2010 Agenda

BIRN Summer School
August 22 - 17, 2010

Arrival: Sunday, August 22, 2010
Venue: Hotel Leopold, Petrovaradin Fortress, Vojvodina, Serbia
20:00 Welcome and Introductory Dinner

Monday, August 23, 2010

  • 09.30 - 10.00 Outline of Week's Training Programme - Gordana Igric and guest trainers Don Ray, Luuk Sengers, Drew Sullivan, Rosemary Armao, Paul Radu and others
  • 10:00 - 11:30 Defining Investigative Reporting - Don Ray
    What makes it different from other types of journalism; Investigative reporting as a set of techniques and a mind set.

    Case Study     - Besar Likmeta
    World Bank Demolished Albania VillageExercise:
    Dissecting an investigative report
  • 11:30 - 12: 00Coffee
  • 12:00 - 12:45The Investigative Process - Don Ray
    Getting a lead; formulating the investigative hypothesis; setting the minimum and maximum story; reporting and researching the story; organising and analysing the information; writing the story; fact and legal check; airing or publishing the report; follow up
  • 12:45 - 13:00How to do it for TV - Randall JoyceCase study: In Plain Sight, CBS News
  • 13:30 - 15:00Lunch
  • 15:00 -16:30Option One: Four day Programme on Organised Crime and Corruption - Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project of South-east Europe, OCCRP, training team: Drew Sullivan, Paul Radu and Rosemary Armao, with Tanja Kljun, Serbian Ministry of Interior, Division for Organized Crime

    Introduction to Organised Crime Reporting
    The OCCRP team will present lectures, discussions, tools and exercises covering high level and complicated business and government crime in the region. How does corruption reporting differ from straight investigative reporting? What are the schemes and scams that mark organised crime’s plunder of Balkan regions?
  • 15:00 - 16:30Option Two: Four Day Programme on Computer Assisted Reporting, CAR - Luuk SengersIntroduction to Excel
    Excel is a powerful tool in the hands of investigative reporters. The easiest way to learn its virtues is to use it as a 'research database'. Excel is the simplest of databases, but absolutely sufficient for keeping records from your investigation: telephone numbers, documents, questions and notes. (For both beginners and for more experienced Excel-users that want to use it as a research database)
  • 17:00 - 18:00Case Study: Investigating Corruption in Kosovo - Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo Director
  • 18:00 - 20:00Free time
  • 20:00Dinner at Hotel Leopold, Petrovaradin Fortress

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

  • 9:30 - 11:00 Following the Paper Trail - Rosemary Armao
    Why do reporters need documents?; the importance of documents; public and non-public records; other sources of documents; secondary sources; primary sources
  • Paul Radu will talk about 'The Online Investigative Toolkit', and present his current project, the Investigative Dashboard.
  • 11:00 - 11:30Coffee
  • 11:30 - 13:00Panel discussion: Getting the Most From Local and International FOI laws - Alexenia Dimitriova, moderator and presenter, journalist, 24 Casa daily, Bulgaria, Nevena Ružić, Serbian Public Information Commissioner's Office, Miroslav Jankovic, National Legal Officer, OSCE Serbia, Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe, Paul Radu, Director OCCRP
  • 13:00 - 15:00Lunch
  • 15:00 - 16:30Option One: Four day Programme on Organised Crime and Corruption - OCCRP team
    On the paper trail: Using documents and sources to untangle the convoluted connections that show how bribery, privatization, gambling and corruption happen in the Balkans.Exercise: What is Vasil Timis up to?
  • 15:00 -16:30Option Two: Four Day Programme on Computer Assisted Reporting, CAR - Luuk Sengers Let Excel do the work
    This time we use the calculation power of Excel. Learn how to draw conclusions from lists of figures or other data for exclusive stories. (Also open for participants who did not attend the previous Excel-workshop)
  • 16:30 - 18:30Free Time
  • 18:30 – 20:00Five Success Stories of Journalists Using F.O.I. - Alexander Kashumov, Screening of a TV documentary
  • 20:00Dinner

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

  • 9:30 – 11:00 Using Documents to Investigate Individuals - Drew Sullivan and Rosemary Armao
  • This second session on using documents will focus on individuals, what they own, where they work and who they associate with.
  • 11:00 -11:30Coffee
  • 11:30 – 13:00Using Documents to Investigate Companies and Institutions - Don Ray, Paul Radu and Drew SullivanIn the third session on how to use documents, learn about tracking business deals and exposing wrongdoing by regulators and public officials working with businesses. Also, learn how to track organised crime over borders and offshore
  • 13:00 – 15:00Lunch
  • 15:00 – 15: 45Option One: Four day Programme on Organised Crime and Corruption, Case study: Investigating Montenegro Connections with Italian Mafia - Manuela Mareso, Editor of Narco Mafia Magazine
  • 15:45 - 16:30Staying Safe while Doing Journalism - Drew Sullivan and Manuela Mareso
  • Journalists can reduce the threat of being assaulted by taking some commonsense steps and developing some simple procedures. There’s also some technology you should be aware of for your own security.
  • 16: 30 - 17: 45Dealing with Victims of Trauma - Gavin Rees, Dart Center Europe and Milorad Ivanovic, Dart Center Western Balkans
    Asking questions and getting details without opening new wounds for victims of war, violence and crime
  • 15:00 -16:30Option Two: Four Day Programme on Computer Assisted Reporting, CAR - Luuk Sengers
  • The Hidden Web
    There are people who search the web and people who use it to find things out. The latest tricks to outsmart Google and to look for information on the 'hidden' web.
  • 18:30 – 20:00Discussion: Journalists Under Attack - Moderator Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO, Dragana Nikolic Solomon, OSCE Head of Media Department, Miodrag Cvorovic, B92, Serbia,Hrvoje Appelt, Croatia, Zeljko Ivanovic Vijesti, Montenegro, Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo
  • 20:00Dinner in Hotel

Thursday, August 26, 2010

  • 9:30 - 11:00 The People Trail - Don Ray
    How can journalists get the most from human sources; other, not-so-common sources; evaluating sources; finding people; tracking sources online
  • Exercise: Using human sources in an investigation
  • 11:00 11:30Coffee
  • 11:30 - 12:00Exercise - Don Ray: How to get people to talk and tell you everything they never wanted to tell you
  • 12:00 - 13:00The Art of the Interview - Nick Thorpe, BBC
  • What are the techniques for making people talk; interview conditions; preparing for and doing interviews; anonymous sources; being careful with unnamed sources; interview styles and approaches
  • Case study: Kosovo civilian abuses revealed, TV documentary by Nick Thorpe, BBC
  • 13:00-15:00Lunch
  • 15:00 - 16:30 Option One: Four day Programme on Organised Crime and Corruption, Confronting the subject of your investigation - OCCRP team
  • How to prepare and conduct a confrontational interview; how to tell if a witness is lying and how to avoid hostility and danger in these tense meetings.
  • 15:00 – 16:30Option Two: Four Day Programme on Computer Assisted Reporting, CAR - Luuk Sangers
  • Create your own powerful news source
    For those who wondered what RSS is, or what it can do for them. RSS is one of the wonders of the Internet, that keeps you in the loop on important news and saves you a lot of time during investigations.
  • 16:30 - 17:30Free Time
  • 17:30Round Table: Changing face of media ownership: the Balkans and the West - Ana Petruseva, BIRN, moderator and presenter, Macedonia, Ognjen Zlatev, Bulgarian Media Center, Remzi Lani, Albanian Media Institute, Sasa Mirkovic, B92, Serbia, Samra Luckin, BORAM, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalin Prisacariu, Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, Don Ray, USA, Jelena Drakulic Petrovic, General Manager, Ringier Serbia
  • 20:00Dinner

Friday, August 27, 2010

  • 9:30 - 10: 30 Putting the story together - Mark Hunter
    How can journalists write compelling investigations?; reporting and writing; the beginning: hard or soft?; the nut graf; writing the middle; the ending.Story-based Investigation: A Method Through the Madness - Mark Hunter
    Using hypotheses and chronologies to frame and advance your project
  • 11:30 - 12:00Coffee
  • 12:00-13:00Story-based Investigation: Crafting the Story - Mark Hunter
    Don't investigate, then write or shoot.Make it a continuous process.
  • 13:00 - 15:00Lunch
  • 15:00 - 16:30Joint session - Trainers and all Participants
    How to convince the editor to support the story? Bringing what you learnt back to the news room.
  • 16:30Free Time
  • 20:00Dinner at Petrovaradin Fortress

Saturday, August 28, 2010

  • 9:30
    Tour of Fruska Gora     - hike or visit monasteries
  • 13:00
    End of Programme