Category: Allgemein

Three teams win top honours at Europe’s leading prize for transnational watchdog reporting.

From a forensic look at a catastrophic shipwreck to the exposure of global disinformation networks and a search for unmarked migrant graves across Europe, remarkable examples of collaborative journalism won the IJ4EU Impact Award 2024 on Thursday. 

Three international teams of journalists received equal recognition at the annual prize of the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund, which supports cross-border watchdog reporting.

The winners were (with no particular ranking):

• The Pylos Shipwreck: Reconstruction of a Catastrophe
• Story Killers
• The Border Graves Investigation

The jury also gave an honourable mention to Suspicion Machines.

“I know I speak for the rest of the jury when I say that so many of the entries were of an outstanding quality,” Maltese investigative journalist Paul Caruana Galizia, who chaired the jury, said.

“A reminder, as if we needed one, that there are many journalists out there working — sometimes on a shoestring, sometimes at risk — on stories that are important, in the public interest and have the power to affect change.”

Powerful collaborations
The winning investigations were announced during a ceremony at IJ4EU’s annual UNCOVERED Conference, hosted at the iMEdD International Journalism Forum in Athens on September 26, 2024.

An independent jury chose the following investigations from a shortlist of nominations for Europe’s only prize devoted to celebrating journalistic collaboration across frontiers.

The winning teams received cash prizes of €5,000 each. The jury was unanimous in its decision.

Along with Caruana Galizia, the jury members were pioneering documentary maker Christopher Hird; Gabriela Manuli, deputy director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network; award-winning Kosovo journalist Saranda Ramaj; and Nik Williams, a media freedom advocate who co-chairs the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition.

The winners topped a shortlist created after an exhaustive evaluation of nominated investigations led by experts at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies of Leipzig University.

Here is more information about the winning investigations.

The Pylos Shipwreck 

This investigation by Solomon, Forensis, The Guardian and ARD forensically examined a 2023 shipwreck that killed more than 500 irregular migrants in Greek waters. The jury praised it for its innovative storytelling.

(Download the graphic)

By exposing failures in the official responses, the project has had a significant impact in Greece, contributing to a compelling case that is now part of ongoing court proceedings.

With an interdisciplinary approach incorporating forensic modelling, the team demonstrated exceptional cross-border collaboration and swift execution, interviewing affected families and producing a powerful video, the jury said.

Story Killers

Story Killers is a global exposé by Forbidden Stories revealing the shadowy world of disinformation mercenaries. What sets the project apart is its focus on the experiences of journalists who risk their safety to report on this perilous industry.

(Download the graphic)

The jury commended the team for painting a profound picture of the landscape of disinformation, surveillance and press freedom.

Forbidden Stories is an international network of journalists operating under the motto: “Killing the journalist won’t kill the story.” For this project, Forbidden Stories brought together more than 100 journalists from 30 media outlets for a unique collaboration. 

One of the journalists whose work Forbidden Stories continued was  Gauri Lankesh, who was assassinated in Bangalore in 2017, days before she planned to publish an article about disinformation.

“By continuing Gauri Lankesh’s important work, not only did Story Killers uncover the global disinformation complex that threatens free expression and democracy in every country across the globe beyond India alone, they shone a light on Gauri’s tragic death,” jury member Williams said.

“Through that, they also honoured her courageous life.”

The Border Graves Investigation 

In an effort to uncover the fate of irregular migrants who perish attempting to reach the European Union, eight freelancers identified more than 1,000 unmarked graves in 65 cemeteries across Europe. 

(Download the graphic)

The jury lauded the team’s humane approach and strong visual storytelling that relied on powerful photography and virtual reality, complementing the investigative work.

The freelancer team brought attention to an underreported issue and highlighted the failure of EU migration policies and the right to truth for hundreds of affected families.

The jury also acknowledged the investigation’s contribution to transforming public understanding of the issue. The Border Graves Investigation is the only winner this year who has received IJ4EU funding.

“This project is a perfect example of how to do investigative journalism with boots on the ground, while shining a light on individual stories and humanising victims,” jury member Manuli said.

“What makes it more exemplary, is that it was conducted by a very small cross-border team. Out of the eight reporters, six of them are full-time freelancers, and the other two are affiliated with small newsrooms. And all this significant reporting was done with very little resources, in a period of over six months.”

Suspicion Machines

Lighthouse Reports , a winner of last year’s IJ4EU Impact Award, earned an honourable mention for its Suspicion Machines investigation into inscrutable algorithms.

(Download the graphic)

The Dutch non-profit collaborated with newsrooms across Europe to uncover the discriminatory effects of welfare surveillance algorithms and highlight the lack of transparency in how governments deploy these secretive AI systems.

The jury praised the project for its impressive methodology, setting a new standard for data journalism by effectively blending investigative reporting with tech-driven approaches.

Seeking truth across borders 

The IJ4EU Impact Award honours journalistic teams collaborating across borders in countries that have signed up to the full cross-sectoral strand of the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme, which provides core funding for IJ4EU.

The award is open to teams regardless of whether they have received IJ4EU grant funding.

Managed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in cooperation with IJ4EU partners the International Press Institute (IPI), the European Journalism Centre (EJC) and Arena for Journalism in Europe, the prize accepted nominations for investigations published or broadcast between October 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023.

IJ4EU’s mission is to strengthen cross-border investigative journalism through grants, legal help and other forms of support in and around Europe.

Led by IPI, the IJ4EU programme is financed by the European Commission with co-funding from Fritt Ord Foundation, Isocrates Foundation, the Free State of Saxony and the City of Leipzig.

The IJ4EU consortium extends its congratulations to the winning teams for the well-deserved recognition.

The journalists’ work underscores the importance of cross-border investigative journalism in revealing truths that extend beyond national borders and holding those in power accountable, playing a pivotal role in promoting transparency and justice across the world.

We are delighted to announce that registration is now open for UNCOVERED 2023!

Returning for a fourth year, UNCOVERED is the annual conference of the IJ4EU programme and an opportunity for you to network with and learn from Europe’s leading cross-border investigative journalists. 

This year’s conference will take place in Brussels on 12 and 13 October. It’s an opportunity to showcase the best investigative journalism Europe has to offer and to discuss the challenges faced by those working to shine a light on cross-border crime and corruption. The conference is organised by ECPMF, together with the International Press Institute (IPI) and European Journalism Centre (EJC), and funded by the European Commission.

Click here to secure your place at our annual conference for cross-border investigative journalism. Places at the conference are limited so act fast to seal your participation! 

If you have any questions or issues with registration, reach out to us at deniz.bozkurt-pekar@ecpmf.eu. For all the latest updates on the conference, keep an eye on ECPMF’s Twitter profile and the UNCOVERED

We are excited to announce that the latest instalment of the IJ4EU UNCOVERED Conference will take place this year from 12-13 October 2023! For two days, Europe’s finest investigative journalists will descend on Brussels, Belgium, alongside funders, policymakers, and civil society members, to network, participate in discussions, and join interactive workshops. We’ll keep you updated with all the latest details in the coming weeks, but for now, here’s what you need to know:

Where?

This year, UNCOVERED is moving to Brussels. You’ll find us at the home of the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Full address: Rue Montoyer 47, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.

When?

12 and 13 October 2023. Registration will open on 15 August 2023. We’ll publish a full schedule and agenda shortly so keep your eyes peeled.

What?

UNCOVERED is the annual conference of the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) programme. It’s an opportunity to showcase the best investigative journalism Europe has to offer and to discuss the challenges faced by those working to shine a light on cross-border crime and corruption. The conference is organised by ECPMF, together with the International Press Institute (IPI) and European Journalism Centre (EJC), and funded by the European Commission.

Keep an eye on the UNCOVERED website and ECPMF’s Twitter account for all the latest updates. You can also get up-to-date conference news and registration information straight to your inbox by subscribing to the UNCOVERED Newsletter. Make sure to sign up and you’ll be the first to know when registration opens on 15 August.

We look forward to seeing you in Brussels! In the meantime, don’t forget to save the date! 

Investigations on topics as diverse as corruption in sports, illegal “pushbacks” of refugees and the mass internment of Uyghurs in China have won equal honours at the IJ4EU Impact Award, the annual prize of the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund.

Three teams of journalists shared the limelight on Friday at a special ceremony for Europe’s only award devoted exclusively to cross-border investigative journalism. In no particular order, the investigations selected by an independent jury were:

• The Devils Is in the Data
• The Xinjiang Police Files
• Unmasking Europe’s Shadow Armies

Each team gets €5,000. The jury chose the winners from a shortlist of nominations made by independent evaluators assembled by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), which runs the award in cooperation with IJ4EU partners the International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Journalism Centre (EJC).

Another investigation, Peat Pressure, received an honourable mention.

Ahead of the award ceremony on 31 March, the ECPMF team spoke to the winners about their projects, the work that went into each investigation, and the challenges they overcame along the way. Follow the links below to hear from this year’s winners.

The first prize of the evening went to a team of freelancers — Andy Brown, Philippe Auclair, Steve Menary and Jack Kerr — for their undercover investigation, The Devil Is in the Data, which reveals how live data fed to the sports betting industry can create a fertile ground for match-fixing.

Read the interview here.

Next to be honoured were the journalists behind The Xinjiang Police Files. Carried out by a team of independent outlets brought together by German news site Der Spiegel, the investigation provides an unprecedented look behind China’s veil of secrecy by attaching names and faces to a brutal system that has locked away a million Uyghurs in internment camps.

Read the interview here.

Unmasking Europe’s Shadow Armies was led by Lighthouse Reports, a Dutch non-profit that works with newsrooms across Europe. It gives the most detailed picture yet of a previously deniable campaign of illegal, violent “pushbacks” in Croatia, Greece and Romania by exposing the mysterious men in masks who beat asylum seekers at Europe’s borders.

Read the interview with reporters behind the project here.

Honourable mention went to “Peat Pressure, an investigation by Irish investigative organisation Noteworthy that exposes a system of unregulated peat extraction and how two multi-million-euro horticultural peat companies have extracted it without consent and in breach of EU environmental law.

Read the interview with journalist Juris Jurāns here.

You can watch a full recording of the 2023 IJ4EU Impact Award Ceremony below.

Winners of Europe’s leading prize for cross-border investigative journalism will be announced on March 31.

Ten investigations have been shortlisted for the third annual IJ4EU Impact Award, celebrating excellence in cross-border watchdog journalism in Europe.

Three winning teams will each get €5,000 in recognition of their work collaborating on stories that transcend national frontiers. Winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Leipzig, Germany, on March 31.

Here are the 10 shortlisted entries, in alphabetical order and selected from a pool of nominations by independent evaluators assembled by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), a partner in the IJ4EU consortium.

Behind the Belarusian Sanctions

Despite harsh EU sanctions, Belarusian oil exports to Estonia reached record levels in 2021. Journalists from investigative centres and news outlets in four countries — Re:Baltica in Latvia, Delfi in Estonia, Siena in Lithuania and the Belarusian Investigative Center — reveal how the trade, initiated by the oligarch dubbed the “energy wallet of Lukashenko”, has been set up.

Black and White: Discrimination in the exodus from Ukraine

As Europe focused on the mass of people fleeing Ukraine following Russia’s invasion last year, Dutch investigative non-profit LightHouse Reports identified an underreported aspect of the exodus: discrimination of non-Western residents as they tried to escape. Twenty-one journalists from eight countries set out to explore and illuminate the disturbingly unequal treatment of certain refugees that was otherwise going largely unnoticed.

Migrant Boat Drivers in the Dock

Over the past decade, Greek, Spanish and Italian border guards have increasingly targeted the drivers of migrant boats arriving on their countries’ shores, in their quest for someone to blame for “illegal” migration. Thousands of people, usually migrants themselves, have been arrested. Some may have been paid to drive the boat, others forced at gunpoint. Among them are unaccompanied minors, reveals this investigation by Lost in Europe.

Mining Secrets

Sixty-five journalists, coordinated by Forbidden Stories, came together to pursue the work of colleagues threatened for investigating environmental scandals in Guatemala. Drawing on hundreds of thousands of leaked documents, the team revealed how journalists who reported on a powerful mining conglomerate were systematically profiled, surveilled and even followed by drones.

Suisse Secrets

Led by the Organized Crime and Reporting Project and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Suisse Secrets brought together more than 160 journalists from 48 outlets on five continents to investigate leaked records containing 18,000 Credit Suisse accounts, the largest leak ever from a major Swiss bank.

The China Science Investigation

Are European scientists contributing to China’s quest to become a military superpower? This project led by Dutch investigative platform Follow the Money involved 30 journalists from seven countries who analysed more than 350,000 scientific papers involving collaborations between China and Europe. They found that nearly 3,000 were by researchers affiliated with European universities and their counterparts at military-linked institutions in China.

The Devil is in the Data

This undercover investigation by a group of freelancers in four countries reveals how live data fed to the sports betting industry can create a fertile ground for match-fixing. The journalists involved were Andy Brown, Philippe Auclair, Steve Menary and Jack Kerr.

The Ericsson List

Based on a leaked internal compliance report, this investigation reveals that the Swedish-based multinational sought permission from Islamic State extremists to work in an ISIS-controlled city in Iraq and paid to smuggle equipment into ISIS areas on a route known as the “Speedway”. Led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the project involved 31 media partners in 22 countries.

The Xinjiang Police Files

In recent years, the Chinese state has allegedly locked away a million Uyghurs in internment camps. This project attaches names and faces to this brutal system, providing an unprecedented look behind the veil of secrecy. Involving journalists based in eight countries, the investigation was carried out by a team of independent outlets brought together by German news site Der Spiegel.

Unmasking Europe’s Shadow Armies

This investigation led by LightHouse Reports, a Dutch-based non-profit that works with newsrooms across Europe, exposes the mysterious men in masks who beat refugees at Europe’s borders. It gives the most detailed picture yet of a previously deniable campaign of illegal, violent “pushbacks” in Croatia, Greece and Romania by masked men whose uniforms have been stripped of any identifying details.

Recognising resilience

The IJ4EU Impact Award ceremony will act as a finale to the MFRR Summit 2023, the annual gathering of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) mechanism, which supports and protects journalists in EU member states and candidate countries.

By hosting the awards at the summit, the IJ4EU fund seeks to underline the bravery and resilience of investigative journalists in the face of growing assaults on media freedom and pluralism.

Winners will be selected by an independent jury chaired by Joanna Krawczyk, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and member of the management board of the European Media and Information Fund.

The award is open to cross-border journalistic teams of any kind, regardless of whether or not they have received support from the IJ4EU fund. Among this year’s shortlisted nominations, three teams received IJ4EU support. They were Behind the Belarusian Sanctions, Migrant Boat Drivers in the Dock and The Devil in the Data.

Both the MFRR Summit and the IJ4EU Impact Award are run by ECPMF. The International Press Institute, which leads the IJ4EU consortium, is also a member of the MFRR mechanism.

The awards will be livestreamed on March 31 on the ECPMF YouTube channel. For more information, check out the MFRR Summit microsite.