IJB launches new podcast, ‘Heliograph: The Investigative Journalism Playbook’

Illustration by Aidan Lising

Out now, the monthly podcast celebrates the best in investigative journalism and features conversations with investigative reporters from around the world

Toronto – The Investigative Journalism Bureau is pleased to announce the debut of its monthly podcast, Heliograph: The Investigative Journalism Playbook, examining powerful investigative journalism from around the world. The podcast pulls back the curtain on the strategies, lessons learned, and stories behind the stories that change the world.

Hosted by IJB journalists, listeners can expect candid conversations with accomplished reporters sharing the inspirations, challenges, risks and rewards behind some of the world’s most impactful investigative reporting.

“The best investigative reporting always prompts a question –– how did they do that?” says IJB Director Robert Cribb. “Heliograph explores the sparks of ideas where stories begin, the harvesting of facts, the legal and ethical repercussions and the resulting stories that make a difference. It’s a real-life strategy session on truth telling that matters.”

Heliographs were devices for capturing images of the sun. As a podcast, Heliograph examines the brilliant, elusive and inspiring work of some of the world’s best investigative reporters in an attempt to understand their methods, techniques, motivations and reverberations. 

Each installment of Heliograph focuses on reporting that creates meaningful change and reflects the IJB’s core values: collaborative and innovative storytelling in the public interest. The podcast also embodies the IJB’s educational mission to offer top-notch training in  investigative research and reporting. 

The inaugural episode launching October 12, 2023 examines “Unguarded,” a three-month investigation by Miami-based WLRN Public Radio and Television reporters Joshua Ceballos and Daniel Rivero, showing how a government-funded program in Florida sold dozens of family homes for cheap to businesses and individuals that have ties to Miami’s city attorney.    

New episodes drop monthly on Apple PodcastsSpotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.      

Heliograph Chapter 2: The Vulkan Files Heliograph: The Investigative Journalism Playbook

In this month’s installation of Heliograph: The Investigative Journalism Playbook, we speak with Hannes Munzinger, the lead reporter on a Der Spiegel investigation on the leaked Vulkan files. Among the contents of the leak were emails and documents that spanned from 2016 to 2021, unveiling Vladimir Putin’s secret plans for cyber warfare. Heliograph examines the brilliant, elusive and inspiring work of some of the world’s best investigative reporters to understand their methods, motivations and impact.  Each installment of Heliograph focuses on reporting that creates meaningful change and reflects the IJB’s core values: collaborative and innovative storytelling in the public interest. The podcast also embodies the IJB’s educational mission to offer top-notch training in investigative research and reporting. Thanks for listening.   The Investigative Journalism Bureau is an impact-driven, collaborative newsroom that brings together professional and student journalists, academics, graduate students and media organizations to tell deeply-reported stories in the public interest. Based at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the IJB has national reporting honours since its inception in 2020.Contact: ijb.dlsph@utoronto.caFind the Investigative Journalism Bureau on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. Heliograph Chapter 2: The Vulkan Files
  2. Heliograph Chapter 1: Unguarded
  3. Introducing Heliograph

The Investigative Journalism Bureau is an impact-driven, collaborative newsroom that brings together professional and student journalists, academics, graduate students and media organizations to tell deeply reported stories in the public interest. Based at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the IJB has national reporting honors since its inception in 2020.

Media contact: ijb.dlsph@utoronto.ca 

Find the Investigative Journalism Bureau on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.