The European Investigative Journalism Conference

Outline & topics: EIJC & Dataharvest 2019

We meet on Thursday May 16 for Hack Day and masterclasses! The conference opens on Friday 17 at 10 o’clock and closes on Sunday 19 at 1 pm!

What do we have in store for you? The first program details will be published in the 2nd half of March, but here are some of our priorities:

A pre-conference Hack Day that prepares data sets for conference participants to take home;

Several pre-conference master classes and seminars that teach participants new tools of the trade;

 

Conference tracks exploring:

Crossborder Collaborative Journalism – with some of the best practice examples, introductions to newcomers on the key elements of the method as well as workshops with a high level of nerdiness on how to coordinate crossborder teams, legal considerations, intercultural communication, technical set up for crossborder team etc.

The Rise in Local Journalism – many developments affecting local communities are decided on national or even international level, and so local journalists unite in Europe to achieve the necessary critical mass.

Freedom of Information & Whistleblowing. Some countries have no or very limited rules on transparency. We see a trend towards less transparency in areas with formerly strong laws and/or practice. The counterreaction to low transparency is whistleblowing. Journalists need to be able to handle both professionally.

Security & Surveillance – Journalists have to deal with both physical and digital threats and have to fly under the digital radar. We focus on risk assessment, digital security training plus the opportunity to seek individual advice in The Security Cafe.

The Power of Algorithms – decisions are increasingly made by machines. We look at ‘automated decision-making’ in Europe, based on a report on the topic coordinated by German non-profit Algorithmwatch.org. What is the legal status, and what will the future of decisions bring?

Journo-Scholar collaborations – we see an emerging trend of journalists and scholars collaborating: Addressing the same question with scientific and journalistic methods in collaborating teams. We focus on this new collaborative model and bring together the best cases from around Europe and beyond

Journalism with a cause  – Do journalists contribute to frustration by unveiling wrongs in societies, if the problems are not addressed? Can journalism change the world without losing its independence? We look at the borders between journalism and advocacy.

Entrepreneurial and non-profit journalism – new business models and new ways of organizing often go hand-in-hand with journalistic innovation. In cooperation with the Journalism Funders Forum we look on the matchmaking question, and we hope to bring in marketing and business experts to advise on entrepreneurship.

CAR training and data buffet – three parallel tracks of training in computer-assisted reporting on several levels will be at hand, and participants will also be offered a wide set of new data compilations and advice on how to use them after returning to the newsroom.

Networking to a new level – that’s almost the best part! Meet colleagues from around Europe and the world, discuss and compare ideas, and build new teams. We provide the social setting – but also open conference rooms and other facilities to meet and get the work going.