Manisha Ganguly

Investigative journalist

Manisha Ganguly

Born|  (1995-01-13) 13 January 1995 (age 29)

Kolkata, India

Alma mater| University of Westminster
Occupation| Investigative journalist
Employer| The Guardian
Known for| Investigative journalism and open-source intelligence
Awards| European Press Prize Special Award (2024)

Amnesty International UK Media Award (2023)

Forbes 30 Under 30 (2021)

George Weidenfeld Special Preis for Courageous Reporting, Axel Springer Award (2020)

Amnesty International UK Media Award (2020)
Website| manishaganguly.com

Manisha Ganguly (Bengali: মণীষা গাঙ্গুলী, born 13 January 1995) is an investigations correspondent at The Guardian.[1] She previously worked as investigative documentary producer for BBC News[2] covering conflict and international affairs. She lives in London, United Kingdom.[3]

## Early career

[edit]

In 2012, as a teenager in Kolkata, India, Ganguly was one of ten young journalists selected from hundreds of competitors to intern for The Times of India.[2][4]

After the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, Ganguly began reporting on violence against women; in a later interview she described being subject to rape and death threats online as a result.[2] She was the founder and editor of Eyezine, the webzine of the feminist counterculture Eye ArtCollective which she co-founded in 2013/14. The publication showcased women reporting on violence against women.[5][6][7] In a later interview with Marie Claire, she said that the website was central to documenting the campus rape which sparked the 2014 Jadavpur University protests.[8] Its investigation into subsequent riot police assault against students sparked mass protests and shut down the city,[2] and resulted in more than 100,000 readers in one month for the website.[9] She said that the webzine also came under attack from the state for reporting on human rights abuses in the Kashmir conflict.[2] The collective exhibitied their work in Toronto in 2015.[10][11]

Ganguly received a full scholarship to study a Master's in journalism at the University of Westminster in London, and moved to the United Kingdom. She considers India to be a hostile environment for women in journalism.[2] Her first role in investigative journalism in the UK was for The Daily Telegraph.[12]

## Reporting

[edit]

For the BBC, investigative documentaries she has worked on exposed double-tap attacks by Russian planes in Syria and war crimes by Turkish-backed forces in the Syrian civil war,[13][14][15][16] war crimes in Libya,[17][15][18][19] use of cluster munitions in Ukraine,[20] human trafficking in the Middle East,[3][21] uncovered the training of the killers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,[3][15] discovered China's most famous MeToo activist who had been missing,[22] and reported on Covid-19 in the Middle East.[23] In 2022, an investigation Ganguly co-led documented the torture of Russian anti-war prisoners in a Moscow police station and the identities of the officers, and officers were subsequently sanctioned by the EU.[24][25][26]

Ganguly was interviewed about her investigative reporting on Ukraine by Bellingcat,[27] El Mundo,[28] ARTE,[29] L'Orient Le Jour,[30] and Marie Claire.[2]

For the Guardian and Forbidden Stories, Ganguly was part of an international team that investigated Team Jorge, a group of Israeli contractors led by Tal Hanan which claimed to have meddled in more 30 elections worldwide and Aims, their software to launch bot armies.[31][32][33] The investigation resulted in the suspension of French broadcaster Rachid M'Barki of BFMTV.[34] For The Guardian, she investigated NTC-Vulkan, which develops a Russian disinformation network and cyberweapons used by the Russian military and intelligence agencies, as a part of the Vulkan Files.[35] Ganguly acquired the Pentagon Leaks from Discord for the Guardian,[36] and reported that half the special forces deployments in Ukraine consisted of UK special forces.[37] As part of the "Costs of the Crown" team, Ganguly investigated the lineage of colonial looting of jewellery in the royal collection owned by Elizabeth II, and the British royal family.[38][39] Ganguly exposed the US and Germany training of Saudi border forces accused of mass killing migrants on the Yemen border.[40] Ganguly has reported on transnational repression of dissidents on European soil, focussing on Saudi Arabia[41] and Iran.[42]

During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Ganguly's Instagram account was restricted by Meta while seeking blood donations for injured journalists.[43] Ganguly led the Guardian's investigation into the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion,[44] reporting that the crater at the blast site required kinetic energy inconsistent with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) aerial bomb, and was also inconsistent with an airstrike, concluding that it was "more likely to be a weapon that failed and released its payload over a wide area." She investigated damage to Gaza's hospitals including by Israeli munitions,[45][46] the Jabaliya refugee camp airstrikes,[47] conducted damage assessment of northern Gaza,[48] and wrote that Israel appeared to be receiving munitions from a US War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel for the war in Gaza.[49][50] Together with Forbidden Stories and ARIJ, Ganguly investigated the deaths of Palestinian journalists in Gaza and revealed that parts of the IDF viewed Hamas-linked journalists as legitimate targets.[51][52][53][54][55]

Ganguly worked with a consortium of investigative journalists to uncover more than 1,000 unmarked graves of deceased migrants and refugees on the borders of Europe.[56][57] The investigation was awarded the European Press Prize Special Award.[58][59][60][61]

## Academic work

[edit]

She holds a PhD titled "Future of Investigative Journalism: The Age of Automation, A.I. & Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)" from the University of Westminster, where she has also taught.[62][63] It is the first[citation needed] PhD in OSINT mapping the impact on investigative journalism.[64][65] Ganguly's research also focussed on incidences of PTSD and the mental health impact of looking at graphic violence in OSINT investigations in war zones.[66]

## Commentary

[edit]

Ganguly is a vocal proponent of women's representation and diversity in the OSINT space and investigative journalism.[66]

Ganguly has stated that OSINT investigations help confirm ground reality during war and fact-check claims made by state actors.[67][45]

In 2023, following the Twitter takeover by Elon Musk and banning of ElonJet, Ganguly expressed concern for Twitter becoming "an inhospitable platform for the OSINT community".[68] Ganguly also criticised the verification of the account of assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Musk for Twitter Blue, tweeting: "Jamal Khashoggi deserves better".[69][70] She attributed the new verification rules on X to the disinformation put out by OSINT accounts, and "OSINT grifters".[67]

## Recognition and awards

[edit]

Ganguly has won a number of awards for her work including the 2020 George Weidenfeld Special Preis for Courageous Reporting.[15][71] In April 2021, Ganguly was included by Forbes magazine on their annual 30 Under 30 in the media category.[72] International awards include MHP 30 to watch under 30 in 2021[73] and 2020,[74] and Women of the Future Award.[75]

She was part of teams which won two Amnesty International Media Awards for Best Investigation in 2020 and 2023,[76][77][78] the European Press Prize Special Award in 2024,[79] and shortlisted for the One World Media Award for Coronavirus Reporting.[80] She has been shortlsited for Outstanding Young Journalist at the Asian Media Awards [81] in 2020, and for the Broadcast Awards in 2021,[82] twice for the Press Gazette's British Journalism Award 2024,[83] and twice for the UK Press Awards 2024.[84]

## References

[edit]

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