Seek Initiative launches collaborative project with CORRECTIV

Sunlight is a project by Seek Initiative and the non-profit investigative journalism centre CORRECTIV, aimed at enhancing political transparency in Germany based on the success of the U.S.-based Sunlight Research Center. Launched in 2024, the project provides voters with verified information about political candidates, focusing on their backgrounds, public statements, and potential conflicts of interest. This initiative empowers citizens to make informed electoral decisions.

Project Overview

The core mission of Sunlight is to scrutinise political candidates by verifying their resumes, examining their political statements, and identifying any conflicts of interest. Sunlight encourages citizens to engage in political scrutiny. The project offers guides on how individuals can research political figures using accessible tools, fostering a culture of accountability and active civic participation.

📰 Why does this matter?

By engaging citizens and partnering with local media, we’re ensuring that essential political insights reach voters—so that everyone can make informed decisions at the ballot box.

Some initial investigations from the project include: 

• Andrej Hunko’s employee: An investigation revealed that a staff member of BSW politician Andrej Hunko – Mona Aranea – propagated conspiracy theories, raising concerns about the influences surrounding elected officials.
• Networking of the new right in the Bundestag: This article uncovered how right-wing politicians such as Matthias Helferich, Götz Kubitschek, and other well-known faces of the New Right come together, highlighting intricate networks within political spheres.
• CDU politician de Vries’s anti-muslim statements: An inquiry into CDU politician de Vries brought to light his anti-Muslim remarks, prompting discussions about the party’s stance on such issues.
• The right-wing extremists producing propaganda films: This article explores how right-wing extremists created a film about AfD politician Björn Höcke, revealing the media strategies employed to influence public perception.
• AfD politician’s Reichsbürger ideology: A look into the AfD politician Georg Ferdinand Wiedeburg, who wanted to “dissolve” the political system and referred to Germany as a GmbH (limited liability company).
• Legal proceedings involving Björn Höcke: This article provided a chronicle of legal investigations and trials involving AfD politician Björn Höcke, offering insights into his interactions with the judicial system.

To maximise impact, Sunlight partners with local and regional media outlets. This collaboration ensures that investigative findings are accessible to voters at the grassroots level. For instance, the partnership with Ruhr Nachrichten led to the exposure of a Dortmund resident who invited right-wing ideologue Götz Kubitschek to the Bundestag, bringing local political dynamics to the forefront.

How can citizens begin investigation for themselves?

Using the Sunlight method, citizens can begin to: 

✅ Verify political statements and résumés

✅ Uncover potential conflicts of interest

✅ Explore candidates’ networks and affiliations

It can all start with a simple Google search to find detailed information about candidates. Citizens can:

🔎 Search for quotes using: Candidate “Search Term”

🔎 Search candidates within a specific website: site:Name-of-Website.de Candidate

Then use targeted search on social media:

➡️ X (formerly Twitter): Advanced search with filters

➡️ Instagram: Profiles, keywords, hashtags

➡️ Facebook: People, posts, groups, events

➡️ TikTok: Filters, e.g. by date

Or analyse political speeches and debates using tools like:

📺 OpenParliamentTV – A video database of Bundestag speeches

🎥 Phoenix on YouTube – Live debates & highlights

📜 DIP Archive – A resource for laws, motions, and parliamentary speeches

These are just a couple of the ways in which we’re training citizens to investigate on their own so that we can build frameworks for community-led investigations. 

Want to learn how to work with your audiences to produce community-led investigations? Get in touch ➡️ hello@seekinitiative.org

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Origins and support

The concept for CORRECTIV.Sunlight originated from the U.S.-based Sunlight Project, by Sunlight Research Center and Seek Initiative. Recognising its potential, CORRECTIV, in collaboration with SEEK, adapted the model for the German context. This partnership underscores a commitment to global democratic values and the promotion of transparent governance.

In an era where misinformation can significantly impact democratic processes, Sunlight offers a format for furthering political transparency in Germany. By providing voters with meticulously verified information and fostering collaborations between media and citizens, the project plays a crucial role in strengthening the democratic fabric of the nation.

“Voters should know who is representing them. With Sunlight we are pushing for more transparency with politicians and politics and cooperating with local media, so that information reaches voters,” says Martin Böhmer, reporter at CORRECTIV. 

“An informed society is the foundation of a strong democracy. Citizens deserve access to reliable, fact-based information about political candidates to make informed decisions at the ballot box. That’s why we’re so pleased about this partnership between CORRECTIV and the Seek Initiative, working together to enhance political transparency and provide the tools for everyone to investigate for themselves”, says Seek’s Executive Director Neus Vidal Martí.

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What is Seek Initiative?

The Seek Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering community leaders, activists, citizen journalists, and NGOs to effect change through grassroots investigations. Recognizing that communities possess the deepest understanding of their own challenges and needs, Seek provides the necessary resources, training, and mentorship to facilitate impactful research.

Central to Seek’s methodology is the “10 Pathways of Investigation,” a comprehensive framework encompassing various investigative techniques such as social media research, geolocation mapping, public records analysis, and interviewing skills. This framework guides individuals and communities through a structured investigative process, from initial mapping to achieving tangible impact.

Seek also fosters a global network of investigative experts who offer training and mentorship, enhancing the capabilities of citizen investigators worldwide. This collaborative approach ensures that investigations are thorough, credible, and resonate within the communities they aim to serve.

Recent initiatives include the “Environmental Investigators Citizen Journalism Fellowship,” launched in January 2025, which trains European journalists to engage citizens in environmental investigations. Additionally, in April 2024, Neus Vidal Martí, a seasoned journalist and political scientist, was appointed as Executive Director, bringing a wealth of experience in media freedom and access to information.

Through its commitment to community-driven research and capacity building, the Seek Initiative strives to democratize the pursuit of truth, enabling individuals to uncover injustices and advocate for positive change within their societies.