Dataharvest – the European Investigative Journalism Conference is an opportunity to learn from your peers, network, and pick up a new skill. However, conference sessions are only 75 minutes long, and participants often wish they had more time to practice a newly acquired skill. This is why we’re offering four different full-day, hands-on masterclasses on Thursday, 22 May 2025 (the day before the official conference progamme kicks off)!
If you want to stay up to date with the newest OSINT tools and methods, brush up on your corporate investigation skills, or learn the basics of coding with R or spatial analysis with QGIS, book your masterclass ticket!
Please note that each masterclass is a full-day event (10 am – 5 pm), and you can attend only one masterclass at a time (i.e. you cannot do R programming in the morning and join the QGis group in the afternoon). To participate in any of the masterclasses, you should have a conference ticket.
This year, you can choose among the following activities (a detailed schedule and working programme of the masterclasses will be published closer to the event):
Hack your way into a big dataset with R.
If you’re a complete beginner with R, or even new to data, hacking through a dataset with us will be your chance to learn R by doing. Perhaps you’ve done some coding with R or other languages? In that case, this masterclass is a chance to learn more and use what you know. And, if you’re already quite an expert with R, it is still worth coming along to use and share what you know, and to learn something new.
We will be using a cloud version of R, so there’s no need to install anything other than a browser (Chrome or Firefox). You will be working on a dataset, and you will leave the session with a story in the making.
Trainers: Jonathan Stoneman and Léopold Salzenstein (Arena for Journalism in Europe)
Spatial analysis with QGIS
If you’re investigating deforestation, (illegal) mining activities in nature-protected areas, or nature loss, QGIS is a great tool to add to your investigative toolkit. Participants will learn where to find different types of geospatial data including satellite imagery from open sources and how to open, visualize, and manipulate them using QGIS to achieve investigation goals. Participants will work on real data from previous investigations done by the Pulitzer Center’s Data and Research Team. No particular knowledge of QGIS is needed to participate in this masterclass, and it is suitable for those who have not used QGIS before and those who know only the basics. Before coming to the session, please install QGIS on your laptops and make sure it works. Download from: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
If you encounter issues during installation, this guide might be helpful: https://www.qgis.org/resources/installation-guide/
Trainers: Kuang Keng Kuek Ser and Federico Acosta Rainis (Pulitzer Center)
Follow the Money
Expand your journalistic toolkit by learning how to do financial investigations. This master class will help you search for clues in corporate documents, and you’ll learn how to spot red flags that might indicate corruption or money laundering.
Trainer: Simon Bowers (Finance Uncovered)
Take your research skills to the next level with OSINT tools
How to find people and information online, verify an event’s geolocation, detect AI deepfake images and audio, or identify disinformation? This masterclass will help you identify the best OSINT tools and methods to help your investigations.
Trainers: Marcus Lindemann (autoren(werk)) and Joshua Cheetham (BBC)
Please note: all the masterclasses have the capacity of only 50 people, so secure your spot as early as possible. Also, booking the masterclass with your ticket is a bit cheaper than booking it at a later stage. If you have any questions about masterclasses, please write us at info@dataharvest.eu.