Led by: Dean Starkman(ICIJ) and Peter Geoghegan(openDemocracy)
13 April 2019, Birkbeck University, room 540 Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London, 10.30am-5pm
Convened by Yoav Galai and Ben O’Loughlin, Royal Holloway New Political Communication Unit
Tickets just £35 for whole day of training, available here.
The job of the investigative journalist is to uncover facts the public should know about - but aren't allowed to. This workshop will explore the context for investigative reporting in the digital age and new models to allow its practice today. The workshop will show you where to find hidden information, how to access documents and data, and how to use investigative skills in your practice.
During this intensive one-day seminar curated by Dean Starkman, senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and Peter Geoghegan, investigations editor at openDemocracy will present cutting edge investigations and show you how to cut through the spin to get to the story.
The workshop will show you how to use investigative skills with useful tools for academics, bloggers, campaigners, activists, charities and anyone with an interest in holding the powerful to account. As well as getting the inside track on key stories like the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers, the seminar will include hands-on instruction in how to use investigative approaches and resources in your work and an opportunity to discuss your work with the trainers.
The workshop will have the following format:
Session 1 (morning): Global challenges to public interest journalism - 10.30-12.15pm
Pulitzer prize winner Dean Starkman talks through some of the key stories in his career, including the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism’s recent investigation into how health authorities failed to protect millions from poorly tested implants. Dean will show how the ICIJ’s unique collaborative model works and also talk in-depth about how to identify investigative targets and how to structure and run an investigation.
12.15-1pm Lunch (provided)
Session 2 (after lunch): Investigative skills – accessing and processing information - 1pm-3pm
In this hands-on session, Peter Geoghegan will teach you how to access and process information. Participants will be shown how to file Freedom of Information requests and how to access public registers of information. In the second half of the session, Peter will show participants how to use Excel to process data and how to use data journalism in investigative story-telling.
3-3.30pm Refreshments (provided)
Session 3 (wrap up): Pitch the trainers - 3.30-5pm
In the final session of the day, participants will have the chance to discuss their own work with the trainers. Ideas for investigations will be debated and discussed, both in theory and in practice. Participants will also have the change to ask follow-up questions based on their experience at the workshop and their interests.
Dean Starkman is also a fellow at Center for Media, Data and Society and a visiting lecturer at the School of Public Policy at Central European University, Budapest (See: https://people.ceu.edu/dean_starkman).