Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Short Courses of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Abraji Concludes Online Course on Investigative Coverage of Public AdministrationAbraji Concludes Online Course on Investigative Coverage of Public Administration

The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji, in Portuguese) has concluded its first online course, Investigative Coverage of Public Administration.

This four-week course began on August 15th, 2005, and was supported by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. The instructor of the course was Evandro Spinelli, a Brazilian journalist who specializes in coverage of politics and public administration.

Spinelli currently works at the newspaper A Cidade, of Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo. He has covered the campaign and government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva taking office as well as the government of Antônio Palocci Filho as a mayor in Ribeirão Preto, before he became minister.

The course covered the techniques of investigative journalism for the coverage of public administration in Brazil. Journalists who completed the course received a certificate from Abraji and the Knight Center. The classes were conducted entirely online, using multimedia resources, with video and text to help in the discussions and exercises. Topics that were covered during the course:

- Investigative journalism techniques
- Access to public information
- Origin of and use of public resources
- Laws that govern the public administration, bidding process, and public contract
- Public administration sources
- Municipal council
- Campaign donation, promises
- Databases

The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) was created by a group of Brazilian journalists interested in exchanging experiences, information and resources for reporting, especially on investigative journalism. For more information about Abraji or the course, contact Marcelo Soares, administrator of Abraji, at msoaresds@terra.com.br

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas was created by Professor Rosental Calmon Alves at the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism in August 2002 thanks to a generous donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Its main objective is to help journalists in the hemisphere to develop self-sustaining training programs that will raise the ethical and professional levels of journalism in the Americas.

Added Mar 06, 20:30, 2006