Category: News and Events

Stevan Dojcinovic, a journalist from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), told the journalists attending the Summer School in Durres, Albania on Tuesday about the process of tracking offshore companies and how to find information about some of the most secretive firms.

He said that people usually think that offshore zones are places like the Cayman Islands, but “one of the offshore zones is an American state, Delaware, it is a very popular offshore zone”.

He explained that sometimes a large number of companies can be registered at the same house or building.

“The question is, do those companies really exist?” he asked.

Dojcinovic also shared information about useful web sites with information about offshore companies.

Mar Cabra, who heads the ICIJ Data & Research Unit, gave a lecture to the journalists about how to organise information properly.

“Try to be practical and make a plan [about] what we want to do and where are our sources,” Cabra suggested.

She presented tools and programmes for organising and sorting data, and suggested that “more stories which we can do are in public documents”.

In the afternoon sessions, participants learned about open source information and social media from Iggy Ostanin, a journalist from the Bellingcat site.

Ostanin showed how new evidence was found that showed that the Buk missile system that was used to shoot down flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 came from Russia. The story was uncovered using information from social media and open source platforms.

“I tried to see where the Buk came from. I started my search with Instagram,” Ostanin explained.

At the end of the second Summer School day, Freedom of Information legislation and data expert Gavin Sheridan gave a presentation on how to use Freedom of Information laws and find key documents from public institutions across the world.

The sixth BIRN Summer School opened on Monday with journalists from all over the Balkans, Bulgaria, Austria, Palestine, Germany and Georgia gathering to learn from leading media experts how to use social media to uncover crimes, skills for cracking open offshore companies and how to make reluctant sources talk.

The training will continue on Wednesday.

The Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2015 is organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Open Society Foundations and USAID Macedonia.

 

Blake Morrison, investigative projects editor at Reuters in New York and the school’s lead trainer, kicked off a packed programme urging journalists to “use our skills of observation, be curious”. 

Morrison detailed how journalist can pinpoint sources and find key information during their investigations.

“People(Sources) will believe you if you really try to understand what the problem is,” he added.

Morrison also explained the importance of careful planning in complex stories.

BIRN journalist and investigations’ editor Lawrence Marzouk presented the school’s investigative fund, which provides grants to promising story ideas.

He said that participants will be split into groups and develop investigative proposals to present to a panel of judges on the final day. Two or three stories will receive funding from a pot of around 6,000 euro so that participants can carry out their investigation.

“I will help you to develop the story,” Lawrence added.

Mar Cabra, who heads ICIJ’s Data & Research Unit, outlined how journalists can find data and the importance of data journalism. She revealed how she had used official statistics to expose the worrying use of psychotropic drugs among children in the US.

“I decided to check how many drugs children in foster care in the state of Texas are prescribed and their use of psychotropic drugs,” Cabra said.

She presented a selection of groundbreaking data stories and emphasized that we need to think about data in every story, because “data is everywhere”.

“Try to do data as much as possible, and not only for clicks, use it for investigation,” she said.

In the afternoon, Philipp Grüll’s documentary “Tito’s Murder Squads – The Killing of Yugoslav Exiles in Germany” was screened.

The first day’s working sessions concluded with a discussion about the use of confidential files with Philipp Grüll, Anuska Delic, investigative and data journalist from Slovenian daily newspaper Delo, Besar Likmeta, BIRN Albanian editor, and Marija Ristic, Balkan Transitional Justice assistant editor.

The sixth BIRN Summer School brings together young journalists from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Austria, Kosovo, Palestine, Germany and Georgia to learn from leading media experts how to use social media to uncover crimes, skills for cracking open offshore companies and how to make reluctant sources talk.

The Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2015 is organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung  and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Open Society Foundations and USAID Macedonia.

Applications for international journalists will be accepted until August 12.

Students at the school will be mentored by Reuters’ investigative projects editor Blake Morrison. Morrison will teach how to develop investigations through beat reporting, storytelling techniques and the art of the investigative interview.

Participants will be able to learn how to obtain and analyse data, how to track offshore companies, how to stay safe and how to keep their data safe and how to make great investigations work for film and TV.

All these techniques will be presented by top trainers such as Miranda Patrucic, lead investigator for OCCRP; Mar Cabra, ICIJ’s Data Unit; Iggy Ostanin from Bellingcat; and Joachim Dyfvermark, award winning documentary film author. 

Application is online at: www.balkaninsight.com/en/birn-summer-school/birn-summer-school-2015-enrolment.

 

From August 23 to 29, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network will organise its sixth Summer School of Investigative reporting in Durres, Albania.

Another stellar cast of international and regional investigative journalists will soon be announced for this year’s Summer School. Lecturers at previous events have included Paul Lewis and Nick Davies from The Guardian, Pulitzer Prize winner Eric Nalder, and award-winning BBC TV documentary maker Meirion Jones. The line-up for this year will again include some of the most interesting names in journalism from around the world.

Journalists from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Kosovo and Serbia will be able to apply for full scholarship. International participants will have to cover a tuition fee.

A call for participants will begin during the course of following week and will be posted online on BIRN Summer School webpage.

The location for this year’s Summer School will be charming Albanian coastal city of Durres, only half an hour away from Tirana airport.

Albania’s bustling ancient port of Durres offers long sandy beaches, great nightlife and excellent local seafood.

It’s also a fascinating setting for the school to delve into how to investigate corruption and wrongdoing in the Balkans.

Topics covered will include: how to find and keep sources, interviewing techniques, computer-assisted reporting, how to use social media, and how to ensure you’re safe both on and offline.

Second prize went to Sonja Kolevska–Delevska, of the daily Vest, for a series of stories on rapes of minors at the Educational Correctional Center in Tetovo.

Third prize went to BIRN’s story, by Vlado Apostolov, Saska Cvetkovska and Nela Lazarevic, called “Skopje Landfill Tender Winner: No experience, no investment,” which was written with the support of BIRN’s Summer School of Investigative Reporting Fund.

Journalist Marija Mitevska won an honorable mention for a story named “Dream of Luxury Hotels Vanishes in Macedonia,” supported by BIRN Macedonia’s project for investigative journalism, funded By USAID.

Vladimir Kalinski also got an honorable mention for BIRN’s story “The pollution in Skopje – crime without culprits”,

Honorable mentions went also to journalists Valentina Stojanchevska, Vlatko Stojanovski and Zhaklina Hadzi–Zafirova.

The Macedonian Media Institute awards have been given since 2001 with a view to improving and promoting investigative journalism. Since 2013, theawards have been named after the late owner and editor of weekly “Fokus”, Nikola Mladenov, who died in a car accident.

At the 2014 Summer School closing ceremony on Friday, the jury selected the three top stories from the participating teams of journalists who will now be funded to develop them.

The jury consisted from BIRN managing editor Ana Petruseva, editor Lawrence Marzouk, Guardian correspondent Paul Lewis and Christian Spahr, director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Media Programme South East Europe.

The top story, which was awarded 2,500, will deal with Roma issues in the Balkans; the second, awarded 2,000 euros, will investigate the wrongdoings of Austrian banks; while the third, awarded 1,000 euros, will tackle corruption cases in Macedonia.

During the five-day training programme in Montenegro, 35 journalists from all over the Balkans and the world had the chance to pick up tips and tools on how to investigate corruption and organised crime cases.

Lectures were given by top trainers in the field from The Guardian, the BBC, OCCRP, Access Europe and others.

The Summer School is organised in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Presence in Albania, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and USAID Macedonia.

The BIRN Summer School began on Thursday, as on previous days this week, with a lecture by The Guardian newspaper’s Washington correspondent Paul Lewis, who explained how social media can help journalists research stories.

Lewis presented two case studies based on stories he published about Ian Tomlinson, who died after being unlawfully struck by a police officer during protests against a G-20 summit, and Jimmy Mubenga, who died on a plane as he was deported from the UK.

“There are so many possibilities for you [journalists] to find sources and stories on social media. This is what we call collaborative reporting,” Lewis said, adding that for many of his articles, information was found and witnesses contacted through various social media channels.

Advising the Summer School students how to approach sources and interview them, Lewis said: “Sometimes it is better not to ask too many questions, but to let people speak.”

During the second part of the day, the Summer School students were split into two workshops to help them to develop their stories for the future. Markus Lindermann taught journalists how to use advanced internet search techniques, while Helen Darbishire explained how to request information from the European Union using freedom of information laws.

The last lecturer on Thursday was a producer from the BBC, Meirion Jones, who introduced techniques for doing investigative stories for television.

Jones explained when and why journalists use hidden cameras for covert filming, and why it is important to have fewer documents in video stories and more people.

“It is very problematic for the viewer to sit and watch your piece if you have more than 30 seconds of documents. Or a lot of numbers. They are the enemies of TV. You need to have people in your video,” Jones said.

Some 35 reporters from the Balkans and across the world have gathered in the Montenegrin coastal town of Becici for the five-day Summer School, aiming to boost their investigative skills.

The Summer School is organised in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Presence in Albania, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and USAID Macedonia.

The day started with a lecture from Guardian’s Washington correspondent Paul Lewis who spoke about his two-year investigation into undercover policing in the UK.

Addressing journalists about how to carry out a successful interview, Lewis underlined that “there are no universal rules“, but there are some tips for making your source “open up“.

“Avoid pressure, take time and listen more,“ Lewis said.

He also advised journalists to be honest with their source and “never cheat”.

His lecture was followed by a training session held by Sunday Times reporter Heidi Blake who shared how she uncovered evidence of corruption related to Fifa and the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

 

Stevan Dojcinovic from the OCCRP held a lecture about investigating organised crime. He also revealed how he carried out one of his major stories involving drug cartels in the Balkans.

How to monitor websites and access pages that have been deleted or changed was the subject of the last lecture for Wednesday held by Marcus Lindermann.

“The most important thing is to know where to pick up traces and how to follow them. Google can work for you, if you know how to use it,“ Lindermann said.

Some 35 reporters from the Balkans and across the world have gathered in the Montenegrin coastal town of Becici for the five-day summer school, aiming to boost their skills.

The Summer School is organised in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, OSCE Mission to Serbia, OSCE Presence in Albania, OSCE Mission to Montenegro and USAID Macedonia.

Lead teacher and Guardian Washington correspondent Paul Lewis explained how he used data to shed new light on the riots that rocked the UK in 2011.

Lewis showed the journalists how to exploit social media, including verifying information and getting members of the public to help.

 “You should embed the idea of being investigator into your daily work,” said Lewis, explaining that most of his investigations emerged from his daily reporting duties.

His session was followed by a lecture from Helen Darbishire, from the Access Info Europe group, who presented a toolkit called “Legal Leaks”.

“This was designed for journalist so they can know how to ask and get information through freedom of information laws,” Darbishire said.

She added that, on paper, Serbia had the best Freedom of Information law in Europe, while the worst were in Italy and Austria.

Marcus Lindemann explained to students how to use Google’s extensive tools to dig deeper.

Public records and how to uncover secrets held in tax heaven were the topic of OCCRP’s Paul Radu’s session.

His colleague Miranda Patrucic shared tips and advice on how to approach and protect sources.

“Don’t pressure them for the immediate comment. Deciding to speak out takes time,” Petrucic said.

“Reporters need to build trust and bond with the source,” she added.

Some 35 reporters from the Balkans and across the world have gathered in the Montenegrin coastal town of Becici for the five-day summer school, aiming to boost their skills.

The Summer School is organised in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, OSCE Mission to Serbia, OSCE Presence in Albania, OSCE Mission to Montenegro and USAID Macedonia.

Some 35 reporters from the Balkans and across the world have gathered on Monday for the five-day summer school, aiming to boost their skills.

The school was kicked off by lead teacher and Guardian journalist Paul Lewis, who will teach students how to think about data in the digital age and use social media to investigate.

The introductory lecture was followed by investigative case studies from BIRN editor Lawrence Marzouk, while in the afternoon participants were given a detailed session in data journalism by Markus Lindemann.

Miranda Petrucic from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project explained to students how she exposed high profile corruption cases in Montenegro.

The day finished with a panel debate focused on the challenges of tackling corruption within the defence and security sector in the Western Balkans.

Alberto Bin, director of Integration, Partnership and Cooperation at NATO, spoke about reforms in South East Europe, while Dina Bajramspahic, from Montenegrin NGO Alternative, and Katarina Djokic, from Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, reflected on the current methods of fighting corruption in their countries.

The Summer School is organised in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, OSCE Mission to Serbia, OSCE Presence in Albania, OSCE Mission to Montenegro and USAID Macedonia.