My favourite stories from six months of The Spark

Hi Sparkies,

I’m going to be taking a little break over the next couple of weeks, but no fear, I’ve got some absolute crackers (pun entirely intended) lined up for January. I’ve now been running this newsletter for six months, and it’s been a joy. 

I’ve especially loved getting to hear from you – and special thanks to everyone who responded to the edition a few weeks ago on my own special project, Silenced Stories. Much as I immediately want to do it all again, it took a year’s worth of work to put together, and I need a few weeks’ rest!

Next Wednesday is Christmas Day, and the Wednesday after that is New Year’s, so you won’t be seeing any emails from me then. But I’ll be back in January to help you beat away the blues with stories of change for the better and bad guys brought to justice, never fear!

Until then, here are my five favourite editions of the year:

1. She’s the grandma fighting disinformation
   I got to speak to Bùi Như Mai just before the US election in November. If you hadn’t joined us then, Mai’s a Vietnamese American woman who started translating and explaining articles for her friends on Facebook as she saw a rise in disinformation across the platform. Eventually she ended up broadcasting her own show on YouTube, helping viewers sort fact from fiction. Her story is still one of the best I’ve heard yet for showing what a single person can do for their community – just by deciding to find out and share the truth. 
   
   

2. Finding family for Bangladesh’s adopted ‘war babies’
   The first story in this edition was very serious – looking at the decades-long fallout of a campaign of using rape as a weapon in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. But it’s a spectacular example of how telling stories can provoke change even at an international level, with cases around the world of Bangladeshi adoptees finding their birth mothers. I also love the second story, on the thalidomide scandal – Mandy de la Mare does incredible work as a trustee of the Thalidomide Society, making sure that this scandal is one we do not forget. 
   
   

3. Protecting their land and lives with their stories

   Sometimes, when journalists talk to each other too much, we end up with a weird mental division between “reporters” and “communities”. But reporters are members of communities, and communities can produce great reporters! Nothing reminds me more of that than this edition, when I got to talk to Typju Mỹky and Benjamin Abbatangelo, both Indigenous investigative journalists, about their work in the Brazilian Amazon and northern Australia. 
   
   

4. Kicking dirty money out of the beautiful game

   This is one of my favourite stories I’ve been able to tell, not just because it was one of TBIJ’s (although that helps!) but because it reminds me of the weird and wonderful places investigative journalism can take you. Simon, my colleague who investigated Vitesse’s links to Roman Abramovich, never intended to become our de facto football correspondent. He’s more of a cricket man. But last week he ended up winning a big sports journalism of the year award for the story. 

   
   Also, for a Christmassy-flavour, do read the second section on a remarkable piece by the Fuller Project on Frankincense artisans in Somaliland.
   
   

5. It’s a matter of life and death – but life is winning

   I’ve been very moved by the storytellers who’ve not only spoken to me about their own work, but allowed me to talk to their sources as well. Those relationships are very precious, and I’ve really appreciated their trust. Amanda Duffy, who was featured in ProPublica’s reporting on stillbirths, is a remarkable woman and her ongoing activism is inspiring. I won’t lie, this one is tough to read – even for me, and I wrote it. But I do think it’s a remarkable story – and it was one of my first editions, so chances are it may not be one you’ve seen before. 

And before I go, I’ve got to give a special mention to our two guest editions – the first by the incomparable Charley at Bellingcat, and the second by the wonderful Ariadne at Lighthouse Reports. 

Have a lovely few weeks, and happy Christmas to all who celebrate. I’ll see you on the other side!

All the best,

Lucy