In 2002 investigative reporter Tim Lopes was murdered.’ He was trying to expose the violence and intimidation that residents of a Rio slum were subjected to at the hands of gang bosses.

The TV journalist’s death gave spark to a movement that would improve journalism, protect journalists in their work, and aim to hold governments in Latin America accountable.

Only weeks after the murder, Lopes’ friend and colleague Rosental Alves, Knight Chair in International Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, hosted a workshop for 75 editors and reporters to show them how working together increases safety.

Those journalists, with assistance from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, led by Alves, went on to form the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji).

Fast forward eight years: ‘Abraji just held its annual congress with 700 participants; it has trained more than 4,000 journalists; and it has 1,800 members.’ Abraji won Brazil’s prestigious Esso Journalism Prize for Best Contribution to the Press in 2003, and is now recognized as one of the most active investigative journalism organizations in the world, attracting funding for its cause from members and other supporters.

In the 2002 Annual Report of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Alves was quoted as saying ‘I can only imagine that, as a journalist who dedicated most of his career to investigative journalism, [Tim] would be proud of us.’

Abraji has come a long way from its formation in 2002, improving the skills of Brazil’s journalists as it goes along.’ By creating and facilitating communication among journalists, Abraji is contributing to a safer environment in which they can work and do better journalism.