The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism: A Hybrid Nonprofit Funding Model

Abstract

In 2013, the world-shaking collaborative investigative-journalism project confronting tax avoidance known as the ‘Offshore Leaks’—orchestrated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)—published its stories around the world. The investigation exposed the reality of international tax fraud and the related use of paper companies by high-profile figures. South Korea was among the nations which participated in this global collaboration, and its citizens were as astonished as the rest of the world by the scale of the investigations. Another surprise for the South Korean public was that the only South Korean partner in the ICIJ’s investigation was the just-established Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ). The participation of such a young and relatively small newsroom stood out because most of the ICIJ’s partners around the world were considered to be ‘traditional media outlets’ (Carson, 2020, p. 101) or ‘traditional media organizations’ (Reese, 2021, p. 116). The KCIJ, however, had earned this opportunity for reasons to be elaborated upon later in this chapter.