Category: News and Events

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.