Insight Crime Latin America - Core Support

In 2024 InSight Crime worked towards improving the integration between the different teams that make up the core operations of the organization. * The partner has dedicated efforts to restructuring the newsroom and website contributing to notable improvements in audience metrics and user engagement. They have successfully implemented the quota policy and this has impacted the website results. * InSight Crime has tried several programs to automate regular data gathering and visualization tasks, allowing more efficient monitoring of quantitative data. The partner is exploring how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a way that fits InSight Crime needs but they are working at the same time in internal guidelines to avoid unpredictable and unethical aspects of AI. * The partner is focusing their activities to ensure the impact of InSight Crimes work through the creation of multimedia content, such as graphics, videos, and podcasts, and the creation of content plans for social networks and the digital environment. This also entail reaching new audiences with new communication formats adapted to their needs ad the different public of each media, resulting in significant improvement in their performance metrics across different social media platforms (61% more visits in LinkedIn, 1240% visits in Facebook and 180% more visits in YouTube). Over the course of 2024, they launched several new products and channels. This included new initiatives like the LinkedIn newsletter Behind the Headlines, which grew to 7,875 subscribers, the From the Field newsletter that accompanied the launch of their podcast, which so far has under 400 subscribers. During the year they launched the Instagram page, which has so far gained over 3,400 followers and averages over 700 visits per day. * The partner conducted a review to develop a more integrated and strategic approach to measuring the impact of their premium content. This included having impact strategies early in the production process, setting clear objectives, mapping target audiences, and enhancing monitoring and evaluation methods. The goal is to better understand and influence audiences, assess how InSight Crime contributes to discussions on organized crime and security, and track tangible outcomes. Additionally, they worked on organizing and systematizing the process for applying to awards. * InSight Crime has been working to diversify its funding sources. This includes efforts to build a base of individual donors and a systematic approach to applying for awards. To support these initiatives, the organization has established a dedicated fundraising unit. With recent cuts to USAID funding, previously a significant source of support, strengthening alternative financing strategies has become a top priority. * To increase its impact, the partner has followed a recommendation from the external evaluation conducted as part of Sidas project that ended 2023, which encouraged the organization to strengthen alliances and local partnerships. In 2024, InSight Crime reported several new partnerships they have consolidated, along with continued participation in events and conferences. *In 2024, InSight Crime has launched their podcast series: From the Ground Up. Through human stories from their fieldwork in Brazil, Colombia, the US-Mexico border, Honduras, Bolivia, and El Salvador, they explained organized crime and the systemic failures that facilitate it. To produce it, they partnered with La No Ficción, a Colombian audio production house. *The partner continues to contribute to the public debate as well as providing insightful information to governments regarding organized crime. They have participated in a total of 24 academic events, panels, conferences and closed door sessions in 2024 and presented its research findings at eight closed door events with government officials. *inSight Crime has put in place different initiatives for their staff and interns. Their internship program in 2024 included 22 participants from 14 nationalities and diverse fields. By the end of the year around 38% of their staff were interns before being hired. The partner has also put in place Training and Skill Development Initiatives to ensure their staff can improve their capacities and keep growing and learning. * InSight Crime received several awards over the course of 2024, as an organization, for investigations produced under the supervision of the ASDI team and with ASDI funding, and as part of a coalition of media outlets.

InSight Crime will receive core support from sida for the next three years (2024-2025-2026). The main goal of the intervention is to strengthen the partner´s overall objective of deepening, informing, and provoking "debate about organized crime and citizen security in the Americas by providing regular reporting, analysis, and investigation, as well as policy suggestions on how to tackle the multiple challenges they present". According to InSight Crime´s strategic document for 2023-2025, the specific objectives for the period are the following: 1. Strengthen the regional outlook of the partners work in their efforts on understanding and explaining criminal dynamics throughout the Americas. 2. Support the social media and communications objective particularly including podcast as a new communication format. 3. Reinforce the retention and training of staff plan to support their internal capacity-building. 4. Support the investigative priorities planned for the period, in particular those related to environmental crime, threats to democracy and rule of law, and the understanding of organized crime and gender.