Professional Diploma in Investigative Journalism
Program Specification
Field and Subfield: Media and Digital Journalism / Investigative Journalism and Data Analysis
1. Program Overview:
An advanced professional and applied program extending over 3 months (80 accredited study-load hours), aimed at preparing and qualifying journalists and researchers to produce in-depth investigative journalism based on documented evidence and facts. The program covers mechanisms for generating ideas and building null hypotheses, open-source intelligence (OSINT) research techniques, collecting and verifying information and cross-checking sources, reading and analyzing official documents, budgets, and financial contracts, formulating investigative narratives supported by documents, producing, filming, and editing visual investigations, standards of digital security, data encryption, and field safety, employing artificial intelligence tools in sorting documents and organizing evidence, through to safe publishing strategies, protection of rights, and legal responsibility.
2. Key Objectives:
- Building and developing investigative hypotheses: Mastering the methodology of constructing a null hypothesis that can be proven or disproven, and preparing an integrated timeline and field plan for the investigation.
- Mastering OSINT tools and document analysis: Extracting digital evidence from open sources, verifying official data, and reading complex contracts, budgets, and financial reports.
- Formulating the narrative and building evidence: Writing rigorous investigative reports that follow a strict logical sequence and employing cross-referencing of evidence and testimonies.
- Visual production and the use of artificial intelligence: Filming and editing television and digital visual investigations and using AI techniques to classify and archive large volumes of documents.
- Digital security, safety, and legal protection: Applying encryption and source-protection protocols, managing field-safety risks, and complying with laws and journalistic codes of ethics.
3. Target Audience:
- Journalists and investigative reporters seeking to develop digital and field research and investigation skills.
- Investigators and researchers in human-rights monitoring centers, international organizations, and media institutions.
- Investigative writers and producers of documentaries and in-depth television and digital files.
- Graduates and students of journalism and media, law, political science, and social sciences.
4. Study Plan and Modules (12 Modules — 25 Interactive Lectures):
5. Organizational Structure and Assessment System:
- Duration and Schedule: 3 months (evening period), at a rate of two lectures per week, two hours per lecture = 25 lectures / 50 direct interactive hours.
- Training Language and Delivery Method: Arabic language | Fully online interactive and applied training (Online).
- Distribution of Accredited Hours (80 total hours):
- 50 hours: Direct and recorded online lectures.
- 20 hours: Academic readings and references (analysis of investigative reports and documents).
- 7 hours: Workshops and field applications (OSINT, data extraction, interviews).
- 3 hours: Final graduation project (conducting the investigation and preparing it for presentation and publication).
- Assessment System and Attendance Requirements: Attendance at sessions and weekly submission of tasks for building the "investigation file," with continuous assessment of research tasks, evidence triangulation, and hypothesis building.
- Certificate and Graduation Project: The graduate is awarded the Professional Diploma in Investigative Journalism after completing a full investigative report (from hypothesis to publication, visually or in text) and passing the final presentation of the graduation project and defending it before the evaluation committee.
