Vacancy Notice – Investigative Journalism Expert

Background 

Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting political participation and democratic governance worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, DRI operates across Western Asia and North Africa (WANA), Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. It maintains country offices in Tunisia, Lebanon, Libya (operating remotely from Tunisia), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ukraine, collaborating with various international and local partners across several countries. In addition to its physical presence, DRI is actively engaged in promoting Digital Democracy in many other areas.    

Since 2016, DRI Lebanese country office has been raising awareness and advocating for evidence-based policies and public debates that foster democratic and accountable governance, the rule of law, and political participation in Lebanon, in cooperation with civil society organisations and public officials. Particularly, DRI is working to expand the democratic space for a civil society-led debate on systemic change in Lebanon, encouraging citizens to actively participate in the governing of their own country in an inclusive and participatory manner.  

In the framework of its project titled: “Voices from the Field: Supporting Independent Reporting in Lebanon”, DRI is acting as an enabler of collaboration between young journalists and independent media outlets. The project aims at strengthening journalistic integrity and impartial reporting, combating the spread of fake news on mainstream and digital platforms and fostering a community of independent journalists dedicated to high-quality reporting on topics related to liberties, democratic rights, internal displacement, and political concerns during and post-crisis.

In this context, DRI is recruiting an expert in Investigative Journalism to deliver one full-day training workshop to a group of 17 young journalists between May and July 2025. The workshop will equip journalists with the skills necessary to investigate and report on overlooked news stories. Participants will learn about the ethics, tools, and practices of investigative reporting, and how those can be used along with advanced internet searches, social media monitoring, and access to information law to develop a compelling investigative report. Participants will also be introduced to good practices and effective ways to structure and present their stories. 

Your duties and responsibilities 

Under the supervision of DRI’s Programme’s Unit, the Expert will:    

• Develop interactive and detailed training modules, a training session plan, and all accompanying background materials (0.5 expert day);    

• Prepare pre- and post-training test modules to be shared with the participants before and after the training sessions, once validated by DRI;   

• Deliver one full-day training workshop for 10 content creators following an interactive, engaging approach, e.g., discussion activities, and exercises (one expert day);    

• Once the training is completed, submit a training report summarising the training outcomes and the pre-and post-training test results, reflecting the trainees’ increase in knowledge as per the template provided by DRI (0.5 expert day).    

 Your skills and experience   

• A university degree in media studies, communications, journalism, or other related field;  

• At least seven years of media experience; 

• At least 5 investigative pieces published; 

• Proven track record as a trainer on media-related topics;  

• Excellent verbal and writing communication skills;  

• Gender and cultural sensitivity;  

• Working proficiency in Arabic and English.