The goal of WildLeaks is to give voice to the powerless, to both animals and the humans who risk their lives to protect them.”
About 100Reporters:
Authors and former award-winning New York Times reporters, Schemo and her co-founder, Philip Shenon, launched 100Reporters in 2011 to fill a void in the current media landscape by reporting primarily on corruption and accountability in politics, business and governments.
In just two years, Schemo and her team have won a number of journalism awards for their groundbreaking investigations.
For more information, please visit http://100R.org.