The Global Reporting Centre has evolved since its inception nearly seven years ago. Reflecting on its development, executive director and founder Peter Klein said, “We thought that, if we’re going to build up global journalism, we could try different approaches. But the notion of really challenging the norms and practices wasn’t central to our early mandate. It definitely is now.”
It’s that change in approach that we wanted to capture by rebranding.
Branding reflects our identity — it personifies our ethics and core values. Those values are to try new methods when stories demand them, to connect and collaborate with those who are similarly committed to under-reported stories or angles, to share others’ stories ethically and fairly, and to devote the time and resources to do quality, in-depth research and reporting.
Alicia Carvalho, the graphic designer who created our new logo and branding said, “From a design perspective, it’s challenging trying to design a logo wordmark with twenty-one characters across three words without it feeling too bulky or lengthy. A logo should always be quickly recognizable and easily legible at a glance. When written in Title Case, words are easier for the human eye to recognize, which in this case, also allowed the initials GRC to stand out.”
These days, we’re focused on putting local perspectives on the global stage. Complexity and context is often lost when the people most affected by issues don’t have an opportunity to contribute. So we collaborate with local actors, journalists, academics, and even subjects of the story themselves, to give a truly global perspective — not one rooted in a particular place, time, or narrative.
“We have really been on the forefront of championing ‘empowerment journalism,’ in which members of traditionally misrepresented and marginalized communities have opportunities to be the authors and owners of their own stories. We’ve also been a leader in critiquing the fixer model, and [recently] brought a team of global journalists and editors to UBC to explore creating better practices around global reporting collaboration,” said Klein.
As we enter the next phase of our centre’s growth, our aim is to continue producing high-quality and impactful journalism that puts people first.
In our nearly seven years of reporting, we’re excited to continue growing, not just our number of employees or the areas we cover, but in our thought processes. We’re open to trying new methods, learning from our mistakes, reflecting on how we can do better, and creating positive impact wherever we go.
To those who have supported our journey all this way, thank you. To our new supporters, welcome! It’s been seven years but in many ways our story is only just getting started.
You can find Alicia’s work and contact info at alicia-carvalho.com.