Journalism often claims to serve the public and expose wrongdoing. But too often, the people at the very heart of the story never see it because it’s buried behind paywalls, in the wrong language, or on platforms they don’t use. This month’s episode is in three parts:

– Part 1: Beatriz and Tessa speak with Cynthia Gichiri, a multimedia journalist at Africa Uncensored, who took a story about the health dangers of pesticides on the road through rural Kenya to get it to the farmers most at risk.

– Part 2: A conversation to Mazin Sidahmed, who co-founded Documented, a newsroom that was designed from the ground up to serve immigrant communities in New York City in the languages they speak on the platforms they already use.

– Part 3: 5 practical things journalists at any outlet can do to make sure their reporting reaches affected communities.
From WhatsApp group chats to community screenings, this episode is about getting reporting out of the newsroom and into people’s hands.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions

From documenting the scale of war damage in Gaza, to tracking environmental crime in Brazil, remote sensing technology has become an essential tool for journalists around the world. In our latest Backlight episode we speak to two reporters from our Forest Fraud investigation who used remote sensing analysis to uncover the scale of deforestation in the Philippines.

Journalists Lu Min Lwin and Lucelle Bonzo talk us through the methods behind the investigation, and share resources for journalists looking to incorporate remote sensing in their own work. We dive into how journalists can merge innovative methods with community reporting to demand government accountability.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions

With more people turning to social media and content creators for news, traditional journalism is facing a major shift. In this episode of Backlight, we reflect on how journalists can seize this opportunity and learn from the creators who are redefining how information is shared.

Recorded at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, host Tessa Pang sits down with three news content creators – Johanna Rüdiger, Johnny Harris, and Adam Cole (Howtown) – to explore how they build trust, communicate complexity, and make journalism not just informative, but engaging.

From fighting the idea that short-form means “dumbing down,” to embracing transparency, audience-first storytelling, and conversational tone, this episode dives deep into how content creators are reshaping news and what traditional journalists can take from their playbook.

Whether you’re in a newsroom or just news-curious, this one’s for anyone thinking about the future of how we tell stories.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions

Τhis month we’re sharing tips and tools to help you become an expert in financial investigations. From digging around corporate records, to tracking down public funding, money trails reporting is key to exposing wrongdoing.

Beatriz and Tessa are joined by Lighthouse reporter Margot Gibbs, and independent investigative reporter, Giacomo Zandonini.

They share practical examples on how to follow the money and tell us why you don’t have to be a numbers expert to do the same.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions

European media frames migration as a crisis that must be stopped – focusing on dramatic events like small boats in the English Channel or shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. But this masks the reality, Europe’s population is aging, and its economies desperately need migrants to avoid decline.

For over 18 months, across 7 countries and with over 20 journalists we sought to answer – what is the true cost of Europe’s discrimination against migrants? And why are proposed solutions failing?

In this episode of Backlight, Beatriz and Tessa speak to two reporters from the investigation – Justin Yarga who led on the Sweden story and Justin Casimir Braun who led the data reporting.

Justin Yarga shares his experience of reporting on a story based on his own experience of migrating to Sweden and Justin Casimir Braun talks about how we got the data at the key of unlocking this story.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions

This month we discuss how journalists can investigate the ways AI is shaping the world around us and push for accountability from the companies and governments responsible for its use.

Beatriz and Tessa are joined by AI reporter Karen Hao and Lighthouse reporter Gabriel Geiger.

We discuss tips on how to incorporate AI reporting into your beat, how to frame AI investigations, and identify leads.

You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hosts: Beatriz Ramalho da Silva, Tessa Pang
Sound design, mixing and editing: Spoovio – Audiovisual Productions