The Centre for Investigative Journalism
 The Centre for Investigative Journalism
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Summer Conference

3–4 July 2024

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Wed 3 Jul
Thu 4 Jul
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Gavin MacFadyen Memorial Lecture Class Course Talk Tools Training Workshop Keynote Panel
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Elections Investigation Law Legal Journalism Methodology Narrative Exploitation Paul Foot Award Religion Data Climate Environment Health NHS AI Crime Gaza Financial Business Local Journalism OSINT Justice Freedom of Information International Miscarriage of justice Technology
 
Wednesday 3 July
  • 3 July 2024 09.30–10.10
Summer Conference Event
 — Gavin MacFadyen Memorial Lecture

Election Integrity: The Indian Electoral Bonds Scam

The Electoral Bonds scheme was introduced by the Indian government as a tool to make political donations through banking channels. It was subsequently used by individuals within that government, according to Poonam Agarwal's investigation, to take bribes in the form of donations.
People
  • 3 July 2024 10.30–11.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

How to Avoid Getting Sued: Right to Reply/Invitations to Comment

Pre-publication Right to Reply (R2R) and Invitation to Comment (ITC) are a key part of the investigative journalist's armoury. It is important that journalists are aware of this and how best to deploy them.
People
  • 3 July 2024 10.30–16.10
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Story-Based Inquiry Method 1-4

This course sets out the Story-Based Inquiry (SBI) method, which has been successfully used by thousands of journalists, academics and NGO researchers since its publication by UNESCO in 2009. The method can be used for feature writing or documentary filmmaking as well as reportage.
People
  • 3 July 2024 10.30–11.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Spiritual Abuse: Coercion and Forced Labour in Opus Dei

Opus Dei, a conservative group of Da Vinci Code fame, is one of the most powerful organisations in the Catholic Church. Its influence extends beyond religious circles. High-profile Opus Dei members include the late Luis Valls, former president of Banco Popular, Patrick Njoroge, former governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and Guillermo Lasso, the president of Ecuador until last year.
People
  • 3 July 2024 10.30–11.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Data Journalism: Getting the Most out of Data Classes

Data journalism has been key to uncovering patterns for investigations for decades. The availability of open-source tools has made data journalism accessible to all newsrooms. This session will give you a bit of history about data journalism through some groundbreaking work.
People
  • 3 July 2024 11.40–16.10
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Data Journalism: Spreadsheets 1-3. Hands-on. [B+I]

Hands-on. Beginner-Intermediate. This three-part hands-on express data journalism course will introduce you to the basics of data analysis in Google Sheets. Suitable for beginners (part I) and intermediates (parts II and III).
People
  • 3 July 2024 11.40–12.40
Summer Conference Event
 — Class Tools Training Workshop

GeoJournalism: Detecting Oil and Gas Concessions in Protected Areas. Hands-on. [B]

Overlaps between natural resource exploitation and exploration licenses and protected area can be a great starter for diving into an environmental investigation! But just why and how could you apply this process in a systemic manner when it comes to global extractive giants?
People
  • 3 July 2024 11.40–12.40
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Bloodline: Investigating Infected Blood. [R]

Cara McGoogan spent five years following the Infected Blood Inquiry, and conducting her own investigation into how a 'miracle' treatment for haemophilia called Factor VIII came to infect tens of thousands of people with HIV and hepatitis.
People
  • 3 July 2024 14.00–15.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

Investigating the Climate Crisis – Beyond Reporting the What [R]

In the midst of an unfolding global crisis, climate reporting is an urgent and necessary field, but there is a corresponding need for journalists to go further than reporting on what is happening due to climate change and investigate deeper questions: why it is happening, who is responsible, who is profiting and how the much-vaunted solutions are being undermined to the point of futility.
People
  • 3 July 2024 14.00–15.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Class Workshop

No, It’s Not a Robot. How to Use Generative AI for Investigations. Hands On. [B]

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are transforming the news industry — but should you be using them as an investigative journalist? And what are the pitfalls to watch out for? In this practical workshop Paul Bradshaw will explore what large language models can do — and what they can’t — and which particular editorial and technical challenges they can help with.
People
  • 3 July 2024 15.10–17.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Data Journalism: Mapping with QGIS 1+2. Hands On. [B+I]

One of the most powerful data analysis tools is mapping. It allows you to uncover patterns you would not see in rows and columns of data. From statistical trends, such as population characteristics, to locations of events or incidents, QGIS is a great tool to reveal geographic patterns in data.
People
  • 3 July 2024 15.10–16.10
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

How Not to Get Too Burned Investigating Gangsters & Bent Cops [CHR]

Police corruption, unsolved murders, organised crime and miscarriages of justice are all the rage across media platforms. But it is a hostile environment full of thugs, liars, fantasists, hidden agendas and libel.
People
  • 3 July 2024 16.30–17.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

Data Journalism: ‘Scraping’ Data Without the Coding

Getting access to the data you want for a story, when it doesn't arrive already in a handy spreadsheet, can be a challenge. It can feel like you might have to learn a load of coding skills just to get started.
People
  • 3 July 2024 16.30–17.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Paul Foot: A Journalist’s Life [R]

As her biography of Paul Foot is launched, Margaret Renn discusses his legacy as an investigative journalist. His notable columns appeared in Private Eye, Socialist Worker, the Guardian, and the London Review of Books.
People
  • 3 July 2024 16.30–17.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Uncovering ‘Systemic Abuse’: Managing Vulnerable Patients and Rooting Out Care Scandals

As journalists we have the ability to share the stories of those who are often left without a voice. What are the challenges reporters face when trying to expose poor care within mental health services?
People
  • 3 July 2024 17.40–18.20
Summer Conference Event
 — Keynote

Youmna El Sayed: Investigating Gaza [R]

What are the difficulties of reporting and investigating from contemporary Gaza, amid the current Israeli onslaught and the growing numbers of journalist deaths? Are there any restrictions on independent reporting from the Hamas authorities?
People
Thursday 4 July
  • 4 July 2024 10.00–11.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

Companies House as a Tool for Investigative Journalism

This session will focus on how to find information on Companies House, how to use its search tools to find meaningful data and how to interpret the information you come across. Companies House isn't a tool designed to be used by journalists, therefore, when used that way, it's important to look out for the relevant bits while being aware of potentially misleading or even false information.
People
  • 4 July 2024 10.00–11.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Tips for Investigative Journalists after Fifty Years’ Experience

Veteran investigative journalist Martin Tomkinson has spent five decades digging through the dirt to uncover corruption in business, politics and the police. From bribes protecting those getting rich in exploitative industries to dodgy deals between developers and politicians at all levels, so much of his reporting is sadly still relevant today.
People
  • 4 July 2024 10.00–11.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

The AI Revolution: Should We Issue Warnings or Welcomes?

From the potential to erode trust through deep fakes and AI-powered misinformation, to dangers around undermining job security and creative innovation, there are genuine threats and challenges that this technology poses to both journalism and wider society.
People
  • 4 July 2024 10.00–11.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Data Journalism: Keeping it Local

How do you add a new skill as a local journalist? From two different perspectives, Helena Bengtsson and Claire Miller will talk about how they educate and inspire regional reporters to work with data journalism methods.
People
  • 4 July 2024 11.20–16.50
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Understanding Company Accounts 1-4

This mini course taught by a journalist-friendly forensic accountant will show you how to understand company accounts and get beyond the corporate PR spin. The emphasis will be on teaching practical skills rather than a series of lectures.
People
  • 4 July 2024 11.20–12.20
Summer Conference Event
 — Panel Talk

Climate Arson and Cover-Ups [R]

Discover a variety of innovative investigative methods put to good use uncovering environmental harms and greenwashing. From mapping fossil fuel projects in conservation sites, to cross-border collaborations digging through hidden harms buried within 'green' hydrogen investments, to using drones to expose the deliberate burning of the UK's largest natural carbon store, you'll hear from a range of the best environmental investigations around the world.
People
  • 4 July 2024 11.20–12.20
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

Locating State Violence: OSINT and Geolocation. Hands-On. [B]

This workshop is an introduction to the principles and techniques of Forensic Architecture and open-source human rights investigations more broadly. This session will cover open-source research and geolocation, as well as basic media and spatial analysis.
People
  • 4 July 2024 11.20–12.20
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

The Secret Compound: Investigating TB Joshua

Megapastor TB Joshua once commanded one of the largest Christian audiences in the world – with 600 million social media followers and nine heads of state as members of his church. Journalists Charlie Northcott and Helen Spooner give the inside track of how they exposed decades of atrocities inside the pastor’s secretive compound in Nigeria, […]
People
  • 4 July 2024 12.30–13.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

OSINT: Uncovering Digital Footprints

Learn from a corporate intelligence analyst how to investigate a person's digital footprint through interactive demonstrations and case studies. Journalists can reveal valuable insights into a person's identity by examining digital footprints.
People
  • 4 July 2024 12.30–16.50
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Data Journalism: Investigating Data with R 1-3. Hands-on. [B+I]

Hands-on. Beginner-Intermediate. Sooner or later you know you’ll come up against a dataset so big it’s going to crash Excel if you even try to open it. Maybe your questions are becoming too complex for Excel’s built-in analytics tools to handle.
People
  • 4 July 2024 12.30–13.30
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Lifting the Lid of the Single Justice Procedure [R]

Tristan Kirk has spent the last six years digging into the Single Justice Procedure, a secretive court process where hundreds of thousands of people are convicted each year in private hearings. The process was invented to cut costs and fast-track justice, but with few safeguards on the quality of the justice administered or the transparency of decision-making.
People
  • 4 July 2024 14.40–16.50
Summer Conference Event
 — Course

Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 1-2

This two-part practical course will guide you through the basics of freedom of information legislation and equip you with the skills necessary to make successful information requests and appeals.
People
  • 4 July 2024 14.40–15.40
Summer Conference Event
 — Class

COP Reporting – How to Prepare and Keep Focused [R]

The UN Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC is one of the biggest news events for international climate change negotiations each year, but it can be difficult to navigate as a journalist without the right preparation.
People
  • 4 July 2024 15.50–16.50
Summer Conference Event
 — Talk

Six Years of #MeToo Reporting [CHR]

The New York Times's investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and assault by the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017 led to an avalanche of MeToo stories in the media. These are not easy stories to tell, especially in the UK where laws around both defamation and privacy are much tougher for journalists than in the US.
People
  • 4 July 2024 17.10–18.00
Summer Conference Event
 — Keynote Talk

Breaking Horizon: The Post Office Scandal [R]

Over nearly two decades, the UK Post Office prosecuted hundreds of innocent subpostmasters for shortfalls in their accounts caused, in fact, by errors of an IT system called Horizon - one of the biggest and most egregious miscarriages of justice in recent British history.
People
  • 4 July 2024 18.00–20.00
Summer Conference Event

#CIJSummer Drinks Reception

All delegates, speakers, volunteers and CIJ staff are invited to the networking drinks reception at the end of the conference.