Trainers 2025 – Page 2 – BIRN Summer School

Based in New York as the investigative projects editor at Reuters, Blake Morrison has overseen and edited three projects that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize: The Child Exchange, an investigation of America’s underground market for adopted children; The Echo Chamber, a special report that revealed how a handful of lawyers came to have an outsized influence in the US Supreme Court; and Cheat Sheet, an investigation into how standardised tests used by universities to determine who to accept have been compromised by rampant, systematic cheating and other security failures.

Projects he has overseen have resulted in decades of jail time for individuals whose wrongdoing the Reuters investigations have exposed.

Prior to joining Reuters, Blake served as the investigations editor, deputy enterprise editor and investigative reporter at USA TODAY. His investigation into the impact of industrial pollution on schoolchildren spurred the US government to launch a $2.25-million project to examine the air outside more than 60 schools across the nation. The reporting earned honours including the Grantham Prize, a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, the Fourth Estate Award, the America’s Promise Journalism Award, the Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting, the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize, the John B. Oakes Award and the Philip Meyer Journalism Award. Before joining USA TODAY, Blake spent six years as a beat reporter, investigative reporter and editor at the St Paul Pioneer Press.

Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2025 Sessions

The Investigative Mindset

This interactive presentation is designed to reignite our curiosity and creativity in the field of investigative journalism.

Formulating Story Ideas: How to Structure Your Pitch

Building on lessons learned throughout the week, this final session will guide participants in crafting a compelling pitch that captures the essence of the story.

The Art of Interview:

This session will explore the techniques and strategies essential for conducting effective interviews. From developing a personal interviewing style to navigating difficult conversations.

What We Expect to Hear Tomorrow:

Learning how to refine and focus your story ideas to create pitches that resonate with editors and audiences alike.

Aldo, Enterprise on your Beat:

How to structure your time and approach to do ambitious reporting

Jeta Xharra is a renowned journalist in Kosovo and the Balkans.

Since 2005, she has been the Country Director of the BIRN office in Kosovo and the editor-in-chief of Kosovo’s most-watched current affairs TV programme, Life in Kosovo.

Xharra first got into journalism by working as a fixer/local producer for BBC News and Channel 4 in 1998 and later became Manager of the BBC Kosovo Bureau. In 1999, she worked for BBC News in Albania and Macedonia.

She graduated with an MA in War Studies from King’s College London (2000) and an MA with Distinction in Screenwriting from the London College of Printing (2002).

She has published a front-page article in The Independent and other articles in The Economist, Sunday Telegraph and Jane’s Intelligence Review. While in the UK, Xharra worked for the Foreign News Planning Desk at the BBC World Service.

In 2003, Xharra became Project Director for the IWPR Kosovo office, where she made an impact with her vigilant and challenging moderation of popular current affairs programmes broadcast on the main Kosovo TV channels, RTK and KTV.

Under Xharra’s supervision, Kosovo was the first office in the IWPR Balkan project to develop a three-month journalism training programme, which attracted over 200 people for 20 places.

Warless, a play that Xharra wrote in English, was chosen as one of the 10 best plays among 550 that competed in the Young Writers Festival at the Royal Court Theatre in London, where it had a public reading on December 10 2004.

Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2025 Session

From Exposure to Impact: Why Some Investigations Spark Change and Others Don’t

This session will explore the key factors that determine whether investigative stories lead to real-world change, examining case studies, strategies for maximizing impact, and the role of timing, storytelling, and stakeholder engagement.