Agenda of the Fifth BIRN Summer School, with scheduled activities and lecturers.
BIRN Summer School
August 23 – 29, 2015
Arrival: Sunday, August 23, 2015
Venue: Hotel Adriatik, Durres, Albania
21:00 Welcome and Introductory Dinner – Lead trainer Blake Morrison, investigative projects editor at Reuters, Christian Spahr director for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Media Program South East Europe and Kristina Voko, BIRN Albania Director
Monday, 24 August
DAY 1: Investigations through beat reporting
- 9:00 - 9:30
Opening and Introduction with Outline of The Training Programme – Blake Morrison, investigative editor at Thomson Reuters
Introduction of trainers and participants; Presentation of training agenda; What participants should expect and what is expected of them
- 9:30 – 10:30
Developing investigations through beat reporting – Blake Morrison
On what types of issues should an investigative reporter focus? Examples of investigative reporting conducted internationally
- 10: 30 - 11:00
Coffee
- 11:00 – 12:00
Presentation of Summer School Investigative Fund story – Lawrence Marzouk
- 12:00 – 13:30
How to obtain data/ Data sources – Mar Cabra, ICIJ's Data Unit
Where to find useful, trustworthy data amid the mountains of suspect information online
- 13:30 - 14:30
Lunch
- 14:30 - 15:30
Film screening: Tito's Murder Squads, Philipp Gruell and Frank Hofmann
Short talk about film with Philipp Gruell - 15.30 - 15.45
Coffee
- 15:45 - 17:15
Panel debate: "How to handle confidential files" - How to keep yourself and your source safe when handling confidential files.
- 20:00
Dinner at Hotel
Tuesday, 25 August
DAY 2: Data day
- 9:30 - 11:00
The burden of proof: An interactive exercise that explores the difference between supposition and proof – Blake Morrison
- 11:00 - 11:15 Coffee
- 11:15 – 12:45
Tracking offshore companies - Stevan Dojcinovic, investigative journalist at OCCRP
From Delaware to Austria via Cyprus, how to secure information for your investigation from some of the most secretive offshore jurisdictions
- 12.45 – 14.15
Data analyses – How to use excel for investigation – Mar Cabra
How to find that crucial missing link in your stories by organizing your information properly.
- 14: 15 – 15:00
Lunch
- 15:00 - 16:30
Presentation: Bellingcat investigations – Iggy Ostanin, Journalist from Bellingcat
How open source information - such as videos, maps and pictures – and social media can be used to investigate battlefields on the other side of the earth.
Case study: Images Show the Buk that Downed Flight MH17, Inside Russia, Controlled by Russian TroopsOstanin will cover the methods used to find information on social networks and the ways in which he was able to save, archive and verify the evidence.
- 16.30 - 16.45
Coffee
- 16:45 - 17:30
Freedom of Information Laws – Gavin Sheridan, FOI and data expert
Learn how to obtain key documents from public institutions across the world.
- 17.30 - 18.30
Option one: Practical session with Gavin Sheridan - How to write FOI requests; Country case studies
Option two: Workshop with Stevan Dojcinovic - How money laundery really works
Participants will have to designe the best plan how to launder big amounts of money in given situation.
- 18.15 - 18.45 Participants work on story ideas within the group
- 20:00
Dinner at Hotel
Wednesday, 26 August
DAY 3: How to present your story
- 9:30 - 11:00
Storytelling techniques: How to report investigations so they will be devoured by readers – Blake Morrison
- 11:00 – 11:30
Coffee
- 11:30 – 13:00
Data visualization – how to present your data cleverly – Mar Carba
- 13:00 – 14:30
Lunch
- 14:30 - 16:00
Revealing schemes of high-ranking politicians - Miranda Patrucic, Lead investigative journalist at OCCRP
How to investigate state officials – or even a president
Case study: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev https://www.occrp.org/corruptistan/azerbaijan/azerbaijan-telecom/offshores-close-to-president-paid-nothing-for-share-of-state-telecom.php
- 16.00 - 16.15
Coffee
- 16:15 - 17:45
Security for investigative journalists – Mar Cabra
Key tips on how to stay safe online and what apps and programs you should use
- 17:45 – 20:00
Participants work on story ideas within the group and free time
- 20:00
Dinner at Hotel
Thursday, 27 August
DAY 4: The Investigative interview
- 9:30 - 11:00
The art of the investigative interview - Blake Morrison
Investigative interviewing – getting information from reluctant sources is an art, but it can be taught. What are the most effective questions to ask? How can you get sources to talk?
- 11:00 - 11:30
Coffee
- 11:30 - 13:00 Conceiving and organizing an investigative project – Blake Morrison How can journalists exploit the digital age to find sources? And once contact has been made, what is the key to cultivating sources and making them talk? Series of case studies to explore how an 'open' approach to journalism can enable investigative reporters to find crucial information, revealing what somebody, somewhere, does not want them to know
- 13:00 - 14:00
Lunch
- 14:00 – 15:30
Investigative documentaries - Joachim Dyfvermark freelance investigative reporter and producer for the current affairs show “Uppdrag Granskning” on the Swedish National Broadcaster.
How to make great investigations work for film and TV
- 15.30 – 15.45
Coffee
- 15:45 – 17:15
Investigative documentaries - Joachim Dyfvermark
Session continues - 17.15 - 18.00 Participants work on story ideas within the group
- 20:00
Dinner at Hotel
Friday, 28 August
DAY 5: Workshops
- 9:30 - 10:30
Invisible data investigation - Vladan Joler
Network topology, data mining and data visualization methods for investigating invisible internet infrastructures, data flow and online surveillance. - 10:30 - 13:00
Workshop: Story Proposals
Groups present their story ideas; participants critique and discuss the story proposals in terms of: relevance, significance, feasibility, methodological rigor and public interest.
- 13:00 – 15:00
Lunch
- 15:00 – 20:00
Field trip
- 20:00 - 23:00
Farewell dinner and award ceremony
Saturday, 29 August
DAY 6
- 10:00
End of Programme