15:30
16:00
Pre-Seminar
Occupation: The Price of Words
Killed, kidnapped or subject to torture. That is the price brave journalists have paid during the war in Ukraine.
This documentary sheds light on the experiences of Ukrainian journalists who have endured violence at the hands of the Russian military. The film presents evidence gathered by Slidstvo.info that highlights the systematic crimes committed by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian journalists. Testimonies from the victims are included in the documentary, revealing the involvement of Russian FSB representatives in the mistreatment of journalists.
Yanina Kornienko, Slidstvo.info project, Ukraine
Immediately following the pre-seminar
Opening Reception
This exciting affair will kick off the Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2023.
Join us and enjoy some finger-food along with good music, great company, and a few drinks!
📍 Inner Yard of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
09:00
09:30 – 10:00
Welcome Address
Nils Hanson, Programme Director
Dace Lamberte, Media Centre Director
📍 Main Auditorium
10:00 – 11:00
Investigating Russian Atrocities in Bucha
One of the most impressive investigations on the war is the 29 minutes documentary “Caught on Camera, Traced by Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens in Bucha”. This New York Times Visual Investigation identified the main military unit responsible for atrocities against civilians on Yablunska Street in Bucha, Ukraine. One of the producers of the investigation, Haley Willis, will talk about the eight-month work behind the documentary.
Keynote speaker: Haley Willis, New York Times
📍 Main Auditorium
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 13:00
Methods for Visual Investigations
Video journalist with the Visual Investigations team at The New York Times – Haley Willis – will walk participants through methods for conducting open-source investigations, focusing on tips for finding and verifying openly available content.
Please bring a laptop to this session!
Haley Willis
📍 Main Auditorium
Basic Data Journalism
Part 1
Learn how to think data. How to use spreadsheets to structure your story and to put it into context. This session guides you through your first steps into the wonderful world of data journalism, from sorting and filtering to summarizing your data with pivot tables.
You will need a Google/Gmail account to attend.
Helena Bengtsson
📍 Auditorium 303
The Three S’s: Secrecy, Sanctions, and (Out-)Sourcing
Criminals and the corrupt use corporate secrecy to cast a veil over their deals and wealth. We’ll start by looking at how this secrecy has evolved as it seeks to stay one step ahead of law enforcement, regulators, and investigative journalists.
One key driver of the need for corporate secrecy is sanctions: We will look at what it means when someone is sanctioned and what they do in response to protect their assets and interests.
Finally, we will look at a crucial player in corrupt deals: The middleman and how major companies often “outsource” bribery to well-connected fixers who make a fortune through risky deals.
Peter Jones
📍 Auditorium W32
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
How to Expose abuse in Social Care
The people with the least power in society – children taken into care or people with illnesses or disabilities – are often preyed upon and taken advantage of. How do we find these stories and expose the people who abuse their positions without putting our interview persons at risk?
How to verify material from sources who cannot provide documentation to support the information? How to gain the trust of your sources so they feel safe and comfortable going on the record? We will also discuss how to navigate the ethical dilemmas.
Marja Grill
📍 Main Auditorium
Basic Data Journalism
Part 2
Continuing from the previous session, we will keep learning more about pivot tables and also learn how to use formulas to handle text and numbers.
You will need a Google/Gmail account to attend.
Helena Bengtsson
📍 Auditorium 303
Top 15 Documents for Uncovering Corruption
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.
Miranda Patrucic, Peter Jones
📍 Auditorium W32
15:30 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:30
The Nutcracker Method – How to Find the Core of Your Investigation
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the material you have collected? Have you ever felt that you have so many leads and directions for your story that you don’t know where to go next?
Participants will learn how to structure an investigation in a way that leads the case forward with the quickest and most effective route. To ask the right questions to the source material and use the correct method for that particular story.
Marja Grill
📍 Main Auditorium
A Journalists Guide to Programming
In this demo session, we will talk about the concept of coding. What are the building blocks of a script? What is a variable, a loop or a list? How are they used? What should I think about when scraping a document or a website? This is not a hands-on class; it will talk about and demonstrate for the beginner how to think when you want to start coding.
Helena Bengtsson
📍 Auditorium 303
Understanding Financials
Balance sheets can be intimidating, but they contain a wealth of information. This session will show how to analyze a balance sheet and spot suspicious transactions, money flows and more.
Miranda Patrucic
📍 Auditorium W32
09:30 – 11:00
Optimizing Online Searches
Part 1
In this interactive workshop, we delve into the fascinating world of Google, exploring its biases, discussing effective solutions, and uncovering the possibilities that lie beyond traditional search engines. Throughout this practical session, you will gain invaluable tips, tricks, and insights to enhance your investigative skills. We start by examining the inherent biases in Google’s search algorithms and understanding why they may fall short in investigative endeavors. By recognizing these limitations, you will discover strategies to overcome them and uncover the information you seek. As we venture beyond Google’s boundaries, we delve into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) for investigations.
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
On Foreign Ground
Being on foreign ground is known to many investigative journalists. So how do you find your way when you don’t speak the language?
And how do you work with your local colleagues when you sit in f.e. Riga and work on a story in Sri Lanka or Bangladesh?
This lecture gives you tips and tricks for your next investigation.
Tom Heinemann
📍 Auditorium 303
Top 10 Crimes to Look For
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:
Miranda Patrucic, Peter Jones
📍 Auditorium W32
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 13:00
Optimizing Online Searches
Part 2
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
Safety For All
It can be dangerous to expose crimes or reveal how workers in real life are treated when working for multinational companies.
Not only for you and the team but also for the locals involved in your investigation. How do you protect them as best as possible?
And are there things you MUST do before jumping on the plane?
Tom Heinemann
📍 Auditorium 303
How to Write Corruption
Investigative journalism is hard! We will look at how to plan and organize a complicated investigation: How to develop a flexible hypothesis, keep track of the points you need to prove, and update your theories and investigation as you go. We’ll also consider how best to write about corruption, which can risk being a dry subject so that you win and retain an audience.
Peter Jones, Miranda Patrucic
📍 Auditorium W32
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
Optimizing Online Searches
Part 1
In this interactive workshop, we delve into the fascinating world of Google, exploring its biases, discussing effective solutions, and uncovering the possibilities that lie beyond traditional search engines. Throughout this practical session, you will gain invaluable tips, tricks, and insights to enhance your investigative skills. We start by examining the inherent biases in Google’s search algorithms and understanding why they may fall short in investigative endeavors. By recognizing these limitations, you will discover strategies to overcome them and uncover the information you seek. As we venture beyond Google’s boundaries, we delve into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) for investigations.
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
Revealing the Russian tricks
How to work with massive leaks and investigate Russia even when you are not familiar with the language. Methods to tackle the Russian influence and sanction evasion.
Šarūnas Černiauskas
Martin Laine
📍 Auditorium 303
OCCRP’s Aleph: the data tool that enables large cross-border investigations
A deep dive into OCCRP’s Aleph: learn how to conduct advanced searches, cross-reference data across multiple leaks, and create your own investigation workspace — including building network diagrams and timelines. Use the billions of records Aleph hosts for your next investigation!
Jan Strozyk
📍 Auditorium W32
15:30 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:30
Optimizing Online Searches
Part 2
Henk van Ess
📍 Main Auditorium
Revealing the Russian plans
How leaked Kremlin documents revealed Russia’s plans in Belarus, Moldova and the Baltic countries. Reporters reveal tips and insights how to investigate Kremlin’s influence operations in Central and Eastern Europe.
Mattias Carlsson
Holger Roonemaa
📍 Auditorium 303
Three command line tools to speed up your follow-the-money investigation
The command line can be intimidating – it’s a very powerful, direct interface for your computer. If you don’t know what the command line is: You probably saw it in a hacker movie, where someone punches in a few commands on a black/green screen and then magically accesses the enemy’s network. This is what we’re going to do. This session will show you some command line basics, and we’ll go over three tools that will make your next follow-the-money investigation a lot easier: One that extracts text from PDFs and images, one that handles CSV files like no other and a quick way of downloading files from a website. (attendees need a Macbook or a Laptop with Windows 10 or newer to follow along)
Jan Strozyk
📍 Auditorium W32
19:00
Garden Party
This is the perfect opportunity to unwind after intense days of learning, network, and socialize with your fellow attendees in a more relaxed setting. We look forward to seeing you there and celebrating the success of the Summer School of Investigative Reporting together.
📍 Inner Yard of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
