How Europeans are recruited through Telegram to commit sabotage, it’s time for journalists to listen, and finding the right open-source research tools

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‘Make a Molotov cocktail’: how Europeans are recruited through Telegram to commit sabotage, arson, and murder. An investigation by OCCRP. The cases are multiplying across Europe: young men with pro-Russian views instructed on Telegram to carry out sabotage attacks. Western security officials point to the Russian special services. For this story, journalists went undercover to reveal how the recruitment works

It’s time for journalists to listen. World News Day is meant to underscore the importance of journalism for a democratic public. But what if the public increasingly turns away from it? By Rasmus Nielsen

Find the right open-source research tools with Bellingcat’s new Online Investigations Toolkit. The toolkit is collaborative. Bellingcat aims to create a resource that brings together the joint wisdom of the open-source researcher community to make the task of finding tools less daunting for everyone

On edge: what the US election could mean for journalists and global press freedom. A CPJ special report

Dmitry Shishkin, new CEO of Ringier Media International, on leading growth across 80 media brands. Shishkin plans to align diverse newsrooms and tackle the challenges of expanding into new markets with a clever internal document that brings audience and data teams on the same page

The National Trust for Local News keeps buying local newspapers. Here’s what they’ve learned. “What we’re trying to solve for is not necessarily a business model problem. We’re trying to solve for an ownership incentive problem.”

Content from our partner McKinsey & Company

Micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) are the bedrock of the US economy
. Strengthening networks and collaboration with large companies could help US MSMEs gain advantages of scale in technology, human capital, market access, and finance, write McKinsey’s Olivia White, Anu Madgavkar, Adi Kumar, Asutosh Padhi, and Kanmani Chockalingam in a new McKinsey Global Institute article.

The before and after. Meta’s Canadian news ban, as told through my small town

Joint statement by the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia: drop charges and immediately release Cambodian journalist Mech Dara. We, the undersigned communities, media organisations and civil society groups, are calling for the immediate release of Cambodian journalist Mech Dara who was charged with incitement and sent to pretrial detention by the Phnom Penh Capital Court on October 1, 2024

Lawsuit seeks transparency on Assange prosecution. The U.S. government’s prosecution of Julian Assange ended earlier this year, but plenty of questions about its decade-plus pursuit of the WikiLeaks founder remain unanswered

Key findings of State Media Monitor 2024 published today. The number of media outlets falling under government control continues to grow, while the independent public media sector is facing new threats

Cross-border journalism triumphs at IJ4EU Impact Award 2024. Three teams win top honours at Europe’s leading prize for transnational watchdog reporting

To combat misinformation, start with connection, not correction. Here are six ways to combat misinformation

Advancing community-centered journalism. A practical guide for a more equitable and service-oriented form of journalism

Image credit: screenshot of the OCCRP home page