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Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ)

Website:

www.thebureauinvestigates.com/
Type:

Media Outlet
Formation:

2010
CEO:

Rosina Breen
Location:

London, UK
Budget (2019):

Revenue: £1,414,000

Expenses: £1,309,000 9

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The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) is a left-of-center media outlet based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 2010 by software magnate David Potter and his wife Elaine Potter, the organization was started through funding from their David and Elaine Potter Foundation while receiving funding from several left-of-center organization including the Gates Foundation and the Open Society Foundations (OSF). 1

Background

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) was founded in 2010 by David Potter, the founder of microcomputer systems company Psion, and his wife Elaine Potter, a writer and journalist. As of 2024, David Potter was registered as a member of the U.K. Labour Party as well a major donor. 2 David and Elaine are the co-founders of the David and Elaine Potter Foundation, a grantmaking foundation established in 1999 that has granted over £23 million (approximately $29.6 million) to education and media-based causes. 3

According to the website Media Bias/Fact Check, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) was rated as leaning “left-center” while claiming to have a “high” factual reporting. 4

Major Stories

In February 2017, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) released a story claiming a U.S special forces operation in Yemen in January that year intended to gather intelligence on terror organization Al-Qaeda had resulted in 25 civilian deaths including the daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen killed by an American drone strike in 2011. 5

In October 2016, TBIJ released a story claiming that the U.S. Department of Defense had paid U.K-based public relations firm Lord Bell $540 million to launch a “covert” propaganda campaign in Iraq between 2007 and 2011. 6

During the mid-2010s, TBIJ was one of the several media sources claiming to report on the rate of U.S drone strike operations and civilian deaths. 7

Funding

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism was started in 2010 with £960,020 (approximately $1.2 million at 2024 exchange rates) in funding from the David and Elaine Potter Foundation in 2009. Starting in 2018, the founders’ Foundation began annual donations to the Trust for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism ranging from £5,000 (approximately $6,400) to £150,000 (approximately $193,000). 8

In 2019, TBIJ published its financial information on its website reporting £1,414,000 (approximately $1.8 million) in revenue and £1,309,000 (approximately $1.7 million) in expenses. Over 85% of its revenue came from individual grants while 10.6% came from “major gifts” and 3.4% from online donations. 9

In 2014, TBIJ reported £490,000 (approximately $630,000) in revenue. 9

TBIJ has received funding from several left-of-center organizations including the Gates Foundation, the Google Global News Initiative, Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Aziz Foundation, the Firebird Foundation, the Oak Foundation USA, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Treebeard Trust, and the Waterloo Foundation. 1 4

Other Activities

In January 2012, The Independent and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) published a story claiming that the rates of deaths in U.K. police custody were higher than what is officially reported. The report further claimed that this was due to records not counting deaths that occurred before suspects were formally arrested. 10

In December 2011, The Independent published an undercover investigative report from TBIJ on U.K-based lobbying firm Bell Pottinger, claiming lobbyists from the firm were caught on camera making statements such as persuading then-Prime Minister David Cameron to speak to the Chinese Premier on behalf of a client within 24 hours, “burying” negative Google results, and editing negative Wikipedia coverage. 11

In November 2010, TBIJ published a report with the Financial Times claiming that the European Union’s European Structural and Investment Fund was an “opaque bureaucracy” with a “weak oversight system” that “rarely punishes fraud or misuse.” 12

Partners

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is a partner of Climate Whistleblowers, an NGO established in June 2023 claiming to protect whistleblowers who report on climate change-related information. 13

TBIJ was a partner of the now-defunct Media Fund, a nonprofit that funded left-of-center independent news agencies. 14

References

  1. “Our Funding.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/about-us/our-funding/.
  2. “Top 50 donations to Labour in 2001.” The Guardian. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/funding/table/0,11893,714963,00.html.
  3. “About the Foundation.” David and Elaine Potter Foundation. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://potterfoundation.com/about_the_foundation.html.
  4. “The Bureau of Investigative Journalism – Bias and Credibility.” Media Bias/Fact Check. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-bureau-of-investigative-journalism/
  5.  Borger, Julian; Jacobs, Ben. “Yemen wants US to reassess counter-terrorism strategy after botched raid.” The Guardian. February 8, 2017. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/08/yemen-us-raid-al-qaida-counter-terrorism-strategy-trump.
  6. Black, Crofton; Fielding-Smith, Abigail; Ungoed-Thomas, Jon. “Lord Bell ran $540m covert PR ops in Iraq for Pentagon.” The Times. October 2, 2016. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/lord-bell-ran-540m-covert-pr-ops-in-iraq-for-pentagon-m5js07xtr?region=global.
  7. Libresco, Leah. “There’s Not Enough Data On Civilian Drone Casualties.” FiveThirtyEight. April 23, 2015. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/theres-not-enough-data-on-civilian-drone-casualties/.
  8. “Grant Recipients.” David and Elaine Potter Foundation. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://potterfoundation.com/grant_recipients.html.
  9. “Financials.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/caught-on-camera-top-lobbyists-boasting-how-they-influence-the-pm-6272760.html.
  10. Stickler, Angus; Mole, Charlie. “Rate of deaths in custody is higher than officials admit.” The Independent. January 31, 2012. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rate-of-deaths-in-custody-is-higher-than-officials-admit-6297270.html.
  11. Newman, Melanie; Wright, Oliver. “Caught on camera: top lobbyists boasting how they influence the PM.” The Independent. December 6, 2011. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/caught-on-camera-top-lobbyists-boasting-how-they-influence-the-pm-6272760.html.
  12.  O’Murchu, Cynthia; Peter, Spiegel. “Europe’s grand vision loses focus.” Financial Times. November 29, 2010. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.ft.com/content/ddffb8f8-fbe8-11df-b7e9-00144feab49a.
  13. “New NGO aims to protect climate whistleblowers and increase their impact.” Climate Whistleblowers. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.climatewhistleblowers.org/new-ngo-protect-climate-whistleblowers/.
  14. Khomami, Nadia. “Fund launched to create independent media free from rightwing bias.” The Guardian. October 2, 2017. Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/02/fund-launched-to-create-independent-media.
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