The Ferret is an independent non-profit media cooperative in Scotland set up to investigate stories in the public interest which launched in May 2015.

History

The Ferret was launched in May 2015.[1] With the support of members, it aims to produce independent investigations that can be sold to outlets in the mainstream media.[2] The cooperative structure was chosen to allow readers to be more than passive recipients of their stories.[3]

The Ferret was the first publication in Scotland to join press regulator IMPRESS, and adopt an editorial policy compliant with the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.

A crowdfunding appeal was chosen to launch their first investigation into aspects of the fracking industry and unconventional gas. They hit their target within a week.[4] By the close of the appeal, they had raised more that double their target and so they decided to look at the treatment of asylum seekers too. [5]

They organised a conference with Strathclyde University held in April 2016.[6]

In November 2016 The Ferret was shortlisted in the "Digital Innovation" category of the 2016 British Journalism Awards.[7]

In April 2017, the co-operative launched a fact checking service.[8] It remains the only fact checking project in Scotland to be independently assessed as meeting the International Fact Checking Network Code of Principles.

In 2018, Ferret co-founding Director Billy Briggs and photographer Angela Catlin were awarded Outstanding Digital Journalist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards. [9] The award recognised Billy Briggs and Angela Catlin's reporting from Iraq the previous year, which was published by The Ferret.

The organisation also won Online/Digital Award at the 2018 Scottish Refugee Media Awards[10] for a story by Ferret Director Karin Goodwin and Angela Catlin highlighting the increasing numbers of children being made destitute in Scotland.

References

  1. ↑ Ciobanu, Mădălina (29 May 2015). "How The Ferret will 'nose up the trousers of power'". www.journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Carrell, Severin (6 July 2015). "Crowd-funded investigative journalism site the Ferret to launch in Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Duncan Thorp: Building Scotland's social enterprise media". The Scotsman. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Turvill, William (9 July 2015). "Scotland sees 'flowering' of news websites as national press wilts north of the border". Press Gazette. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Nutt, Kathleen (11 August 2015). "Journalists raise £9k for investigations with crowdfunding". The National. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Spowart, Nan (21 March 2016). "Investigative journalism website The Ferret joins forces with Strathclyde University for media conference". The National. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (7 November 2016). "2016 British Journalism Awards finalists revealed: 'A timely reminder of the good journalists do'". Press Gazette. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Ciobanu, Mădălina (28 April 2017). "The Ferret launches fact-checking service, aiming to work with its community to verify claims". www.journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Winners at the 2018 awards". Scottish Newspaper Society. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  10. ↑ "Refugee Festival Scotland Media Award winners announced". Scottish Refugee Council. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
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