Shaping the future of cross-border investigative journalism
What drives a journalist to undertake a complex investigation across borders? How can reporters unschooled in data science unlock the secrets of algorithms? What’s the best way to go undercover in the international porn industry? Those questions and more took centre stage at UNCOVERED 2024, the fifth annual conference of the IJ4EU fund for cross-border investigative journalism.
Several hundred people attended the September 25-26 event in Athens, which was organised by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in partnership with IJ4EU consortium partners the International Press Institute (IPI), the European Journalism Centre (EJC) and Arena for Journalism in Europe.
UNCOVERED 2024 was hosted by the iMEdD International Journalism Forum, a collaboration that allowed the IJ4EU community to rub shoulders with around 1,000 attendees of iMEdD’s annual event.
Get a glimpse of UNCOVERED’s key moments below.
Personal journeys
The conference kicked off with a session that straightaway got close and personal as Timothy Large (Austria) probed the motivations of “serial grantees” during a fireside chat.
Investigative journalists shared their experiences in complex cross-border collaborations, discussing the challenges of their work, offering insights into how their journeys have shaped their careers and views on journalism,and setting an empathetic tone for the conference.
“Cross-border investigative journalism is something funders are interested in supporting,” Iliana Papangeli noted. “It is one of the best ways to ensure we continue making an impact through our reporting.”
Fresh perspectives
“Earth, Wine, and Fire: Climate Stories with a Twist” explored innovative angles in climate journalism.
Moderated by Jelena Prtoric (Germany) from Arena for Journalism in Europe, journalists Eve Tsirigotaki (France), Raluca Besliu (Belgium), Manuel Bivar (Portugal) and Cush Rodríguez Moz (Denmark) discussed stories that ranged from declining Spanish vineyards to environmental mysteries in Iberia, offering new perspectives on climate change reporting.
Call for international accountability
In a workshop titled World of Pain, paper trail media co-founder Frederik Obermaier (Germany) and Madlen Davies (Britain), senior editor at The Examination, shared insights from their joint investigation into how Mundipharma, a British multinational owned by members of the Sackler family, continues profiting from opioids.
They said the issue has been largely overlooked outside the United States, stressing the need for international accountability. Read more about the investigation here.
Beyond Europe
Discussions took a more global turn during a panel titled “Beyond Europe: When Investigations Span Far-Flung Places”, during which journalists shared their experiences of pursuing stories to remote corners of the world.
The panel was moderated by Zlatina Siderova (Netherlands) from EJC and featured reporters Marta Montojo (Spain), Patricia Huon (Belgium), Carol Isoux (France), Flavia Campeis (Argentina) and Ana Ćurić (Serbia), whose expertise encompasses Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Balkans and Africa’s Sahel region.
Meanwhile, Javier Luque (Austria), head of digital communications at IPI, hosted a workshop on decoding and disarming disinformation against the media.
Hidden patterns
As the day neared its end, the focus shifted to data journalism with the workshop “Data Out of Documents – Finding Patterns in the Periphery” led by Carolyn Thompson (Germany) and Sotiris Sideris (Greece), both from the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism.
They demonstrated the significance of adding a journalistic lens to data analysis, with the goal of uncovering hidden patterns and telling deeper stories when limited data is readily available
Exposing truths from exile
Diving headfirst into the realities of journalism in exile, in this panel featuring ECPMF’s Elena Rodina (Germany), Mohammad Bassiki (France), Fatima Karimova (Germany) and Metin Cihan (Germany) shared their experiences exposing truths behind authoritarian regimes and crises in Syria, Azerbaijan and Turkey, respectively.
The discussion on the challenges and potential of journalism in exile touched on the speakers’ hands-on approaches to reporting from afar and the resilience and determination of these reporters in their pursuit of truth.
Defending press freedom
On the second day of UNCOVERED, IJ4EU joined forces with the iMEDd International Journalism Forum, with attendees from both events gathering for the first panel, Defending Press Freedom: The Case of Europe. Speakers, including Elena Rodina, ECPMF’s Media Freedom Rapid Response Coordinator, and Scott Griffen (Austria), IPI’s interim executive director, addressed the ongoing challenges to press freedom in Europe.
Inside the machine
The UNCOVERED agenda continued with Inside the Machine: Investigating AI and Algorithms, a panel moderated by IPI’s Timothy Large and featuring journalists behind three groundbreaking investigations into inscrutable AI systems.
Daniel Howden (Greece), Pablo Jiménez Arandia (Spain), Pierluigi Bizzini (Italy) and Giorgos Christides (Greece) discussed AI’s use in welfare and migration while sharing insights from their own efforts to reverse-engineering AI systems.
“We are talking about societies which have one of the highest transparency scores, and yet the transparency might totally be missing,” Howden said, commenting on the opaqueness of algorithms that make life-changing decisions for countless people in European countries.
Getting down and dirty
How to Go Undercover, was moderated by ECPMF’s Deniz Bozkurt (Germany) and featured an engaging session in which journalists Nikolai Atefie (Sweden) and Elena Ledda (Spain) shared strategies for exposing illicit activities through undercover investigative work into the porn industry and people-smuggling rackets.
Nikolia Apostolou (Greece), resource centre director at the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), highlighted the intricacies of gathering evidence while ensuring personal safety. Check out GIJN’s Guide to Undercover Reporting here.
What impressive stories on how to get undercover. Sometimes the only way to uncover the truth. We heard stories about investigations in porn industry and human trafficking. The #IJ4EU panel was moderated by @DenizBozkurtP 🕵️♂️🔍💼 #iMEdDIJF24 #HumanTrafficking #PornIndustry pic.twitter.com/djsTHwllVH
— Andreas Lamm (@AndreasLamm) September 26, 2024
Recognising investigative work
The final workshop “What Makes an Award-Winning Investigation?” gave attendees crucial tips for creating standout applications for prestigious journalism awards. Moderated by Gabriela Manuli (Hungary), deputy director of GIJN, the workshop featured insights from Cristian Lupșa (Romania) and Lucila Rodriguez-Alarcon (Spain) from the European Press Prize and award-winning journalist Frederik Obermaier from paper trail media.
Participants received practical guidance, such as how to articulate their stories and begin preparing entries for the European Press Prize 2025 and the IJ4EU Impact Award 2025. Lupșa urged applicants to adhere to submission guidelines, refrain from overselling and clearly communicate the purpose, scope and relevance of investigations in local contexts.
2024 IJ4EU IMPACT AWARD
UNCOVERED 2024 ended on a high note as the IJ4EU Impact Awards recognised three investigative teams with €5,000 each for excellence in cross-border journalism.
Read more about the award and the inspiring investigative teams that won here.
*All countries indicated next to speakers’ names refer to countries of residence, not necessarily countries of citizenship.