The Panama Papers was the biggest-ever collaboration for investigative journalism, involving 400 journalists in 80 countries who collectively produced 6,000 stories in 100 different media outlets.
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Media Files: investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer, who led the Panama Papers tax exposé.
The Conversation, CC BY80.6 MB(download)
Today we meet Bastian Obermayer, the Pulitizer prize-winning journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into global tax evasion.
Glencore’s lawyers argued anything about the company in the Paradise Papers was “privileged” and the tax office should be prevented from using that information.
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Instead of taking pride in how quickly they cover the same stories as everyone else, these organizations make public service journalism their top priority.
Corruption is as old as human history.
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Established media organisations are collaborating across borders and with new media to break big stories such as global tax avoidance by the rich and powerful.
The first strategy is to require the public disclosure of country by country reporting of company tax affairs.
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Social media does not eradicate the line between personal or private. Instead, it shifts the line in ways that require thought rather than unreflexive condemnation or celebration.
If the government wants to get serious about tax evasion it should create a public register for beneficial owners of companies.
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In Africa, commercial activities are the largest component of illicit financial flows. This is followed by organised crime and then public sector corruption.
The Panama Papers are part of a trend that suggests the U.S. tax gap – how much is still owed the government after Tax Day – may soon close. Could this mean the end of tax evasion?
