Main Agenda

Wednesday 14th April

Where’s My Money Going? Funding Cross-Border Journalism

14:00 – 14:45 (45 minutes)

Funders of the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) programme discuss the opportunities and challenges of supporting cross-border journalism, including the use of both public and philanthropic money. 

CHAIR: Lutz Kinkel (Managing Director of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom)

  • Sabine Verheyen MEP (Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Education at the European Parliament)
  • Anna Herold (Head of Audiovisual and Media Services Policy Unit at the European Commission)
  • Knut Olav Åmås (Executive Director of Fritt Ord)
  • Ondrej Jurik (Programme Officer on the Programme on Independent Journalism at Open Society Foundations)
  • Kitty von Bertele (Principal at Luminate)

The FinCEN Files: The Power of Networks to Enable Cross-Border Journalism

15:00 – 15:45 (45 minutes)

Journalists behind one of the highest-profile investigations of 2020 tell the behind-the-scenes story of the FinCEN Files, the largest ever cross-border journalism collaboration of its kind.

This investigation has also been shortlisted for the IJ4EU Impact Award.

CHAIR: Kathryn Geels (Director of Grants Programmes at the European Journalism Centre) 

  • Eva Jung (Investigative Journalist at Berlingske)
  • Fergus Shiel (Managing Editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)
  • Ariel Kaminer (Global Investigations Editor at BuzzFeed News)

Reporting on Influence: ‘Following the Money’ Across Borders

16:00 – 16:45 (45 minutes)

Journalists from investigations funded by IJ4EU discuss how ‘follow-the-money’ journalism can be used to improve reporting on influence-peddling.

CHAIR: Timothy Large (IJ4EU Project Coordinator at the International Press Institute)

  • Zoltán Sipos (Romania-based Editor-in-Chief of Átlátszó Erdély, team leader of Hungarian Money, Orban’s Control)
  • Anastasia Kirilenko (Moscow-based freelance investigative journalist, working on an unpublished investigation)
  • Anna Gielewska (Warsaw-based Vice Chair and Editor of Fundacja Reporterow, working on an unpublished investigation)

#IJ4EU Impact Award Ceremony 

18:00 – 19:00 (60 minutes)

We announce the three 5,555 EUR winners of the #IJ4EU Impact Award, the world’s first prize devoted exclusively to cross-border investigative journalism.

Thursday 15th April

SLAPPs: A Legal Threat to Cross-Border Journalism

14:00 – 14:45 (45 minutes)

Where there’s cross-border journalism, there’s the threat of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). This panel discusses this growing menace, including a SLAPP suit filed in London against a Swedish news magazine.

CHAIR: To be confirmed

  • Maria Ordzhonikidze, (Director at the Justice for Journalists Foundation)
  • Per Agerman (Stockholm-based freelance journalist, writer for Realtid)

Lessons for Europe: Cross-Border Journalism Around the World

15:00 – 15:45 (45 minutes)

Europe is the most favourable continent for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders. What’s the state of cross-border investigative journalism in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia? And what can European journalists learn from their counterparts elsewhere?

CHAIR: Barbara Trionfi (Executive Director of the International Press Institute) 

  • Catherine Gicheru (Founder of the African Women Journalism Project)
  • Carlos Eduardo Huertas (Director of the Latin American cross-border journalism network CONNECTAS)
  • Karol Illagan (Editorial Director at the Philippines Centre for Investigative Journalism)

What’s Next? Innovation in Cross-Border Journalism

16:00 – 16:45 (45 minutes)

This panel addresses cutting-edge investigative techniques that promise to keep cross-border journalists ahead of the curve.

CHAIR: Yannis Kostifos (Chair of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom)

  • Hazel Sheffield (London-based freelance journalist, who worked on the IJ4EU funded investigation Money To Burn)
  • Final speakers from Bellingcat to be confirmed

The Ibiza Affair: Behind The Headlines

17:00 – 17:45 (45 minutes)

The team behind The Ibiza Affair discuss the cross-border collaboration that led to the resignation of Austria’s Vice-Chancellor, and the film they have made about it (which will screen after the panel).

This investigation has also been shortlisted for the IJ4EU Impact Award.

CHAIR: Brigitte Alfter (director of Arena for Journalism in Europe & Dataharvest)

  • Frederik Obermaier & Bastian Obermayer (journalists on the investigation, The Ibiza Affair)

FILM SCREENING: Behind The Headlines

Exclusive to conference attendees

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