About
The European Corruption Observatory is an online database, currently in beta phase, collating media articles about cases of corruption in the European Union. This online tool aims to foster awareness around transboundary corruption trends and allows citizens, journalists and civil society to search for and access articles about corruption cases published by different media sources.
The database is currently collating media articles from free online media outlets based in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and United Kingdom. For a full list of the media sources that we track please contact acoleman@transparency.org
The database allows users to monitor articles with a clear link to corruption in Europe (whether there is an allegation of corruption, an investigation, or a court case). Information can be filtered in an intuitive way by the type of corruption mentioned in the article, the sector and/or by country. The website provides links to the original media sources for all the articles, together with a one line introduction in English. The database is also fully searchable for users with an ECO Match Account (see below).
The website currently contains:
- A database of media articles about corruption;
- A database of corruption “cases” (e.g. articles on the same story grouped together);
- ECO match – an online social network for users interested in corruption. Users can sign up for a free account which will allow them to:
- Search the database in more detail and save their searches to receive regular email updates when new links to relevant articles are added to the database;
- Look for help or respond to cooperation requests from other ECO match users;
- Message other ECO match users.
The European Corruption Observatory was created by Transparency International EU in partnership with Journalismfund.eu. The project is funded by the European Commission.
Disclaimers
The European Corruption Observatory is not a “breaking news site” and does not include every media article about corruption from the sources used.
TI EU does not make any judgement or provide any analysis of the content of the original article. TI EU and the European Corruption Observatory bear no responsibility for the accuracy of the original media articles.
The European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained on this website.
Should you spot any inaccuracies or encounter any functionality issues please contact acoleman@transparency.org
Background Information
Investigative journalism and high quality reporting on corruption are vital components of awareness raising among the public and policy-makers, which not only shed a light on individual cases but also highlights systemic risks and trends. The cross-border dimension of corruption in the EU is one of those trends, particularly in the areas of public procurement, political party financing and lobbying.
A 2012 European Parliament Report written by Journalism.eu highlighted the value of investigative European journalism to deter fraud and corruption against EU funds, while underlining that “[j]ournalists have to learn to co-operate, also across borders, in order to be able to tackle…vast projects in times of scarce resources”. Previous TI research, such as the European National Integrity Systems project, also identified the media as a key pillar in a nation's integrity system. This project recommended greater collaboration between media and civil society to detect and raise awareness of corruption. The role of collaborative investigative journalism in tackling complex cross-border corruption has also been highlighted in sessions at the global biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC).
Background Documents
As part of this project a number of workshops were held with journalists and civil society to both discuss the potential for collaboration and to help inform the design of the database.
Keeping Track of News about Corruption, Brussels, May 08 2015
Tracking Transboundary Corruption: Vilnius, Lithuania, July 08 2015
New Models of Collaboration in Investigating Corruption - a Help or a Hindrance: London, UK, December 11 2015
Corruption in the Media and Telecoms Industry: Budapest, Hungary, March 18 2016
On July 14 2016 a final conference on "The Role of Investigative Journalism and a Free Media in Fighting Corruption" was held in Brussels, Belgium. A final report "The European Corruption Observatory: Investigating Corruption" was presented.
The European Corruption Observatory: Sustaining anti-corruption networks
Contact
Transparency International EU Liaison Office
Rue de l'Industrie 10
1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 893 24 58
Alison Coleman
Project Coordinator
+32 2 893 24 64
