Indaba Platform Tip Sheet for LEAD REPORTERS
This document provides instruction for Global Integrity Report lead reporters. Related documents can be found at the Indaba Help Desk.
1) How to submit a Notebook and respond to questions through Indaba
The Indaba platform can be found at indabaplatform.com. Please log in using the username and password provided to you by email.
If you have an assignment due, it will be listed in the yellow “Your Assignments” box. This link is the only way to complete an assignment. Other links get you the “Read Only View” of a document. The yellow “Your Assignments” box is the link to the editing tool.
SUBMITTING: To submit your notebook, use the text editor to write or copy/paste your text. If copying text from Microsoft Word or other editors, please use the “Paste as Plaintext” or “Paste from Word” tools (by clicking the [w] icon in the toolbar at the top of the editing box), which will help manage text formatting.
SOURCES: You must provide your manager with a list of your sources. Attach your sources in a separate document using the attachment tool below the text editor. Sources can be footnotes, comments, or simply (insertions into your text) like this.
DISCUSSION: The Staff/Author discussion box is used to discuss your work with your manager; comments you and your manager make in this box are not published. Feedback from your manager will appear in this discussion box. When your manager submits questions about your work, you will get an alert via email. You will be asked to log into the system and edit your piece to respond to your manager’s questions. When done, you will resubmit your piece to the manager. All comments between you and your manager will be collected and archived in the Staff / Author discussion box for the duration of the project.
Later in the process, Global Integrity’s editing team and the country peer reviewers may raise questions about your piece. If necessary, your manager will communicate those questions to you via the Staff/Author discussion box, and Indaba will send you an email alert each time you are needed to log into the system to respond to those questions and make any necessary changes to your piece.
END OF THE PROCESS: When the notebook has been approved for publication by your manager, you will receive an e-mail to confirm this.
BYLINES: The name on your Indaba user account will be your exact byline. You can see this name in the top right corner of every Indaba page when you log into the system. To change your byline, click on your name in the upper right and then click “Edit” to change your biographic information.
2) Overview of the Reporter’s Notebook
Your document, the Reporter’s Notebook, should provide a view of the characteristics of the culture of corruption in the country and how corruption manifests itself there. It should be written as a stand-alone “news analysis” piece that could typically be found in a newspaper or magazine. It should NOT provide the author’s opinions or be written as an essay. Instead, as any news story, it should be based on original reporting.
Additionally, it should draw on the reporter’s knowledge and experience in investigative reporting and analysis to provide context and real-life stories, using a mix of storytelling and analysis to explain, illustrate and help readers better understand the topic covered in the article.
By now, Hazel Feigenblatt, your manager, has already discussed with you the focus of your piece. Should you need to review any issues related to your reporting with Hazel as you prepare your draft for submission via Indaba, please use Indaba sitemail to send her a message.
We expect all reporters to do original reporting, interviews, and writing for the
Reporter’s Notebook. We will send back any piece based solely on a collection of already published news reports (in other words, we do not want a “clip job”).
Reminders
Wordcount: Your length target is 1,500 words. The system won’t accept longer submissions.
Libel: All claims about people, institutions and companies must be supported by firm evidence and attributed to a source. “Word on the street” is not firm evidence.
Currencies: All money should be described in the original currency and converted to dollars in brackets.
- Example: “…8 million hryvnas (US$1 million).”
Please write out currency names rather than use symbols or abbreviations.
- Example: “The project cost three billion euro.”
Dates: Generally, when writing about events happening this year, spell out the year.
- Example: “In August 2010, the Special Court for Combating Corruption sentenced him to three years…”
Names: On first use of a long institutional name, include an abbreviation in parentheses if applicable. Abbreviate the name after the first use.
- Example of first use: “the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is investigating…”
- Example for later use: “…the IMF is investigating…”
Names of individuals and organizations must be correctly spelled and capitalized in all cases. Please double check each name before submitting your piece.
Names of organizations must be included in BOTH languages, when applicable, and include an abbreviation, if appropriate.
- Example 1: “Light and Power Center (LFC — Luz y Fuerza Centro)”.
- Example 2: The State Committee for Land (SCL — Dövl∂t Torpaq Komit∂si)
Bio: At the end of your Notebook, please include a one-paragraph bio using the following format:
- “Anas Aremeyaw Anas is an undercover journalist working with the New Crusading Guide daily newspaper in Ghana. He has gone undercover to expose several trafficking rings in Africa and has won several local and international awards. In 2009, he was mentioned by President Barack Obama as a courageous journalist who risks his life to tell the truth.”
Headline: The Reporter’s Notebook should have an attractive headline and a few sub headlines.
- Bad headline: “Corruption in the Educational System”
- Better headline: “Communist Instinct and a Bottle of Cognac”
3) A note for people working anonymously in high-risk environments
Most “secure” computer systems, including banks, email hosts, and Indaba are easily compromised by government security agencies. This is routine and difficult to detect.
If you need to work anonymously, we do not want you to put your contact information into Indaba. It’s a simple, low tech security approach: if your name and contact information is never in a system, a security breach can’t hurt you. For the same reasons, Indaba sitemail messages should not be considered private or secure (most email systems are also open to routine surveillance).
Your email address is more of a problem — the system needs to be able to reach you to work. If you think your email address can be linked to you (ex: myrealname@gmail.comor name@myrealemployer.com), please go to a public computer and create a new, completely unconnected email address from Gmail.com and use that only for your sensitive work (you can call us with the new address at +1 202.449.4100). This takes extra work — you MUST remember to check the new email address regularly so we and Indaba can communicate with you. However, these “clean” email accounts offer a simple barrier between our system and your identity.
Good information on online safety is available here:
- https://ssd.eff.org/risk
- http://www.eff.org/wp/surveillance-self-defense-international
- Global Integrity Online Security Guide
We are always happy to discuss these issues with you.
Related documents are at the Indaba Help Desk
1) How to submit a Notebook and respond to questions through Indaba
The Indaba platform can be found at indabaplatform.com. Please log in using the username and password provided to you by email.
If you have an assignment due, it will be listed in the yellow “Your Assignments” box. This link is the only way to complete an assignment. Other links get you the “Read Only View” of a document. The yellow “Your Assignments” box is the link to the editing tool.
SUBMITTING: To submit your notebook, use the text editor to write or copy/paste your text. If copying text from Microsoft Word or other editors, please use the “Paste as Plaintext” or “Paste from Word” tools (by clicking the [w] icon in the toolbar at the top of the editing box), which will help manage text formatting.
SOURCES: You must provide your manager with a list of your sources. Attach your sources in a separate document using the attachment tool below the text editor. Sources can be footnotes, comments, or simply (insertions into your text) like this.
DISCUSSION: The Staff/Author discussion box is used to discuss your work with your manager; comments you and your manager make in this box are not published. Feedback from your manager will appear in this discussion box. When your manager submits questions about your work, you will get an alert via email. You will be asked to log into the system and edit your piece to respond to your manager’s questions. When done, you will resubmit your piece to the manager. All comments between you and your manager will be collected and archived in the Staff / Author discussion box for the duration of the project.
Later in the process, Global Integrity’s editing team and the country peer reviewers may raise questions about your piece. If necessary, your manager will communicate those questions to you via the Staff/Author discussion box, and Indaba will send you an email alert each time you are needed to log into the system to respond to those questions and make any necessary changes to your piece.
END OF THE PROCESS: When the notebook has been approved for publication by your manager, you will receive an e-mail to confirm this.
BYLINES: The name on your Indaba user account will be your exact byline. You can see this name in the top right corner of every Indaba page when you log into the system. To change your byline, click on your name in the upper right and then click “Edit” to change your biographic information.
2) Overview of the Reporter’s Notebook
Your document, the Reporter’s Notebook, should provide a view of the characteristics of the culture of corruption in the country and how corruption manifests itself there. It should be written as a stand-alone “news analysis” piece that could typically be found in a newspaper or magazine. It should NOT provide the author’s opinions or be written as an essay. Instead, as any news story, it should be based on original reporting.
Additionally, it should draw on the reporter’s knowledge and experience in investigative reporting and analysis to provide context and real-life stories, using a mix of storytelling and analysis to explain, illustrate and help readers better understand the topic covered in the article.
By now, Hazel Feigenblatt, your manager, has already discussed with you the focus of your piece. Should you need to review any issues related to your reporting with Hazel as you prepare your draft for submission via Indaba, please use Indaba sitemail to send her a message.
We expect all reporters to do original reporting, interviews, and writing for the
Reporter’s Notebook. We will send back any piece based solely on a collection of already published news reports (in other words, we do not want a “clip job”).
Reminders
Wordcount: Your length target is 1,500 words. The system won’t accept longer submissions.
Libel: All claims about people, institutions and companies must be supported by firm evidence and attributed to a source. “Word on the street” is not firm evidence.
Currencies: All money should be described in the original currency and converted to dollars in brackets.
Example: “…8 million hryvnas (US$1 million).”
Please write out currency names rather than use symbols or abbreviations. Example: “The project cost three billion euro.”
DATES: Generally, when writing about events happening this year, spell out the year. Example: “In August 2010, the Special Court for Combating Corruption sentenced him to three years…”
Names: On first use of a long institutional name, include an abbreviation in parentheses if applicable. Abbreviate the name after the first use.
Example of first use: “the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is investigating…”
Example for later use: “…the IMF is investigating…”
Names of individuals and organizations must be correctly spelled and capitalized in all cases. Please double check each name before submitting your piece.
Names of organizations must be included in BOTH languages, when applicable, and include an abbreviation, if appropriate.
Example 1: “Light and Power Center (LFC — Luz y Fuerza Centro)”.
Example 2: The State Committee for Land (SCL — Dövl∂t Torpaq Komit∂si)
Bio: At the end of your Notebook, please include a one-paragraph bio using the following format: “Anas Aremeyaw Anas is an undercover journalist working with the New Crusading Guide daily newspaper in Ghana. He has gone undercover to expose several trafficking rings in Africa and has won several local and international awards. In 2009, he was mentioned by President Barack Obama as a courageous journalist who risks his life to tell the truth.”
Headline: The Reporter’s Notebook should have an attractive headline and a few sub headlines.
Bad headline: “Corruption in the Educational System”
Better headline: “Communist Instinct and a Bottle of Cognac”
3) A note for people working anonymously in high-risk environments
Most “secure” computer systems, including banks, email hosts, and Indaba are easily compromised by government security agencies. This is routine and difficult to detect.
If you need to work anonymously, we do not want you to put your contact information into Indaba. It’s a simple, low tech security approach: if your name and contact information is never in a system, a security breach can’t hurt you. For the same reasons, Indaba sitemail messages should not be considered private or secure (most email systems are also open to routine surveillance).
Your email address is more of a problem — the system needs to be able to reach you to work. If you think your email address can be linked to you (ex: myrealname@gmail.comor name@myrealemployer.com), please go to a public computer and create a new, completely unconnected email address from Gmail.com and use that only for your sensitive work (you can call us with the new address at +1 202.449.4100). This takes extra work — you MUST remember to check the new email address regularly so we and Indaba can commun
1) How to submit a Notebook and respond to questions through Indaba
The Indaba platform can be found at indabaplatform.com. Please log in using the username and password provided to you by email.
If you have an assignment due, it will be listed in the yellow “Your Assignments” box. This link is the only way to complete an assignment. Other links get you the “Read Only View” of a document. The yellow “Your Assignments” box is the link to the editing tool.
SUBMITTING: To submit your notebook, use the text editor to write or copy/paste your text. If copying text from Microsoft Word or other editors, please use the “Paste as Plaintext” or “Paste from Word” tools (by clicking the [w] icon in the toolbar at the top of the editing box), which will help manage text formatting.
SOURCES: You must provide your manager with a list of your sources. Attach your sources in a separate document using the attachment tool below the text editor. Sources can be footnotes, comments, or simply (insertions into your text) like this.
DISCUSSION: The Staff/Author discussion box is used to discuss your work with your manager; comments you and your manager make in this box are not published. Feedback from your manager will appear in this discussion box. When your manager submits questions about your work, you will get an alert via email. You will be asked to log into the system and edit your piece to respond to your manager’s questions. When done, you will resubmit your piece to the manager. All comments between you and your manager will be collected and archived in the Staff / Author discussion box for the duration of the project.
Later in the process, Global Integrity’s editing team and the country peer reviewers may raise questions about your piece. If necessary, your manager will communicate those questions to you via the Staff/Author discussion box, and Indaba will send you an email alert each time you are needed to log into the system to respond to those questions and make any necessary changes to your piece.
END OF THE PROCESS: When the notebook has been approved for publication by your manager, you will receive an e-mail to confirm this.
BYLINES: The name on your Indaba user account will be your exact byline. You can see this name in the top right corner of every Indaba page when you log into the system. To change your byline, click on your name in the upper right and then click “Edit” to change your biographic information.
2) Overview of the Reporter’s Notebook
Your document, the Reporter’s Notebook, should provide a view of the characteristics of the culture of corruption in the country and how corruption manifests itself there. It should be written as a stand-alone “news analysis” piece that could typically be found in a newspaper or magazine. It should NOT provide the author’s opinions or be written as an essay. Instead, as any news story, it should be based on original reporting.
Additionally, it should draw on the reporter’s knowledge and experience in investigative reporting and analysis to provide context and real-life stories, using a mix of storytelling and analysis to explain, illustrate and help readers better understand the topic covered in the article.
By now, Hazel Feigenblatt, your manager, has already discussed with you the focus of your piece. Should you need to review any issues related to your reporting with Hazel as you prepare your draft for submission via Indaba, please use Indaba sitemail to send her a message.
We expect all reporters to do original reporting, interviews, and writing for the
Reporter’s Notebook. We will send back any piece based solely on a collection of already published news reports (in other words, we do not want a “clip job”).
Reminders
Wordcount: Your length target is 1,500 words. The system won’t accept longer submissions.
Libel: All claims about people, institutions and companies must be supported by firm evidence and attributed to a source. “Word on the street” is not firm evidence.
Currencies: All money should be described in the original currency and converted to dollars in brackets.
Example: “…8 million hryvnas (US$1 million).”
Please write out currency names rather than use symbols or abbreviations. Example: “The project cost three billion euro.”
DATES: Generally, when writing about events happening this year, spell out the year. Example: “In August 2010, the Special Court for Combating Corruption sentenced him to three years…”
Names: On first use of a long institutional name, include an abbreviation in parentheses if applicable. Abbreviate the name after the first use.
Example of first use: “the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is investigating…”
Example for later use: “…the IMF is investigating…”
Names of individuals and organizations must be correctly spelled and capitalized in all cases. Please double check each name before submitting your piece.
Names of organizations must be included in BOTH languages, when applicable, and include an abbreviation, if appropriate.
Example 1: “Light and Power Center (LFC — Luz y Fuerza Centro)”.
Example 2: The State Committee for Land (SCL — Dövl∂t Torpaq Komit∂si)
Bio: At the end of your Notebook, please include a one-paragraph bio using the following format: “Anas Aremeyaw Anas is an undercover journalist working with the New Crusading Guide daily newspaper in Ghana. He has gone undercover to expose several trafficking rings in Africa and has won several local and international awards. In 2009, he was mentioned by President Barack Obama as a courageous journalist who risks his life to tell the truth.”
Headline: The Reporter’s Notebook should have an attractive headline and a few sub headlines.
Bad headline: “Corruption in the Educational System”
Better headline: “Communist Instinct and a Bottle of Cognac”
3) A note for people working anonymously in high-risk environments
Most “secure” computer systems, including banks, email hosts, and Indaba are easily compromised by government security agencies. This is routine and difficult to detect.
If you need to work anonymously, we do not want you to put your contact information into Indaba. It’s a simple, low tech security approach: if your name and contact information is never in a system, a security breach can’t hurt you. For the same reasons, Indaba sitemail messages should not be considered private or secure (most email systems are also open to routine surveillance).
Your email address is more of a problem — the system needs to be able to reach you to work. If you think your email address can be linked to you (ex: myrealname@gmail.comor name@myrealemployer.com), please go to a public computer and create a new, completely unconnected email address from Gmail.com and use that only for your sensitive work (you can call us with the new address at +1 202.449.4100). This takes extra work — you MUST remember to check the new email address regularly so we and Indaba can communicate with you. However, these “clean” email accounts offer a simple barrier between our system and your identity.
Good information on online safety is available here:
* http://www.eff.org/wp/surveillance-self-defense-international
* Global Integrity Online Security Guide[NSH1]
We are always happy to discuss these issues with you.
Related documents are at the Indaba Help Desk[NSH2] .
[NSH1]NEED LINK
[NSH2]NEED LINK
icate with you. However, these “clean” email accounts offer a simple barrier between our system and your identity.
Good information on online safety is available here:
* http://www.eff.org/wp/surveillance-self-defense-international
* Global Integrity Online Security Guide[NSH1]
We are always happy to discuss these issues with you.
Related documents are at the Indaba Help Desk[NSH2] .