Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva (photo: Guillaume Ferreux/flickr)

Does  media in Europa fill its tasks to inform about the real things and as watchdog criticizing bad and non-policy. In short: to offer orientation for their readers and listeners in a world, which citizens perceive as more and more complicated and running crazy.
It seems, that also Brussels based journalists often miss time, money, ressources, encouragement by their bosses or motivation to dive deep into the functioning and the non-functioning of the European Union and their member states.

That’s why I would like to recomment colleagues from all over Europe (and beyond) to participate in the “Global Investigative Journalism Conference“, which takes places from April 22-25 in Geneva/Switzerland. And I promise you, later on, to provide you with some suggestions for a nice Switzerland escorting programme. One question remains: why the hell the “International Journalism Festival” takes place exactly at the same days – in Perugia/Italy?

Following you will find the preliminary programme of this highly interesting and encouraging event. �
Thursday 22nd April
Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speaker: Surprise Guest
Thursday 22.04 – 09:00 Plenary Conference Room 2

The lobby that tried to kill Copenhagen: Investigating climate change
Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Plenary Conference Room 2
Mark Schapiro (Center for Investigative Reporting, USA), Kate Willson (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, USA), Brigitte Alfter (European Fund for Investigative Journalism, Belgium), Murali Krishnan (National Affairs Editor, India)
Moderator: Marina WALKER GUEVARA (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, USA)
How certain groups opposing mesures against climate change attempt to influence discussions and disrupt the negotiation process. A first-class transnational investigation.

Investigating corruption
Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 3
Zhao Hejuan (China)
Moderator: Frédéric KOLLER (Le Temps, Switzerland)
Zhao Hejuan is one of the most renowned investigative journalists in China. Working for the Shanghai weekly magazine Caijing, Zhao revealed numerous corruption scandals which led to certain government officials being sentenced to death. Zhao now works for new media group, Caixing Media.

At the heart of the UBS scandal
Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 4
Myret Zaki (Bilan – Switzerland), Lukas Haessig (Freelance, Switzerland)
Moderator: Christian CAMPICHE (Edito, Switzerland)
Two Swiss investigative journalists and authors of books on this scandal, reveal the techniques which enabled them to access the heart of one of the largest bank scandals in Swiss history.
Radio Investigation

Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 18
Susanne Reber (NPR – USA), Solomon Adebayo (Radio Nigeria)
Moderator: Sandra BARTLETT (CBC Radio News, Canada)
One may think that the radio is not the best media for investigative reporting. However, our two award-winning panelists will show that this is not the case. They will present what they investigated and how.
How to breed investigative reporters

Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 15
Gavin MacFadyen (Centre for Investigative Journalism, England)
Moderator: Nadia BONJOUR (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
This panel will target executives from the media who are desperately looking for the young talents who are going to break the scoops and exclusive researchs they need in their staff. And also to those young sleeping talents whose dream is to make the headlines and become experienced investigative reporters.
CAR: General Introduction and presentation

Thursday 22.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 17 CAR
David Donald (The Center for Public Integrity, USA)
What’s computer-assisted reporting, why should it interest you, and how can digging in governmental and other databases take your investigative skills to a new level? The session is an generel introduction to CAR – computer-assisted reporting and to the hands on classes at the conference. See recent examples and learn about the tools used in CAR so you can see which classes you should go to  and what CAR may do for your reporting when you’re back home.
Investigating undercover

Thursday 22.04 – 13:30 Plenary Conference Room 2
Fredrik Laurin, Joachim Dyfvermark, Sven Bergman (SVT, Sweden), Anas Aremeyaw (New Crusading Guide, Ghana), Aniruddha Bahal (Cobrapost.com, India)
Moderator: Emmanuel MAYAH (The Sun, Nigeria)
Masters of the hidden camera, our Swedish colleagues are responsible for several large investigations and revelations such as the case of adbuctions by the CIA. Our fellow member from Ghana, winner of the ‘Courage in Journalism’ Prize, almost brought down the Ghanaian government and had the health department visit the institution the day after its story “undercover in the madhouse” was aired.. And as for Cobra TV, its raw nerve enabled it to denounce corrupt ministers and members of Parliament.
How to organise an investigative desk
Thursday 22.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 3
Nils Hanson (SVT, Sweden), Dalip Singh (Mail Today, India),Hermien Y. Kleden (Tempo Weekly News Magazine, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Moderator: Jean-Philippe CEPPI (Radio Télévision Suisse, Switzerland)
Nils Hanson and his team direct the Swedish TV show “Mission: investigate!”. The novel organisation of their unit has enabled the broadcasting of exclusive investigations with international repercussions.

Throw-away poison: The Trafigura case
Thursday 22.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 4
Jeroen Trommelen (Volksrant, Netherlands), Edouard Gonto (le Jour, Ivory Coast)
Moderator: Roland ROSSIER (Free lance, Switzerland)
On a hot august night in 2006, twelve tank loads of toxic waste were secretly dumped on the outskirts of Abidjan, in Ivory Coast. Thousands of people got ill. Jeroen and Edouard will explain how they worked on this major scandal.

Getting confidential documents from the CIA
Thursday 22.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 18
Alexenia Dimitrova (24 heures, Bulgaria), Vincent Nouzille (Freelance, France)
Moderator: Gilles LABARTHE (Freelance, Switzerland)
Alexena researched and found tons of confidential documents from the American archives, which enabled her to publish a major work on their activity in Bulgaria during the cold war. And Vincent Nouzille has done the same work in France.

Burn-out in the newsroom: Are you next?
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 15
Marleen Teugels, Conny Vercaigne (Artevelde Hogeschool, Belgium)
Moderator: Nadia BONJOUR (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
Marleen and Conny, associated with other Belgian researchers, investigated the stress that journalists experience. They present the results of their research and recommendations for change.

CAR: The Hidden Web (1): How to analyse a website
Thursday 22.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Guido Rudolphi (NetMon GmbH, Switzerland)
How to obtain additional data about a homepage. There is a lot of data around from third parties, but one has to know how to retrieve it. Furthermore, a lot of information is often contained in the homepage and on the server. Participants of the session will see how one can obtain and analyze this information, how it can lead to additional, valuable information which drives a research forward and gives new aspects.

At the heart of piracy
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Plenary Conference Room 2
Fatuma Noor (Nairobi Star, Kenya), Kassim Mohamed (Star Radio, Kenya), Ken Opala (The Nation, Kenya)
Moderator: Serge MICHEL (Freelance, Switzerland)
Established in Nairobi, the Somali journalist Fatuma Noor went undercover in a brothel run by Somali warlords. Kassim Mohamed regularly reports on piracy in Somalia and Ken.

How mentors make terrorists
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 3
Margot Williams (Former NY Times and Former Washington Post, USA), Mohamed Al Ahmady (Al Ghad, Yemen) and Souad Mekhennet (The New York Times, Germany)
Moderator: Vivienne WALT (Time Magazine, USA)
Margot Williams has investigated the milieux in which those who have committed or attempted terrorist acts grew up. Mohamed Al Ahmady is a journalist working in Yemen, and is considered a specialist on terrorism.

How to finance your investigations: the case of the Media Development Loan Fund
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 4
Patrice Schneider (Media Development Loan Fund, Switzerland), Regula Ritter (ResponsAbility, Switzerland), Simon Junker (Swiss cooperation) Lionel Pilloud (Banque Vontobel, Switzerland)
Moderator: Mark HUNTER (INSEAD, France)
This mixed fund has enabled the financing of independant media which undertake investigations, such as the Mail & Guardian in South Africa and B92 in Serbia.

Fixed elections in Olympic-land.
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 18
Rainer Fleckl (Der Kurier, Austria) and Erich Vogl (Der Kurier, Austria)
Moderator: Marlène MAGLOIRE (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
Our Austrian colleagues revealed how consultancies may have received money from the city of Salzbourg in order to influence votes in favour of the city’s candidacy for the Olympic Games.

Risk Management and the banks: their intelligence technics towards clients and staff
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 15
Michael Alkalay (Switzerland)
Moderator: Christian CAMPICHE (Edito, Switzerland)
Lawyer and economic crime investigator Michael Alkalay has been police officer and head of project at the Swiss Federal Police, before joining UBS as compliance senior officer. In his panel, he will use examples to show, how banks and other industries  are using profiling technics to collect intelligence about their clients, suppliers and employees. Alkalay will use the UBS model to show how banks target clients with a high risk profile and which inhibitions compliance departments have to overcome to impose vital recommendations.

CAR: Excel I Beginner Level
Thursday 22.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)
Creating your first spreadsheet, calculate and sort your data.

The strange business of war consulting
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Plenary Conference Room 2
David Barstow (The New York Times – USA)
Moderator: Susanne REBER (NPR – USA)
David received the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for exposing the questionable relationship between the arms industry and “independent” consultants, presented on major American TV networks. He reveals his methods and techniques.

From Russia with cash: how to unveil Russian Oligarchs
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 3
Mark Hollingsworth (Freelance, England)
Moderator: Julie ZAUGG (L’Hebdo, Switzerland)
One of the most important areas today for any reporter covering Russia is to know what’s going on in the UK — in light of so many of the wealthiest Russian billionaire-oligarchs having moved there (along with their money) over the past decade. Hollingsworth is the author of the recent book “Londongrad: From Russia With Cash — The Inside Story of the Oligarchs.” A regular contributor for major UK newspapers, he wrote on the secretive Boris Berezovsky and the former UK Attorney General embroiled in a suspected sting that resulted in a top anti-mafia lawyer being put on trial in secret in Belarus.

Story-based inquiry: Using hypotheses to frame, sell, organise and compose your project
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 4
Mark Hunter (INSEAD, France), Luuk Sengers (VVOJ, Netherlands)
Moderator: Anna LEMMENMEIER (Schweizer Radio DRS, Switzerland)
Two award-winning investigators and co-authors of UNESCO/ARIJ’s new manual of investigation focus on processes: how to organise your investigation in the most efficient way, forecast a budget, meet your milestones, and defend it in the best way possible to your editor-in-chief.

Corruption, trafficking of young players, welcome to african football before the World Cup
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 18
Eric Mwamba (FAIR, Ivory Coast), Thomas Olukayode (Timbuktu Media, Nigeria)
Moderator: Declan HILL (Freelance,Canada)
These two courageous reporters investigated and exposed some nasty stories about football in Africa: the networks traficking young african footballers, via the platform of football schools and how corruption has systematically taken power in sports, in this case Nigeria.

Investigating Berlusconi
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 15
Claudia Fusani (L’Unità, Italy)
Moderator: Serena TINARI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland)
“Either you leave now, or I’ll do it”. That’s how the italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lately greeted her question at a press conference in Rome. Claudia Fusani will tell us how you do investigate the man which is at the same time a Tycoon, the richest person and the Prime Minister of a country. “Investigating Berlusconi it’s a paradox”, Fusani states. “Because it is, for a journalist, the most easy and the most difficult task at the same time. Many thousands of pages from the legal proceedings where he has been defendant, are on hand as a source. But so far, he was never convicted”.
Claudia works for L’Unità, a daily newspaper that like several other italian media is permanently under pressure. L’Unità’s director Concita De Gregorio lately wrote about it: “within few months, Berlusconi, his family and his closest people have sued us for a total amount of ten millions Euro. You might say See you in Court. The problem is, they never show up there!”. Since Berlusconi became Premier, his solicitors underline that he has a too busy schedule to be available for testimony.

CAR: Access I Beginner Level
Thursday 22.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)

Introduction to MS Access, for beginners. Learn how to sort and select you material.
Friday 23rd April
Keynote Speaker: Seymour Hersh
Friday 23.04 – 09:00 Plenary Conference Room 2
Seymour Hersh
Moderator: Brant HOUSTON (Investigative News Network, USA)
One of the most awarded investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh has accepted the invitation made by the GIJC 2010 to be a keynote speaker in Geneva. Known as early as 1969 to be the journalist who broke the My Lai scandal in Vietnam, Seymour Hersh has more recently exposed the Abu Graib scandal. Hersh has published eight books, including, most recently, “Chain of Command” which was based on his reporting on Abu Ghraib for The New Yorker. It is the first time that Seymour Hersh will speak at a GIJC.

When the game is rigged
Friday 23.04 – 10:45 Plenary Conference Room 2
Declan Hill (Freelance, Canada), Vittorio Malagutti (L’Espresso, Italy), Johnson Fernandez (The Malay Mail, Malaisia)
Moderator: Luigino CANAL (Freelance, Switzerland)
Three months before the World Cup in South Africa, investigations bring to light the latest story to shake the football world: fixed games. Declan’s Hill’s investigations reveal match-fixers and possible rigged matches at the highest football tournaments in the world, including the World Cup itself.

How to make friends while defending consumers
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 3
Luc Mariot, Daniel Stons (Swiss Television, Switzerland) and Rachid Khechana (Al Maouqif, Tunisia)
Moderator: Christian CAMPICHE (Edito, Switzerland)
The defence of consumers is a major historical current in our profession, and in the last decade, it’s been highly succcessful for the Swiss television programme “A Bon Entendeur”. Our colleagues Luc Mariot and Daniel Stons reveal their particular research techniques. The Tunisian journalist, Rachid Khechana, investigated into an export of a vegetable oil by his country. The analyses showed that the oil was adulterated. Following the scandal, the oil was removed of the market.

Off with their heads: the horrors of narco-decapitations. Narration and alternative investigation
Friday 23.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 4
Sergio González Rodríguez (Reforma, Mexico)
Moderator: Marie MAURISSE (Freelance, L’Hebdo, Le Figaro, Switzerland)
After the female homicides in Ciudad Juarez, Mexican journalist Sergio González Rodríguez turned his attention to a macabre phenomenon, decapitations in Mexican drug cartels. From this investigation, he published a terrifying book.

Business models for investigative journalism: Emerging countries
Friday 23.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 18
Evelyn Groenink (FAIR, South Africa), Charles Rukuni (FAIR, Zimbabwe), Shantanu Guha Ray (Tehelka newsmagazine, India)
Moderator: Margo SMIT (Dutch-Flemish Association Of Investigative Journalists)
On a continent notorious for being deprived of resources, the “Forum for African Investigative Reporters” has developed and financed numerous transnational investigations. Can this original model work elesewhere?

When the State is a Family Affair
Friday 23.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 15
Ahmed Benchemsi (Tel Quel – Morocco), Theophilus Abbah (Sunday Trust, Nigeria)
Moderator: Marie AKUFFO (The Crusading Guide, Ghana)
How do we access the secret privileges of those who enjoy family ties to power? Benchemsi and his magazine have published some very thorough investigations on the Moroccan royal family. Abbah has received death threats for his investigation revealing how family dynasties monopolise Nigerian power.

CAR: Using international data for investigative reporting
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 17 CAR
David Donald (The Center for Public Integrity, USA) and Nils Mulvald (Kaas & Mulvad, Denmark)
More and more data from around the world are posted to the internet. And many of these data cross borders, meaning investigative reporters can find local and regional records and stories in data from countries not their own. Some of them come from obvious but hard to use databases kept at the various agencies of the United Nations, World Bank or International Monetary Fund. But others come from unexpected places. Learn where to look for these databases, how to download them and what to look for once you have them. The session will include a tutorial on the Ujima project, a fledgling international journalism website that has made such data and easy-to-use analytical tools available for Africa-based reporters and is expanding its offerings to journalists in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and other regions.

Business models for investigative journalism: the case of the Canard Enchaîné
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Plenary Conference Room 2
Claude Angeli (Le Canard Enchaîné, France)
Moderator: Claude TORRACINTA (Switzerland)
For over a century, this French satirical weekly, with a loyal following of nearly a million readers, has been exposing secrets of the Republic. Its editor-in-chief, Claude Angeli, tells how this reference in investigative journalism has also become a business model, with no advertising.

Football, money and crime: Behind the goalposts
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 3
Renaud Lecadre (Libération) and Stevan Dojcinovic (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Serbia)
Moderator: Alain JOURDAN (Tribune de Genève, Switzerland)
Recognised experts on the lords and financial empire of football, these colleagues explain how to penetrate this close-knit world with its astronomical sums of money and links to organised crime.

Getting into the discret world of finance
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 4
Dirk Schütz (Bilanz,Switzerland)
Moderator: Raymond FRENKEN (European Journalism Centre, Netherlands)
In the heart of a world financial crisis, the world of traders is one of the most secretive. How do you get them to talk? Who are the experts that can decrypt their coded language? Tirk Schüetz tz, a renowned financial journalists, share his methods.

Power and organised crime
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 18
Ramon Alberto Garza (IndigoMedia, Mexico) and Djordje Padejski (Center for investigative reporting, Serbia)
Moderator: Luis VAZQUEZ (Freelance, Mexico)
In a real state of war, between organised crime and drug dealers, how to access information in Mexico. As an ex manager of El Norte and Reforma, Ramon Alberto Garza exposed complicities between mexican drug cartels and political power. So did Djordje Padejski in Serbia.

CAR: Security for investigative Journalists (and everyone else)
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 15 CAR
Sebastian Mondial (DPA / Germany)
Security for daily searches and unique investigative reporting. Securing the Computer for the outside(internet intrusion, snooping) and for searches by no-friendly-third parties (aka snoops,police,theft). What can I store on mobile devices and what not (like iphone). Based mostly on free and open source software. Also: A sidestep to “stealth” investigative reporting (but not dominantly)

CAR: The Hidden Web (2): How to analyse a harddisk
Friday 23.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Guido Rudolphi (NetMon GmbH, Switzerland)
Documents are stored mostly on computer hard drives those days. However, once deleted, many people think they are gone forever. I will show in the presentation how participants can retrieve deleted data from hard drives which may lead to a story. Participants will receive a forensic CD which will enable them in the future to dig for deleted files on harddrives by themselfes.

“Profiling”: how to investigate important public figures
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Plenary Conference Room 2
William Karel (France)
Moderator: Jean LECLERC (Swiss Radio, Switzerland)
Internationally-known documentary filmmaker William Karel is also the author of two investigative documentaries on the Bush family and Margaret Thatcher. He explains how to create a ground-breaking portrait of public figures.

The growing industry of kidnapping
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 3
Anne-Frédérique Widmann (Swiss Television, Switzerland), Hollman Morris (TV Contravia, Colombie)
Moderator: Paola VILLA (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
From the Bétancourt Case to the story of Bulgarian nurses, how can we investigate the highly secretive world of kidnapping, ransoms and diplomatic negotiations? Two crossed experiences from Colombian territory to the hushed corridors of diplomacy.

How to reveal Trafiguras dirty industry, and tell the story on television
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 4
Synnove Bakke, Kjersti Knudsson (NRK Television, Norway)
Moderator: Nadia BONJOUR (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
While the rest of the world was reporting from the Probo Koala waste-scandal in Abidjan, Trafigura rerouted identical waste and sulpherous gasoline to a small tank-facility in Norway. For six months Norway was the main site in Trafiguras dubious production of bad gasoline. Then, in May 2007, a tank exploded. People in the area started falling ill, but nobody could tell what had been in the tank prior to the explosion. Norwegian journalists, Synnøve Bakke and Kjersti Knudsson, started to investigate. In this session they tell how they unveiled the Trafigura-scandal in Norway, and how they disclosed Trafiguras international production of bad gasoline that was illegal to sell in Europe. We will also demonstrate, with video-clips, how we chose to tell this complicated story on television.

Humans for sale
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 18
Habib Ur-Rehman, Kazi Hassan (GEO Television, Pakistan), Franck Nyakairu (Reuters, Uganda)
Moderator: Chrystel DAYER  (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
Two Pakistani journalists investigated the trafficking of humans in Pakistan, they entered Iran illegally and recorded the film with the help to hidden camera. Award-winning Ugandan reporter Frank Nyakairu has followed the trail of human trafficking through Somalia and Sudan.

CAR : Computer Assisted Reporting at no Cost: Free and Open Source Tools
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 15 CAR
Sebastian Mondial (DPA / Germany)
No-Cost-Car solutions for scraping, calculating and reporting. This would feature the use of free/open-source car-software on a low to medium knowledge level. Goal would be to offer one solution for each area with a checklist what to do and to talk to whom if external expertise is needed (in corporate networks and if you need some data put onto servers/hosting).

CAR: Excel II Medium Level
Friday 23.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)
Downloading data into Excel, using simple formulas to format and analyze your material. Basic knowledge of Excel needed.

Secret Services in Putin’s Russia
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Plenary Conference Room 2
Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan (Agentura.ru, Russia), Roman Shleinov (Novaya Gazeta, Russia), Peter Klebnikov (Environmental Defense Fund, USA)
Moderator: Thérèse OBRECHT HODLER (Reporters without Boarders, Switzerland)
Andrei Soldatov is an expert on Russian information services and a chronicler for Ezhednevny Journal. He is also the director of the web site Agentura.ru — an information hub on intelligence agencies and Russian secret services. His colleague Irina Bogoran, also specialises in this field, as well as terrorism and the tightening of controls over society under the pretext of counter-extremism. Roman Shleinov is one of the most renown investigators of Russia and Peter Klebnikov directs the campaign launched following the murder of his brother, Paul, the former editor of Forbes-Russia.

The journalist and the Prosecutor: can they cooperate?
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 3
Dick Marty (Enquêteur Conseil de l’Europe, Switzerland), Altin Raxhimi (Tirana Reporting Collective, Albania), Miroluba Benatova (BTV reporters, Bulgary)
Moderator: François SERGENT (Liberation, France)
Our professions are closely related, and we are very often working on the same themes. But it is difficult to have an interaction and an exchange. What to do? Where are the limits? A practical case study on the trafficking of human organs in Europe.

Slavery in Europe: how to expose the trafficking networks
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 4
Adrian Mogos (Center for Investigative Journalism, Romania). Emmanuel Mayah (The Sun, Nigeria)
Moderator: Anna LEMMENMEIER (Schweizer Radio DRS, Switzerland)
Adrian and his colleagues from the Center for Investigative Journalism in Bucharest led a major investigation which revealed how agricultural workers are exploited by criminal gangs on behalf of a Dutch multinational. Across the Libyan desert, our Nigerian colleague Emmanuel Mayah investigated for 7 months the networks of migrants and frontier runners heading towards Europe.

How confidential newsletters underwrite investigation
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 18
Maurice Botbol (Indigo Publications – France)
Moderator: Alain JOURDAN (Tribune de Genève, Switzerland)
State and Corporate Intelligence in Europe, the US, the Middle-East and Asia; Power Brokers and Business Circles on the African Continent; Mining and Energy Resources in Africa; Political and Business Issues in France : the eight newsletters of this group function according to an original business model. Maurice Botbol, director and founder of this group, unveils his techniques.

When the story is in the open
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 15
Guido Rudolphi (NetMon GmbH, Switzerland)
Moderator: Luigino CANAL (Freelance, Switzerland)
Just how rich is Marc Rich? And Tina Turner? What are Schumacher’s house and assets worth? In most Swiss cantons, you can obtain interesting tax information through a simple phone call.

CAR: Access II Medium Level
Friday 23.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)

Calculations and sums – learn more about analyzing databases and tables in Access. Basic knowledge of Access needed.
Saturday 24th April
Keynote speaker: Stephen Engelberg (Propublica, USA)- Financing the future of investigation:

Old hands, new tricks in the USA
Saturday 23.04 – 09:00 Plenary Conference Room 2
William Buzenberg (Center for Public Integrity, USA), Mark Schapiro (Center for Investigative Reporting USA)
Moderator: Margo SMIT (Dutch-Flemish Association Of Investigative Journalists)
A response to the economic challenges that investigative journalists face. Formed of former big names of the NYT and Wall Street Journal, and equiped with a considerable launching fund, an account of ProPublica’s latest experience. And finally the assessment of those who, over the last couple of years, have found their own business models.

When the police don’t answer
Saturday 24.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 3
Morten Frich  (Berlingske Tidende, Denmark)
Moderator: Nils MULVAD (Kaas & Mulvad, Denmark)
A fascinating investigation led by our Danish colleagues which revealed that all too often, the police is not there when you need them. This work provoked a shock-wave across Denmark and resulted in our fellow members being awared prestigious prizes. And what if this happened where you live?
Investigating paedophile networks
Saturday 24.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 4
Sanjuana Martinez (Freelance, Mexico), Imad Al Rawashdeh (FM Radio, Jordan) et Majdoleen Hasan (ARIJ Network, Jordan)
Moderator: Luis VAZQUEZ (Freelance, Mexico)
The Mexican journalist Sanjuana Martinez received death threats after exposing certain catholic priests that committed acts of paedophilia. The experience of the two Jordanian journalists, Imad Rawashdeh and Madjoleen Hasan, showed through an investigation on sexual and physical violence subjected to the orphans in state-run and private orphanages in Jordan. The report appeared in the independent daily Alghad on Dec. 28, 2009.
“Crowdsourcing”: when the people investigate
Saturday 24.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 18
Jana Wuyts (Het Nieuwsblad, Belgium)
Moderator: Ides DEBRUYNE (The Pascal Decroos Fund for Investigative Journalism)
“Crowdsourcing” is a research method that consists of outsourcing tasks to large networks of Internet users. The presentation of this spectacular project is led by our Belgian colleagues from Het Nieuwsblad.
How to fight animal cruelty with a hidden camera
Saturday 24.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 15
Per Hermanrud (TV4 Sweden, Sweden)
Moderator: Serge MICHEL (Freelance, Switzerland)
Per and his team  exposed the conditions under which the bed linen industry subcontracted its supply of feathers in Eastern Europe. Disguising themselves as buyers, they went and filmed the brutal suffering of thousands of birds, and confronted the major players.
Investigation in practice: Setting up a research cell
Saturday 24.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 17
Stefan Candea (Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, Romania) and Scoop
The pooling of investigative journalists’ data banks makes it possible to accelerate transnational investigations. A demonstration from Stefan Candea, who runs the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism in Bucharest.
Tobacco, terrorism and organised crime
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Plenary Conference Room 2
Mabel Rehnfeldt  (ABC Color, Paraguay), Emmanuel Mayah (the Sun, Nigeria) and David Kaplan (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, USA)
Moderator: Susanne REBER (NPR – USA)
As a result of an impressive transnational investigation, this group of journalists revealed in their latest research how the illicit trade industry financed the Congolese civil war as well as the Talibans in Afghanistan. They present to us their methodology.
Tracking a multinational across borders
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 3
Klaus Ott (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany), Tasos Telloglou (Kathimerini, Greece)
Moderator: Anna LEMMENMEIER (Schweizer Radio DRS, Switzerland)
These two speakers exchanged information, sources and documents on a story about Siemens that shook Europe. They show how to directly cooperate in order to complete a “multinational” investigation.
How China buys the world.  Case Studies: From Congo to Costa Rica; Namibia to Zambia
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 4
Richard Behar (USA), John Grobler (The Namibian, Namibia), Giannina Segnini (La Nacion, Costa Rica)
Moderator: Frédéric KOLLER (Le Temps, Switzerland)
Massive investments in Namibian mines, investments in Costa Rica’s Cooperative; China is everywhere. Our colleagues Grobler and Segnini and awarded journalist Richard Behar, who wrote a compelling investigative piece for “Fast Company”, will show how they accessed the full picture.
How I caught the spammers
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 18
Simon Cox (BBC, UK)
Moderator: David BARSTOW (The New York Times, USA)
“Want a penis enlargement?” Annoyed with one of the largest spamming operations on the web, Simon Cox investigated, on behalf of radio programme BBC 4, a network of spammers that went from London to New Zealand. His investigation led to the arrest of the authors.
Financing the future: investigation in the digital age
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 15
Brant Houston (Investigative News Network, USA)
Brant heads the newly created ‘Investigative News Network’ in the United States, a consortium of non-profit organisations. In this panel, he will present new perspectives for investigative journalism in the digital era.
CAR: Mapping
Saturday 24.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 17 CAR
Mark Horvit (Investigative Reporters and Editors, USA)
Examples of mapping projects that have been done by various media outlets to show the variety of uses
War in the shadows: Covering clandestine war zones when you’re not embedded
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Plenary Conference Room 2
Stephen Grey (Freelance, UK) and Paul Moreira (Premières Lignes, France)
Moderator: David BARSTOW (The New York Times, USA)
Acclaimed investigative reporter, and author of a groundbreaking book on the CIA’s ‘extraordinary rendition’ programme, Stephen Grey went to Afghanistan to investigate the CIA’s secret operations and the Special Forces. He explains how to work when you are not ‘embedded’.
Financing the future of investigation: How TV will pay for your work
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 3
Roch Bozino (Java Films-France) and Stéphane Haumant (Canal +, France)
Moderator: Jean-Philippe CEPPI (Radio Télévision Suisse, Switzerland)
Distributer Roch Bozino is very familiar with the investigative documentary market. It’s a market that is working well for him, and the point is that not everyone is suffering from the economic crisis. How do you choose the topic? Who do you contact? How do you finance your project? For what clients?
Revealing the methods of secret services
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 4
Arturo Torres (El Commercio, Ecuador)
Moderator: Paola VILLA (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
Following an interview with Raul Reyes (FARC’s No 2), Torres revealed how the Colombian secret services managed to infiltrate the FARC during eight years. And Gomez investigated the Autodefensas unidas de Colombia.
When game shows mean big money
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 18
Gilles Delbos (France 2, France)
Moderator: Philippe LUGASSY (Radio Télévision Suisse, Switzerland)
Gilles Delbos, on behalf of French TV channel M6, led a sensitive investigation of the national lottery monopoly, la Française des Jeux. He recounts the multiple pressures that he faced. What to do in such a situation? How to resist? How can you access sensitive information on the world’s lotteries and money games?
Libel Tourism
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 15
Andrew Sullivan (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and David Leigh (The Guardian – UK)
Moderator: Andrew SULLIVAN (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Organized crime figures, oligarchs, corrupt politicians and even celebrities have found a new weapon against intrepid investigative reporting:  libel tourism.  Most reporters have no idea they can be sued in places like London, Singapore and Australia and the judgments against them can be enforced in their own country.  More than 95 percent of the journalists sued in places like London lose because of the high burden of proof. Libel tourism is a growing problem and reporters need to know how to protect themselves. Three experts will explain how libel tourism really works.  They will talk about their own experiences of being sued by dodgy characters and they will tell you what you can do to protect yourself in the global media marketplace.
CAR: Follow the Money: how teams of journalists can cooperate
Saturday 24.04 – 13:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Paul Radu (Stanford University, Romania, Justin Arenstein (FAIR, South Africa)
A look at new collaborative and research techniques for following the money across borders. How to use on-line databases, registrars of companies and software tools for mapping out the complex business structures of organized crime. A deconstruction of the cross-border investigative process from forming the international team to the outcome of the investigation.
How Investigation adds value in a time of crisis
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Plenary Conference Room 2
Gilles Marchand (Swiss Radio Television, Switzerland), Norman Pearlstine (Bloomberg, USA)
Moderator: Raymond FRENKEN (European Journalism Centre, Netherlands)
How can we intergrate investigation into the strategy of media groups? In times of crisis, does it provide added value or is it just an added cost?  A response from two managers in charge of private and public media.
The murder of colleagues. The danger of investigating in Russia
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 3
Roman Shleinov (Novaya Gazeta, Russia), Peter Klebnikov (Environmental Defense Fund, USA), Richard Behar (Project Klebnikov)
Moderator: Thérèse OBRECHT HODLER (Reporters without Boarders, Switzerland)
After Paul Klebnikov was murdered, then Anna Politkovskaïa, an update on the assassination of our two colleagues. With this question: how dangerous is it to be an investigative journalist in today’s Russia?
How to investigate gangs
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 4
Steve Baumann (CapaTV – France), Eric Lemus (Freelance Journalist BBC Mundo / LaPagina.com.sv, El Salvador),  Marcelo MOREIRA (RJTV – Groupe Globo TV – Brazil)
Moderator: Marie MAURISSE (Freelance, L’Hebdo, Le Figaro, Switzerland)
The French-Spanish journalist, Christian Poveda, was murdered by a Salvadorian gang whilst he was investigating in the country. Becoming a major problem in societies, our guests discuss how to get close to such a milieu without it costing your life?
Investigating arms dealers – The Patria case
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 18
Blaz Zgaga (Freelance, Slovenia), Magnus Berglund (Finnish Television, Finland)
Moderator: Nils MULVAD (Kaas & Mulvad, Denmark)
Thanks to transborder collaboration, these two journalists exposed a huge corruption story implicating Finnish defence company Patria and the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa. Millions of bribes has been given in 278 million euros worth arms deal. Dozens of suspects are currently under criminal investigation by Finnish, Austrian and Slovenian police.

European business models for investigative journalism.
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 15
Brigitte Alfter (European Fund for Investigative Journalism, Belgium), Stefan Candea (Center for investigative Journalism, Romania)
Moderator: Margo SMIT (Dutch-Flemish Association Of Investigative Journalists)
Unlike the United States, Europeans do not often have grants or foundations to help fund their investigations. While European media are experiencing the repercussions of the crisis, several investigative journalism funds have been launched as well as new media initiatives. An evaluation of the situation.

CAR: Excel III Advanced Level
Saturday 24.04 – 15:00 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)

Advanced formulas, conditions and parsing text. Basic knowledge of Excel needed.
Keynote speaker: Judge Baltasar Garzón
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Plenary Conference Room2
Baltasar Garzón
Moderator: Marina WALKER GUEVARA (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, USA)
Judge Garzon made it possible, amongst other, to hold ex-dictator Pinochet’s trial, in Chile. He is involved as well in the fight against ETA, the narco trafickers, and the investigation about Silvio Berlusconi. He is very much at the front of investigating Al Qaeda’s networks and warned the Spanish governement just before the Madrid 11 March 2004 attack.

Investigation at and with NGOs
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 3
Tony Sadownichik (Greenpeace), Peter Bouckaert (Human Rights Watch)
Moderator: Mark HUNTER (INSEAD, France)
What if certain NGOs and investigative journalists shared their resources? Often involved on similar investigations, what are the possibilities and limitations of a collaboration? A response from those in charge of research at two of the largest NGOs in the world.

When police knock at the door. The case of France
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 4
Christophe Labbé (Le Point, France), Vittorio de Filippis (Libération, France)
Moderator: Alain JOURDAN (La Tribune de Genève, Switzerland)
How to protect yourself from search-warrants? How to work in these conditions, and protect your sources and documents? A response from two journalists who have experienced first-hand Sarkozy’s repression methods.

Extracting scandals from the Mining Industry
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 18
Mary Akuffo (the Crusading Guide, Ghana), Annie Mpalume (Freelance photographer, Zimbabwe) John Grobler (The Namibian, Namibia)
Moderator: Vivienne WALT (Time Magazine, USA)
Mary received numerous awards for exposing the working conditions in Western African mines. Annie was arrested for photo-documenting diamond mines. John has been reporting for many years on the mining industry in his country, a big producer of uranium and diamonds.

The Truth about Tax Havens
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 15
David Leigh (The Guardian – UK), Santiago Fascetto (La Prensa – Panama)
Moderator: Raymond FRENKEN (European Journalism Centre, Netherlands)
Financial crisis and fiscal war, the investigation into tax havens demands the competencies and techniques of specialists. David Leigh has published in the Guardian a series of important articles and investigation. Santiago Fascetto is directing the investigation section of La Prensa.

CAR: Access III Advanced Level
Saturday 24.04 – 16:30 Conference Room 17 CAR
Helena Bengtsson (Sveriges Television, Sweden)

Joining databases – how to find connections between tables. Basic knowledge of Access needed.
Sunday 25th April
Keynote speaker: Munthader Al Zaïdi (New Tv cenal, Iraq)

From prison to glory: The story of the shoe-thrower
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00Plenary Conference Room 2
Moderator: Olivier KOHLER (Radio Télévision Suisse, Switzerland)
Al Arabya’s journalist, Montazer Al Zaïdi, unleashed various reactions after he famously threw his shoe at George Bush. What we may not realise is that Montazer is also a respectable and brave journalist, who has worked in-depth on the suffering of Iraqi civilians.

When the bank is in the Church
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 3
Leo Sisti (Espresso – Italy), Giannina Segnini (La Nacion, Costa Rica)
Moderator: François SERGENT (Libération, France)
How do the faithful become the flock that’s fleeced? Leo Sisti revealed the financial workings of the Vatican. Giannina Segnini discovered how the Roman Catholic Church in Costa Rica, had created, practically clandestinely, a bank.

Investigating Water Pollution
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 4
Hisham Allam and Dareen Farghaly (Almasry Alyoum, Egypte)
Moderator: Vivienne WALT (Time Magazine, USA)
How the mythic Nile river was heavily polluted by industrial waste, and how our Egyptian colleagues exposed it.

“Mama, I’ve been spun” And how to avoid it
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 18
Luc Hermann (Premières Lignes, France)
Moderator: Marlène MAGLOIRE (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
Luc Hermann, ex-producer of Canal Plus and producer for Premières Lignes, is a specialist in “spin doctors”. He explains how to avoid falling into their traps.

Note-taking, speed reading and record-keeping
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 15
Luuk Sengers (VVOJ, Netherlands)
It may sound mundane, but you may not be doing it in the most effective way, and time is the only resource you don’t ever recover. Learn how to streamline some of the most demanding and common tasks in our jobs.

CAR: Data-driven journalism: Can digging into data help to finance investigative journalism?
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 17 CAR
Mirko Lorenz (European Journalism Centre (EJC))
The talk provides some new perspectives on data mining and visualization, from the perspective of investigative journalism. Data-sets are increasingly becoming accessible and can be analyzed with tools that where not available at a all just three years ago. Combining the new access to data with the distribution power of the world wide web could change the outlook for journalism in many ways. Especially investigative journalism could gain in terms of new formats and long time coverage. The talk will try to provide an overview about recent developments and real-life examples how data can be used for ongoing investigation, provide examples and discuss the skills needed to use data.

Reporting on Tasers: Using science and data to cut through the hype
Sunday 25.04 – 10:45 Plenary Conference Room 2
Sandra Bartlett  (CBC Radio News), Frédéric Zalac (Enquête Radio-Canada)
Moderator: François SERGENT (Libération, France)
The weapon is sold around the world as an alternative to the gun. But how is it being used in your country?  Our colleagues from Canada have tracked stun gun use, checked out the science and even tested Taser electrical output. Find out how you can do the same.

How to investigate without putting your sources in danger
Sunday 25.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 3
Mohamed Ahmady (Al Ghad, Yemen), Kipchumba Some (The Standard, Kenya), Dilrukshi Handunnetti (Sri Lanka)
Moderator: Nathaniel DAUDRICHT (Alkarama, EMERglobal, Switzerland)
Mohamed Al Ahmady works on Al Qaida, in dangerous and extreme  conditions, putting his live at risk. How do you investigate without losing your life, or the lives of others?

Rich & Famous: investigating the “People” in your country
Sunday 25.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 4
Tuomo Pietiiläinen (Helsingin Sanomat, Finland), Jon Beveridge (The Sunday Times)
Tuomo Pietilainen will explain in detail how he collected sensitive data on more than 5000 richest people in Finland. Such list is also a hit, each year, for The Sunday Times, as our colleague Jon Beveridge will explain.

Environmental investigation: The case of medical waste
Sunday 25.04 – 10:45 Plenary Conference Room 18
Mona Iraqi (ARIJ, Egypt) and  Rana Sabbagh (ARIJ, Jordan)
Moderator: Amel BEJI (GIJC2010, Switzerland)
In Egypt, recycling medical waste from hospitals is a lucrative clandestine business. Our colleagues tell how they exposed the business and forced the Ministry of Health to stop it.

Historical investigation: how to find a living memory
Sunday 25.04 – 09:00 Conference Room 15
Duc Tue Dang (Viet Nam)
Moderator: Carole VANN (InfoSud, Switzerland)
Far from the world headlines, our colleagues from Vietnam have documented the history of the war in their country by finding local and Vietnamese veterans and crossing their views.

CAR: Beyond Google 2010
Margot Williams (Former NY Times and Former Washington Post, USA)
Friday 23.04 – 10:45 Conference Room 17 CAR
Finding public records information online Neither government transparency initiatives nor Google’s reach have yet provided tools for comprehensive search and retrieval of the information maintained in public records databases like court records, corporation filings and property records. Investigative researcher Margot Williams will help with strategies for finding and searching databases in online courthouses, agencies and archives. Tips for avoiding gaps and pitfalls and for using commercial databases efficiently will be handed out as well as a hands-on tour of the best sites and service.