On Monday 19 October, the Frontline Club was joined by a panel of experts to discuss the increasingly necessary journalism model of cross-border collaboration. Gavin MacFadyen, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism and visiting professor at City University, moderated the event, which was held in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Centre in London and Frontline Club Bucharest. The panel shared their own varied experiences of cross-border investigations and discussed the potential impact and many challenges inherent in this model of journalism.
Stefan Candea, investigative journalist and co-founder of the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, The Black Sea and Sponge, began by raising a point that recurred throughout the discussion, that journalists must often now circumvent mainstream media outlets to publish investigative reports on independent platforms.
MacFadyen also commented on the current state of the press, which has led to many cross-border journalists self-publishing or collaborating with new independent platforms to share their work. “There has never been a period in my long time in journalism – 40 years – where I’ve seen anything like the surveillance, the censorship, the omission in the editorial process, which is now completely commonplace. What’s omitted from stories is far more important that what is censored.”
The discussion also covered the notion of a “bought press”, in which journalists are employed to serve the interests and advance the agenda of certain official bodies or corporations.
Craig Shaw, British journalist and fellow at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London, commented on the benefits and practicalities of working with journalists from other countries. He commented that it is often the case that British journalists do not speak other languages, which consequently limits the scope of their investigations, but pointed to their journalistic value of being based in the UK – “a front door for financial corruption.”
Stephen Grey, special correspondent on the global enterprise team at Reuters news agency and author of Ghost Plane and Operation Snakebite, likened the process of a cross-border story gaining momentum to two students at opposite ends of the room during a school assembly beginning a slow clap that quickly catches on.
Grey said that when it comes to the impact of a journalistic investigation, there is “a power in things coming from different directions.”
A member of the audience raised the subject of ethics in journalism, with regards to undercover investigations.
Crina Boros, an investigative reporter at Greenpeace UK and a trainer specialising in data-driven reporting and transparency laws, spoke of the different approaches taken by media outlets for undercover journalism.
She commented: “There’s an acceptable amount of deception that you can practice. Investigative journalism doesn’t have to do with undercover, but it is part of it… You don’t have to become a detective.”
Following an audience question, the panel discussed the process of investigating corruption in collaboration with journalists from other countries.
Grey said: “There’s always a confusion between being Eurosceptic and investigating corruption… The wider problem is that there is this ungoverned space.”
Cross border investigative journalism discussion @frontlineclub power of publishing outside your country… pic.twitter.com/eH9izBdCQO
— Camilla Horrox (@CamillaHorrox) October 19, 2015
With the potential impact of cross-border collaborative journalism comes risk and potential obstacles. The speakers discussed issues relating to trust of other team-members, centralised structures, how to deal with multiple sources and data dumps, and accountability.
Shaw commented: “Data does very strange things to journalists.. It’s often like a soap opera. There’s an issue of propriety and it causes a lot of complications… It works better in smaller groups.”
]]>When money, politics, abuse of power and corruption reach across borders, transnational networks of journalists become key to an open, accountable and democratic society. Cross-border investigations such as Swiss Leaks and Tobacco Underground have caused public outcry, and in many instances have led to legislative changes and the prosecution of those under investigation.
This game-changing journalism model is increasingly facilitated by the rise of digital tools, access to international databases and the ability to bypass restrictive national freedom of information laws. However, cross-border collaboration is facing its own challenges, from funding opportunities to logistical issues and disparate journalistic cultures.
In an event in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Centre in London (RCC) and Frontline Club Bucharest, a panel of experts will be discussing what it takes to expose stories that spill across borders, as well as the potential obstacles and impact involved.
This discussion will be moderated by Gavin MacFadyen, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism and a visiting professor at City University.
The panel:
Crina Boros is an investigative reporter at Greenpeace UK and trainer who specialises in data-driven reporting and transparency laws. Her portfolio includes Swiss Leaks, the abuse of migrant workers, victim compensation and money laundering. She has led the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s first international index on women’s rights, and has reported for the BBC, Exaro News, and OffshoreAlert.
Stefan Candea is an investigative journalist, and co-founder of the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism (CRJI), The Black Sea – a lifeboat for journalism in the region – and Sponge, an open and collaborative media innovation lab for Eastern Europe. A member of the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism, he also teaches investigative journalism at University of Bucharest and was the 2011 Carroll Binder Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. His cross-border investigative stories on organised crime won several international awards. Currently he’s working at EIJC on his PhD research analysing the structures of cross-border investigative networks.
Stephen Grey is a special correspondent on the global enterprise team at Reuters news agency. He is author of Ghost Plane, an account of the CIA rendition program, and Operation Snakebite, on the war in Helmand, Afghanistan. His most recent film was “Kill/Capture” for PBS Frontline. He has won several awards, including the Overseas Press Club award in 2006 for human rights reporting and the Kurt Schork Award for International Reporting in 2010.
Craig Shaw is a British journalist and fellow at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London. Specialising in cross-border corruption and human rights, he previously worked for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on the global “Offshore Leaks” investigation which helped lift the veil on the secretive world of tax havens. Shaw’s reports have been published in leading international news media such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Sydney Morning Herald, L’Espresso, Der Freitag and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The Romanian Cultural Centre in London (RCC) is an independent association promoting Romanian culture abroad since 1994. It is funded by The Ratiu Family Foundation (RFF), which supports projects relating to civil society, democracy, arts and culture in Romania, the UK and the US.
Frontline Club Bucharest operates as part of the charitable Frontline International Partners project, and organises regular talks, documentary screenings and workshops in order to engage communities in Romania in critical thinking about international affairs and the media.
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