Journalism is in trouble. A combination of economic vulnerability, opaque algorithms, and disinformation threatens the very foundation of independent reporting.
Fortunately, there are people who care deeply about their beloved profession and are finding ways to address these threats.
In this series, I intend to find out how individuals are working to make journalism more resilient. In today’s conversation: how to successfully set up international collaborations.
A lucky encounter
As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed, I came across a post by Daniel Howden[1]. In it, he discussed international journalism collaborations at Lighthouse Reports. At IBCoMagazine, we work together with students from countries all around the world, so the topic immediately caught my attention. Intrigued by the post, I decided to visit their website and dive deeper.
There, I discovered the profile of Klaas van Dijken[2]. Since he is Dutch, just like me, I figured reaching out to him would give me the best chance of landing an interview. So I sent him an email, asking if he was open to doing one.
Fast forward a week, a fellow IBCoMagazine writer and I attended the Free Press Live 2026 event to gain insight into what it means to work as a journalist under intense scrutiny.[3]
We also attended the panel discussion, where, to my great surprise, Klaas van Dijken was one of the panelists. Since I had not yet received a reply to my email, I gathered my courage and approached him in person.
It turned out he had seen my email and was happy to do the interview.
The beginning of Lighthouse Reports
Van Dijken began his journalism career in 2005. He had a particular interest in reporting from conflict zones. Recognising the challenges that came with this, he started carefully, slowly building partnerships while experimenting with new formats such as gamification.
However, the reach of these stories remained limited. That is why he decided to co-found Lighthouse Reports, an organisation facilitating collaborations between media partners[4]. Crucially, Lighthouse Reports never intended to become the next news platform: its sole purpose was to harness the power of partnerships. This is why, outside journalistic circles, the organisation remains relatively unknown.
Additionally, Lighthouse Reports conducts its own journalistic research, with each participating partner contributing, either financially or through other resources. “This creates a sense of ownership”, van Dijken explains.
How Lighthouse Reports operates
So how does Lighthouse Reports successfully cooperate with over 200 partners worldwide? It all starts with identifying a potential topic. “After this, we start with small preliminary studies to check feasibility. We do this until we have a working hypothesis with a minimum and maximum narrative and method”, he explains.
Around 90% of Lighthouse Reports stories are developed this way, with topic mostly falling into three broad categories: conflict, migration, and climate change.
Once the preliminary phase is complete, partners are brought in immediately. “We start assembling a team based on what impact we want to have”. Van Dijken cites their latest research in Sudan as a successful example of this method[5]. “We very consciously chose to collaborate with one Sudanese partner – Sudan War Monitor – and one international partner -CNN – as they have a lot of impact and are widely read”, he says.
Navigating global partnerships
What makes these collaborations so successful is that each party can focus on its strengths. Some journalists bring specialist knowledge, while others excel at opening the right doors. This creates a synergy in which partners complement each other.
A common pitfall is the power imbalance between large and small partners. “You have to listen carefully to all your partners, not just the bigger ones”, says van Dijken. This requires careful navigation between different interests.
It is equally important to balance uniformity with the freedom for each partner to make their own editorial decisions. News outlets all have their unique working styles. Regular check-ins and conversations with partners about their experiences help to remove these barriers.
Clarity, assumptions and credits
The survey by Lighthouse Reports revealed that time management and clarity around expectations are areas for improvement. Van Dijken recognizes this but notes that it is not as simple to fix as one might think: “We cannot say this has to be finished now, since Lighthouse Reports is not the employer.” Even so, it is something he believes can be improved.
The survey also highlighted the need to ‘avoid assumptions’. What do partners mean by this? “Often, news outlets still look through a Western perspective”, van Dijken explains. “By recognising how our backgrounds and perspectives shape the way we see the world, we can make more thoughtful decisions, engage with others more fairly, and approach collaborations with greater inclusivity”.
Finally, the survey underscored the importance of credits and recognition. At Lighthouse Reports, all partners are required to acknowledge each other. But if this isn’t standard practice, van Dijken recommends always discussing it upfront.
When ask what stood out most to the survey results, van Dijken’s answer was clear: every editor from the newsrooms that participated in the survey said they would 100% work with Lighthouse Reports again.
The future of international collaborations
What does the future of international journalistic collaboration look like? Van Dijken expects to see more and more of it, as media organizations increasingly recognise the necessity.
At the same time, he is concerned, as these collaborations can be a double-edged sword: some large players that take up a lot of space while showing little care for the smaller organizations.
Nonetheless, he remains optimistic, just as the journalists in the survey suggested: what we need now are bolder editorial visions, driven by a commitment to create maximum impact, helping fulfil journalism’s watchdog role.
[1]See the original post here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel-howden-lighthouse_everyone-loves-a-journalism-collaboration-activity-7422172147344769024-c7hH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADlhqygBpQ00xy9r6RHnP36ag0DkmEZgaUs
[2] Lighthouse Report team: https://www.lighthousereports.com/about/#team
[3] Read about the event here: https://ibcomagazine.com/2026/free-press-live-2026/
[4] https://www.lighthousereports.com/about/
[5] Read the full story here: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/the-kanabi-killings/