Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2023: A trove of ideas and connections
Broadcaster and educator Andrea Ho reports from the international gathering in Sweden.
More than 2100 investigative journalists from over 130 countries came to the 13th Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC), which took place in the Swedish city of Gothenburg last month.
GIJC is a working conference, and the program was packed with practical workshops on basic and advanced data journalism tools, using satellite imagery, finding and using corporate data, tracking planes and ships, data visualisation, dealing with online harassment, and managing stress and burnout.
Hot topics for plenaries and presentations ranged widely, from AI to war crimes, money-laundering to climate change, First Nations issues and threats to elections and democracy.
Opening the conference, Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) Executive Director David E. Kaplan said watchdog journalism has never been more under threat worldwide than it is today; and yet it has never been more necessary to fight creeping autocracy and a growing backlash against civil society and democracy.
And while journalists are targets of new technologies used for hacking and covert surveillance, they now harness that same tech to track and speed up investigation of corruption and organized crime. And they connect, share knowhow, and create networks via gatherings such as GIJC.
“The very technology that has battered our profession, we are embracing — and we’re using data and AI and all the other tools at our disposal to grow,” said Kaplan. “We’re getting bigger, not smaller, despite everything they’re throwing at us.”
Reports of high-value sessions are being published on the GIJN website, with more to come over the next few weeks.
Walkley Foundation readers may be interested in the following:
- Hacking Crisis: Citizen Lab’s Ron Deibert on How Investigative Journalists Can Fight Back by Rowan Philp
- Global Collaborations and AI: Navigating the Future of Investigative Journalism by Ana P. Santos
- How Indigenous Journalists Are Powering Investigations Through International Collaboration by Laura Oliver
- How Old-School Field Reporting Powers High-Tech Visual Investigations by Rowan Philp
- Audacious Tricks to Track Smuggled Goods, Identify Illegal Fish, and Interview Reluctant Sources by Rowan Philp
- 5 Looming Threats to Democracy — and Tips for Exposing Them
- And bookmark this brand new resource, GIJN Reporter’s Guide to Investigating War Crimes.
Head to the GIJN website to read all articles; bookmark it and return over coming weeks for more stories from GIJC.
Selected session videos are now being uploaded to the GIJN YouTube channel, so you can catch up on a range of presentations.
