Platform of Authenthic Journalism
Platform Authentic Journalism is a partnership of a group of researchers who by means of critical reporting want to contribute to a just and democratic society. The concept of Authentic Journalism is simple: collecting and publishing information which contributes to the political struggle of (groups of) people who are suffering from exclusion, exploitation, (repression and) other forms of injustice. We do so by identifying the problems together with those concerned, by subsequently formulating the solutions to these problems, and finally by disseminating those solutions to the widest possible audience.
The Team
Bas van Beek
Bas obtained a degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at the University of Utrecht. He has been active as an independent journalist during the people’s uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico, an experience which instilled in him a lasting passion for independent reporting. His last research brought him to Mozambique, where he investigated the upcoming gas industry.
Bas is responsible for all the FOIA requests of the Platform and is assisting Freedom of Information Specialists Roger Vleugels in several cases.
Jilles Mast
Jilles obtained a degree in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Utrecht. He has investigated the political organization of indigenous communities and social movements in Latin America. Another field of study is the social and economic impact of extractivism in the Amazon. He believes it is important to combine the soundness of academic research with the accessibility of journalistic writing.
Alexander Beunder
Alexander has a master degree in economics at the University of Utrecht. In his research he has combined psychology, politics and economics in questions around household’s energy consumption, climate change and the Brexit. As an economics teacher he has contributed to De Kern van de Economie, a textbook by professor Arnold Heertje. As a journalist, he has written on the influence of lobbygroups in Dutch politics, development aid and ISDS.
Merel de Buck
Merel holds a PhD in anthropology from Utrecht University. Her dissertation is about community policing and intercultural universities in Guerrero, a violence-stricken state in Mexico. As a political anthropologist, she is interested in conflicts over autonomy, local democracy, referendums and social rights. During a Summer School of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), at Goldsmith University, Merel became interested in investigative journalism. Since then, she has been participating in the research project the Shell Papers.
