15:00
16:00 – 18:00
Speaker: Alla Sadovnyk
📍 Main Auditorium
The investigative department of Suspilne, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, which started working in 2019, has taken an almost unique niche in the country’s investigations. They used to produce documentary investigative films, dramatic stories in which the main character is not a ‘bad corrupt guy’ or a journalist, but an ordinary person who has suffered from social issues or injustice. They could be your family members, friends or neighbors. The full-scale Russian invasion changed everything. The Ukrainian public broadcaster’s investigators started to investigate war crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine. They worked undercover, made calls to Russia and helped law enforcement. Some investigations seemed impossible, but the journalists were successful.
18:00 – 20:00
NETWORKING & DRINKS
📍 Inner Yard of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
08:30
09:30 – 10:00
Welcome Address
Nils Hanson, programme director
Edgars Spuravs, director of the Centre for Media Studies at SSE Riga
📍 Main Auditorium
10:00 – 11:00
TROUBLES AHEAD, TROUBLES BEHIND – WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM?
Keynote speaker: Drew Sullivan
📍 Main Auditorium
TBA
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 13:00
PRECISION RESEARCH WITH AI: SEPARATING FACTS FROM FABRICATIONS. Part I
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
Two part session on how to force any chatbot to do what you want with worldwide examples that you can play along. During the 3-hour session, split into two parts, you get access to the Summer School AI Sandbox, where you can use ALL the chatbots for free.
Henk van Ess shows tactics for controlling AI outputs using proven techniques from multiple countries. Bring your computer to practice in real time.
INVESTIGATIVE AUDIO: RECORDING A STORY
Maria Ridderstedt
📍 Auditorium 303
Thanks to streaming, audio listening is booming. At the same time, advances in digital technology have lowered the barriers to entry for audio creators. How can we use that in the storytelling of investigative stories?
Maria Ridderstedt has worked as a radio reporter for 20 years. She will share her best practical tips on how to collect sounds that can evoke emotions and paint vivid pictures in the listener’s mind. You will learn how to do this with just your phone.
OCCRP: TOP 10 CRIMES TO LOOK FOR
Miranda Patrucic
📍 Auditorium W32
Corruption and financial crime can take many forms, and many buzzwords and technical terms are involved, from money laundering to “pump and dumps”. We’ll look at the most common and important types of criminality to look for – what they involve, and how to spot them:
Editors Workshop: DON’T BE THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM. Part I
Jenny Küttim
📍 Auditorium 311
Part I. Building Psychological Safety – Tools for empowering reporters
Learn how to create newsroom environments where reporters dare to pursue groundbreaking investigations. Award-winning investigative editor Jenny Küttim shares practical tools from SVT’s Investigative Unit on empowering teams to take on tough stories.
This 3-hour workshop covers:
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
Two part session on how to force any chatbot to do what you want with worldwide examples that you can play along. During the 3-hour session, split into two parts, you get access to the Summer School AI Sandbox, where you can use ALL the chatbots for free.
Henk van Ess shows tactics for controlling AI outputs using proven techniques from multiple countries. Bring your computer to practice in real time.
INVESTIGATIVE AUDIO: MAKE PEOPLE LISTEN
Maria Ridderstedt
📍 Auditorium 303
Investigative journalism often involves many facts, confidential sources, and stacks of documents. How do we make people want to listen to the story we’ve uncovered? Maria Ridderstedt’s specialty as a storyteller is making listeners understand complex contexts and become engaged in the story. She will share her best tips for keeping listeners engaged and interested in longer formats such as features, podcasts, and documentaries.
THINKING LIKE AN INVESTIGATOR
Drew Sullivan
📍 Auditorium W32
How should you think as an investigative reporter to get the best results? The publisher of OCCRP offers his best tips based on his long career as an investigative journalist.
DON’T BE THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM. Part II
Jenny Küttim
📍 Auditorium 311
Part II. From Safety to Impact – Developing investigative talent.
Learn how to create newsroom environments where reporters dare to pursue groundbreaking investigations. Award-winning investigative editor Jenny Küttim shares practical tools from SVT’s Investigative Unit on empowering teams to take on tough stories.
This 3-hour workshop covers:
Limited to 25 participants. Information on pre-registration will be provided to all participants.
15:30 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:30
TO SUCCEED AS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER. Part I
Ali Fegan
📍 Main Auditorium
Ali Fegan has worked at the top level of investigative journalism in Sweden for 20 years. In two sessions, he will share his best methods for making stories with international impact. He will also share his techniques for bullet-proofing projects, interviewing people in power, and the final step in the search for accountability.
Ali will also bring up a crucial issue usually not discussed at investigative conferences:
How do you (try to) balance family life with the demands of being an investigative reporter?
INVESTIGATE EU – HOW TO GET STARTED
Staffan Dahllöf
📍 Auditorium 303
From security politics on the highest level to what chemicals are put in my food, there is EU legislation and Influence in almost all aspects of life. But who decides, and how? Can I follow the news stream from home? Can I make my stories understandable to an audience with limited knowledge and perhaps limited interest in the EU?
The answer, in short, is yes. In EU – the basics, you are introduced to the structure and mechanisms of how the EU works from a journalistic perspective. You’ll get tips on sources and shortcuts on how to find what you are looking for – and what traps to avoid.
Investigative EU reporting is basically the same as reporting on local, regional, and national affairs, only a little bit different. This session can help you identify and handle the differences and similarities.
HOW TO FIND PEOPLE WITH MINIMAL CLUES
Karina Shedrofsky
📍 Auditorium W32
Tracking down people with minimal clues: Tracking down elusive individuals is the bread and butter of OSINT work, but what can you do when armed only with a single photo or username? In this session, we’ll walk you through examples of how we cracked some of the most difficult cases. We will unveil the power of combining image recognition, social media sleuthing, advanced Google searches, and exploring leaked data. You will discover some new techniques, and creative ways of thinking to raise your investigative game.
09:30 – 11:00
Emil Engerdahl
📍 Main Auditorium
Lessons learned and mistakes made during my years of studying and applying dramaturgical principles on journalistic documentary films and series. What is structural analysis, and how can it help you tell your story? We look at some of my own work to see how different stories require different approaches. The three acts of investigative journalism and some tips and tricks I wish I would’ve known sooner.
INVESTIGATE EU – TIPS AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Staffan Dahllöf
📍 Auditorium 303
Believe it or not, but there is more to EU reporting than referring to press releases from the power triangle Commission, Parliament, and Council.
Other less-known and lesser-used institutions can provide knowledge and insight. There’s the tool of access to documents. There are actors and interest groups to tap into. And there are the nitty gritty peculiarities such as the comitology process, the infamous four-column documents, the Ombudsman’s fast track for journalists and reports and studies very few people read until you do.
Also, there is the built-up wave of colleagues helping each other, known as cross-border investigations in different forms and shapes.
The session Investigate EU – tips and tricks invites you to learn how to develop EU investigations and share your experiences with others.
TOP 15 DOCUMENTS FOR UNCOVERING CORRUPTION
Miranda Patrucic, Drew Sullivan
📍 Auditorium W32
What kinds of documents are best when looking for a paper trail to prove corruption and criminality? We’ll countdown some of our favourites, from company statutes to U.S. affidavits to mortgage charges, and flag what to look out for.
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 13:00
HOW TO STRENGTHEN JOURNALISM THROUGH STORYTELLING. Part II
Emil Engerdahl
📍 Main Auditorium
We watch key scenes from an award-winning three-part miniseries and look at how journalism and storytelling can work together and strengthen each other. We will discuss building characters and research revelations over time in long form and how to make your journalistic breakthroughs into key turning points in your story.
Henk van Ess
📍 Auditorium 303
ASSET TRACING FOR “FOLLOW THE MONEY” INVESTIGATIONS
Karina Shedrofsky
📍 Auditorium W32
This session explores how to investigate cross-border corruption and organised crime, focusing on data challenges in opaque jurisdictions. Learn practical methods and tools for tracing money flows, uncovering ownership, and connecting the dots between companies, assets, and people of interest. We’ll also discuss combining traditional techniques with OSINT and other creative approaches to uncover evidence when public data is scarce.
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
METHODS TO INVESTIGATE RUSSIA AND PUTIN
Minna Knus-Galán
📍 Main Auditorium
This journey starts in a rowing boat in a Finnish lake near the Russian border, passes through the luxury of Monaco, and ends in the mountains of Liechtenstein. Investigative reporter Minna Knus-Galán will explain step by step how her team tracked Putin´s hidden billions. She will share her best tips on how to investigate corruption on a high level and sanction evasion. And how you tell a compelling story about an abstract and complicated topic like money laundering.
Henk van Ess
📍 Auditorium 303
HOW TO HANDLE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS
Miranda Patrucic, Drew Sullivan
📍 Auditorium W32
As an investigative reporter, you will undoubtedly encounter difficult situations. OCCRP’s leadership team offers advice on developing skills to handle pressure and minimise risks.
15:30 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:30
REVEAL HOW RUSSIA EVADES SANCTIONS
📍 Main Auditorium
Western countries have imposed extensive sanctions against Russia. However, their effectiveness is limited, as Russia is a master at circumventing them.
This is done by using tax havens, front companies, lawyers, and consultants. Investigative journalist Jyri Hänninen reveals how he traced the secret owners of Russia’s shadow fleet and how Russia acquires the technology needed for its war machinery.
TO SUCCEED AS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Part II
Ali Fegan
📍 Auditorium 303
Ali Fegan has worked at the top level of investigative journalism in Sweden for 20 years. In two sessions, he will share his best methods for making stories with international impact. He will also share his techniques for bullet-proofing projects, interviewing people in power, and the final step in the search for accountability.
Ali will also bring up a crucial issue usually not discussed at investigative conferences:
How do you (try to) balance family life with the demands of being an investigative reporter?
ORGANISING THE PROJECT
Miranda Patrucic, Drew Sullivan, Karina Shedrofsky
📍 Auditorium W32
How do you start, and how do you avoid getting lost? Tips on methods to be efficient and focused.
19:00 – 23:00
GARDEN PARTY
📍 Inner Yard of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
