Franz is away at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference and he’s left the keys to Uncovered hanging just above his desk – so I’m taking it for a spin.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months here. The long-awaited Cop climate talks in Brazil are coming to a close, after months of run-up and reporting here in the TBIJ offices. We’re busy tracking the investigations we’ve already published too, staying on the story to make sure those responsible for wrongdoing are held to account. And we’re putting the final touches to some truly shocking reveals for you. I can’t wait to hear what you think of them.

One thing that runs through our veins here at TBIJ is public interest. This doesn’t mean simply something that the ‘public’ would find interesting. Defining ‘public interest’ is harder than pinning jelly to a wall, but broadly it means something that is relevant to the lives and wellbeing of people in a community. So, every time we consider whether to do an investigation or not, we ask if it’s in the public interest.

Take this story, hot off the digital presses. It’s about a local councillor who has a decent media profile and owns several businesses. But George Madgwick, Portsmouth council’s most senior Reform councillor, has two companies that have been ordered to pay more than £4,000 to former employees for breaching employment law. (Madgwick told us that he is contesting the tribunals’ rulings, which he says were made without the companies having opportunity to defend the claims – you can read his full responses in the story.)

When his boss, Nigel Farage, declared that the minimum wage for young people should be reduced, George was quick to get on the radio to agree. He used his own experience of the hospitality sector to argue the point on London’s LBC.

Elected officials should work to the highest professional and personal standards. We vote for them, put our faith in them and trust them to make good decisions and be responsible. So when we find evidence that makes it look like they aren’t living up to those standards, we know it’s something we must share.

If someone in a position of responsibility is talking about the working conditions and rights of employees in the media, for example, it is reasonable to hope that they might be a responsible employer themselves.

Some people talk about a crisis in public standards. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, the government announced “tough new powers to clean up local politics”. Sounds good to us. We’ll keep digging until we see that those powers really are cleaning things up. (And if you’re new here, then put “Thurrock” into the search box on tbij.com, clear your diary for a couple of days, and enjoy the ride.)

Our Cop30 series was funded by our Big Give crowdfunding campaign, which gave us the resources we needed to hold decisionmakers accountable and shine a light on the rampant greenwashing by huge corporations.

Our supporters help us stay independent so we can follow the story wherever it may lead – if you want to help us publish more brave investigations, then please join our membership community, the Bureau Insiders, today:

Factchecked!

Each week we reveal a fascinating fact from our reporting…

Did you know?

An antibiotic-resistant variant of the bacterium MRSA is back in the UK – in livestock animals. 

Find out more

The UK used to be free of this superbug variant, which can cause serious infections in humans, but it has now spread from Europe.

Recently, an outbreak of bluetongue virus at cattle farms in Wales sparked alarm and put the issue of livestock traceability back in the spotlight. Experts say we need much more comprehensive health checks for animals at the border to prevent new superbugs arriving in the UK. 

Read more here.

Challenging a closed-door court case

Wednesday 19 November was International Journalist Day. One of the most important things that journalists can do is to shine a light into those dark places that some in power don’t want us to explore. But to do that, we need transparent systems, observable processes, and accessible, accurate and timely information. 

When we see obstacles to these principles, we do something about it.

So this week, TBIJ was in court to push for transparency. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) had barred the press and the public from a case involving a lawyer accused of a blackmail threat against a journalist.

With Spotlight on Corruption, the Good Law Project and Foreign Policy Centre, we wrote a letter to the tribunal to challenge its decision to keep proceedings against Christopher Hutchings, a reputation management lawyer, behind closed doors. (Hutchings denies any wrongdoing.)

Given the case is ultimately about the alleged silencing of a journalist, we argued, the tribunal risks giving the impression “of a secret case in which lawyers argue behind closed doors about the conduct of other lawyers”.

We weren’t given the chance to make our argument in court. Denying the application, the SDT panel said that it came too late in proceedings.

Still, this case is an important test. TBIJ has advocated at every turn against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or SLAPPs –  lawsuits brought by the wealthy and powerful with the aim of silencing or burdening critics. This case is one of the first being pursued by the SRA that seems to respond to the growing clamour around SLAPPs

Hearings are ongoing and the case is expected to conclude next month.