AIJC 2018: Full Schedule

Over 60 sessions, more than 70 speakers in three days of training, learning new skills, sharing stories and networking with most of the continent’s most interesting journalists.
Note: It is essential you register online, and reserve your space in sessions which have limited space.

7:30am SAST

Monday October 29, 2018 7:30am - 7:30am SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

7:45am SAST

Registration

Monday October 29, 2018 7:45am - 9:00am SAST
Registration Marquee , Wits Science Stadium

Plenary

9:00am SAST

Welcoming and programming outline

Speakers

Anton Harber

Conference Director, African Investigative Journalism Conference

Anton Harber, the Caxton Professor of Journalism (Adjunct) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, has a 35-year career in journalism, media management and training. He was founder-editor of the anti-apartheid newspaper the Weekly Mail (now the Mail & Guardian), Editor-in-Chief... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 9:00am - 9:15am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

about Anton Harber is the Caxton Professor of Journalism (Adjunct) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, has a 35-year career in journalism, media management and training. He was founder-editor of the anti-apartheid newspaper the Weekly Mail (now the Mail & Guardian) for 12 years, Editor-in-Chief of South Africa’s leading television news channel, eNCA, and chief executive of Kagiso Media. He is a board member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network and a former chair of the SA Conference of Editors and the National Association of Broadcasters. He has served on the boards of the Freedom of Expression Institute, the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, East Coast Radio and Radio Jacaranda, inter alia. He is the convenor of judges for the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism and has served as a judge on the Sanlam Financial Journalism Awards, the Vodacom South African Journalism Awards and the CNN/Multichoice African Journalism Awards. Harber wrote Diepsloot, and the The Gorilla in the Room. He co-edited the first two editions of The A–Z of South African Politics, What is Left Unsaid: Reporting the South African HIV Epidemic, and Troublemakers: The Best of SA’s Investigative Journalism.

9:15am SAST

Keynote: The Cambridge Analytica Story

Last year we had our worst moment at Channel 4 News where we were slammed and publicly rebuked by the regulator after a bad mistake. This year we had one of our finest with Cambridge Analytica. I will look at the remit of Channel 4 News, how it is regulated and how important it is in the world right now given the assault on journalism.

Speakers

Ben De Pear

Editor, Channel 4 News, UK

Ben de Pear is the Editor of Channel 4 News - one of the UK’s main news and current affairs television shows.He began his journalism career on the Staines and Ashford News in Surrey as an intern. He joined Sky News in 1994 and went on to become foreign producer based in London 1996-2000. From 2000-2005 he was based in J... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 9:15am - 10:15am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

10:15am SAST

Coffee break

Monday October 29, 2018 10:15am - 10:45am SAST
Lawn

Break

10:45am SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: 2017 Global Shining Light winner: Inside the massive extra-judicial killings in Nigeria

This two-month investigation that won the 2017 Global Shining Light Award uncovered multiple mass graves, lending support to allegations that police and military forces have been targeting a minority ethnic group for abuse and extrajudicial killings. Following reports that included photo evidence, human rights groups called for an independent probe and the army announced another investigation. "The judges were particularly impressed w/ the solo investigations that were conducted with minimal resources amid real threats & intimidation."

Moderators

Dapo Olorunyomi

Publisher, Premium Times

DAPO OLORUNYOMI is currently the Publisher of Premium Times, www.premiumtimesng.com, West Africa's leading investigative news platform based in Abuja, Nigeria.Prior to this, he served as policy director and chief of staff at Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agency, the Economic... Read More →

Speakers

Emmanuel Mayah

Editor, Satellite Times, Nigeria

Emmanuel Mayah is a multi-award winning reporter whose strength is undercover work. He has exposed vehicle smuggling rings, factories with bad employment conditions, international Nigerian crime syndicates and corrupt government links to foreign investors in his country. This year... Read More →

Musikilu Mojeed

Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer, Premium Times

Musikilu Mojeed, Nigeria, is an award-winning investigative journalist and editor-in-chief at Nigeria's Premium Times. Mojeed was a 2012 Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and Ford Foundation International Fellow at The City University of New York. He was a jury member... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

10:45am SAST

Turning Data into Stories 1/3: Getting to grips with data

In this interactive, hands-on session we'll cover the basics of working with data. We'll introduce you an easy-to-use tool – spreadsheets – that turns difficult data into just another source for your story.

Speakers

Tegan Bedser

Digital Media Specialist, SABC News Online

Tegan Bedser is a Digital Media Specialist at SABC Digital News. She has previously worked at the Tiso Blackstar Group for websites such as Times LIVE, Sowetan LIVE and later DispatchOnline where she was part of the team that won CNN African Journalist Awards for digital journalism... Read More →

Sibusiso Biyela

Science writer, ScienceLink/Scibraai

I am a passionate science writer who uses digital tools to translate complex South African research.

Monday October 29, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

10:45am SAST

The ABCs of investigative journalism

Need an investigative idea? Have one but not sure how to pull it off? The dynamic Cheryl W. Thompson, a veteran of The Washington Post, will offer quick-hit and in-depth investigative ideas, and show you how to gather relevant documents, cultivate sources and land key interviews, create databases and stay organised from beginning to end.

Speakers

Cheryl W. Thompson

Associate Professor and Contributing Investigative Reporter, The Washington a Post.”, George Washington University, USA

Cheryl W. Thompson is an associate professor of journalism at George Washington University and writes investigative stories for The Washington Post. She came to The Post in 1997, and has written extensively about law enforcement, political corruption, and guns, including an investigative... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

10:45am SAST

#GuptaLeaks and the power of cooperation and competition

GuptaLeaks was the South African story of 2017 which led to the downfall of President Jacob Zuma. The leak of a massive trove of emails from Zuma's allies, the Gupta brothers, set off two teams of journalists chasing down the stories hidden in them. To handle the quantity of data, they had to form cross-media teams, but the two teams competed against each other as well.

Speakers

Pieter-Louis Myburgh

Author/Journalist, Freelance

Pieter-Louis is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of The Republic of Gupta – A Story of State Capture. His investigative focus has fallen on widespread malfeasance at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), dubious projects run by South Africa’s... Read More →

Sam Sole

Managing Partner, amaBhungane, South Africa

Sam has been a journalist since 1986. He has worked for the investigative magazine Noseweek, served as political editor of the Sunday Tribune, and joined the Mail & Guardian as investigative journalist in 2002. In 2003 he won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year award for first reporting... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Learn from the Masters

10:45am SAST

Global Resources: Tips and Tools from GIJN to Take Your Reporting Across Borders

Stories quickly cross borders in this age of globalization. Crime, corruption, the food we eat, the medicine we take -- today much of it has roots in other countries. Here's how to follow the trails of documents, data and sources overseas. Experts from the Global Investigative Journalism Network will give a guided tour of GIJN's online Resource Center, with over 500 tip sheets, videos and reporting guides. Find out why this free resource is used by journalists in 100 countries per day -- and how to link up with your colleagues across Africa and around the world.

Speakers

Raymond Mpubani

Africa Editor, GIJN

Raymond Mpubani is the Africa Editor at the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), an international association of 155 nonprofit organisations in 68 countries that support, promote, and produce investigative journalism. His role as Africa Editor is to strengthen and build... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Resources and tools

12:00pm SAST

Online Mapping - How to use this valuable tool

This session introduces non-GIS users to the concept of mapping data as a method of data visualisation. The course covers basic principles of mapping data as a visualisation tool. The primary goal of the course is to enable users to get their data onto a map with open-source online mapping tools to create, geocode and display geographic data.
You will learn to:

Create, geocode and display data in a geographic environment
Explain in which context map visualisations are appropriate
Access & apply the required data formats for the relevant mapping applications
Utilise open-source online mapping applications to map geographic data
Explore different map visualisation techniques and to understand which technique applies to which data format
Identify the power of map visualisation as an element of storytelling
Identify the unique ability of data mapping to highlight trends in data

Speakers

Adi Eyal

Director, OpenUp – Codebridge

Trained as a computer scientist and founder of OpenUp (formerly Code for South Africa), a civic technology organisation promoting the use of data and technology to drive social change. Through OpenUp he launched South Africa’s first data journalism academy which sought to train... Read More →

Lailah Ryklief

Trainer, Open Up, South Africa

Lailah Ryklief works in curriculum development and provides training and mentoring through OpenUp's Data Literacy Programme (previously Code for South Africa). Lailah was also a part of OpenUp's Data Journalism Academy where she previously held the title of Newsroom Developer. With... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

12:00pm SAST

#GuptaLeaks: Chasing down the fake sites and bots

The team who exposed the Gupta bots and "fake" sites explain how they did it, and the tools they used. They'll also talk about similar social media mapping projects they've done, or are currently working on.

Speakers

Kyle Findlay

Data Scientist

For his day job, Kyle runs a data science team for an international market research company. By night, he brings a data scientist's eye to bear on data about South Africa in order to tell stories that make sense of this crazy place. He has been measuring South African Twitter since... Read More →

Andrew Fraser

Owner, Fraser Strategic

Andrew Fraser is an independent strategic marketing consultant by day, but in his spare time he follows his passion: identifying and tracking computer-assisted propaganda and social media misinformation networks. His investigation of the “Gupta-bot” network, along with other researchers... Read More →

Jean le Roux

Investigative Journalist, News24

Jean is an investigative journalist with News24, focusing on digital and open source investigations. A law graduate, Jean cut his investigative teeth as a senior investigator at the Public Protector and specialist analyst for the Financial Services Board before 'stumbling upon' the... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

12:00pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: The UN Child Abuse Story

Investigating a complex, multi-faceted international scandal is a considerable challenge in itself. Doing it as a freelancer in one of the world's poorest, most unstable and violent countries could make the job almost impossibly daunting. Journalist Inna Lazareva has reported on the controversial sex-abuse allegations involving UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic three times: independently for The Guardian and as a field producer with two separate teams of investigative journalists (Swedish Television’s ‘Mission: Investigate', US’s PBS Frontline and UK’s Channel 4). Each mission involved a different format, a different journalistic tool-kit, and ultimately - a different angle to the same harrowing story.

She will talk about the complexities, challenges and opportunities in researching these stories, and about developing the professional flexibility required to explore the different aspects of the story.

Speakers

Inna Lazareva

Correspondent, Thomson Reuters, UK/Cameroon

Inna Lazareva is a British journalist and Africa Correspondent with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Based in Cameroon, Inna covers humanitarian, resilience, trafficking and other issues across the African continent. Together with European and African colleagues, she has worked on... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

12:00pm SAST

West Africa Leaks

This is the largest collaboration of journalists from the region that brought together a dozen reporters to dig into the secretive financial affairs of some of the region's most powerful politicians, business moguls and corporations. Journalists from 11 countries, working in three different languages, explored almost 30 million complex leaked documents from Swiss Leaks, the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers and more. In this session, you will get tips for your own cross-border investigations and learn how to manage regional, cross-border projects. Reporters from West Africa Leaks will discuss how to use global collaborations to internationalise your reporting and your impact, how to manage multilingual teams of reporters, find extra sources of data, report on sensitive financial stories with impact, how to avoid legal pitfalls and how to protect your reporting and yourself from threats and editorial interference.

Speakers

Alloycious David

The News Newspaper, Liberia

Alloycious David is an award-winning investigative Liberian journalist and fixer for several international media companies. He has extensively probed land grabs by multi-national companies in Liberia, and has covered other beats such as natural resources, the environment and politics... Read More →

Maxime Koami Domegni

Investigative Journalist, Togo

"Maxime Koami DOMEGNI, is a Togolese award-winning investigative journalist. He has participated in various local and international investigative projects such as Panama Papers, Bahama Leaks, Plunder Route to Panama, West Africa Leaks, etc. He is chairman of Togolese Investigative... Read More →

Will Fitzgibbon

Reporter, ICIJ

Will Fitzgibbon is a senior reporter and the Africa Coordinator with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a non-profit news organisation based in Washington DC. He coordinates ICIJ's partnerships with journalists in Africa and the Middle East. Will has... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Learn from the Masters

1:00pm SAST

Lunch

Monday October 29, 2018 1:00pm - 2:00pm SAST
Marquee

Break

2:00pm SAST

Investigating Science

To expose government corruption, journalists wade through tender documents and company directorships. But how do you investigate scientific corruption?

Speakers

Katrin Langhans

Investigative Journalist, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

Katrin Langhans, born in 1987, works as a revelation journalist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. She was part of the team that researched the Panama and Paradise Papers, reconstructed the rampage in the Olympia shopping center in Munich with Twitter data, and researched the business... Read More →

Mia Malan

Editor, Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism

Monday October 29, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

2:00pm SAST

Touching a raw nerve: Tackling land issues

Speakers

Alloycious David

The News Newspaper, Liberia

Kago Komane

Investigative Reporter, Ink Centre, Botswana

Kago Komane is an investigative reporter for the INK Centre for Investigative Journalism, a non-profit news agency in Botswana. She has over five years of experience as a print journalist. She has exposed many social ills in Botswana, including human rights injustices, corruption... Read More →

Lucas Ledwaba

Journalist, Mukurukuru Media, South Africa

Lucas Ledwaba is the editor of Mukurukuru Media. He writes on land, mining, social and human rights issues. His work has appeared in the Mail & Guardian, City Press, Business Day, Good Governance Africa, Scottish Heritage Magazine and numerous other publications.He is also the author... Read More →

Zanele Mji

Journalist, amaBhungane, South Africa

Zanele Mji is an investigative journalist at amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, and she just loves a good story. She produces human-centred, multi-media stories about people living through unfair social and economic systems. Before joining amaBhungane in 2017, Zanele... Read More →

Aunício da Silva

Editor, Ikweli Newspaper, Mozambique Centre for Investigative Reporting

Aunício da Silva is owner and editor-in-chief of Ikweli newspaper in Nampula, northern Mozambique, and one of the founders of Center of Investigative Journalism (the first and unique center in Mozambique).He started his career at Zambezia daily newspaper and then worked at Canalmoz... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

2:00pm SAST

Kickstarting a data journalism project

You finally have that spreadsheet or database that you've long sought. Now what? How do you turn globs of data into an investigation that people will want to read.
This session will take you through the process of acquiring the data you want to interviewing and fact-checking the information to writing the final product. The panel will offer best practices for doing data projects, highlight good investigations using data as well as ones that didn't quite pull it off.

Speakers

Ron Nixon

Homeland Security Correspondent, New York Times, USA

Ron Nixon is The New York Times’s homeland security correspondent. He is based in the Washington bureau, where he covers border and aviation security, immigration, cybercrime and cyber security, and violent extremism. Mr. Nixon is a Marine Corps infantry veteran who saw combat... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

2:00pm SAST

10 top tools for investigations

A veteran investigator highlights the tools she has found most useful for her work.

Speakers

Miranda Patrucic

Editor in Chief, OCCRP

Miranda Patrucic joined OCCRP in 2006 and was promoted to editor in chief in 2023. She oversees editorial operations for OCCRP’s global newsroom, including 50+ editors across six continents and the production of OCCRP’s investigations and content.Patrucic was one of the first... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

2:00pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Wole Soyinka Award Winner 'Fisayo Siyombo

Soyombo will talk about the story that won him the Wole Soyinka Award: it focused on child mortality and corruption in the care for displaced persons in northern Nigeria - people who are refugees in their own countries. See the story here: https://www.thecable.ng/undercover-investigation-borno-children-dying-idp-camps-foodstuffs-disappearing-sema-store

Speakers

'Fisayo Soyombo

Editor and Investigative Journalist, Consultancy

Investigative journalist ‘Fisayo Soyombo was pioneer Editor of TheCable. He is also a former Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and the immediate past Managing Editor of SaharaReporters.Soyombo believes journalism is not just a profession but... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

3:00pm SAST

Coffee break

Monday October 29, 2018 3:00pm - 3:30pm SAST
Lawn

Break

3:30pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Pastor Ray - Exposing child abuse

The over-a-decade-long quest by missionaries and one investigative journalist to get Mozambican authorities to act against an orphanage director abusing children

Speakers

Estacio Valoi

Freelance

Estacio Valoi is a Mozambican investigative journalist (print, broadcaster, documentary, photography ) who assists Oxpeckers with transnational investigations into environmental problems in the sub-Saharan region. As a member of the African Investigative Publishing Collective, he... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

3:30pm SAST

Migrants and Refugees

Migrants and refugees have become a pressing topic not only for journalists but for politicians, police, and the general public. The number of international migrants reached 244 million in 2015, up a striking 41% since 2000, according to UN data. That's enough people to make up the fifth most populous country on Earth.
Journalists around the world are reporting on this mass movement of people, often giving it a human face. There is no shortage of great investigative stories to do: deadly smuggling routes that have killed thousands, the fate of prostitution and forced labor that await many, and misspent or misused aid money. This is an issue likely to grow even greater in importance. If you want to know where the stories are and how to report on them, this session is for you.

Speakers

Ron Nixon

Homeland Security Correspondent, New York Times, USA

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

3:30pm SAST

Dealing with Massive Amounts of Data

When your massive dataset stops Excel in its tracks you need to pull out the big guns. This session explores how to use command line tools to process multi-gigabyte files and to extract key information from them. Prepare to get your hands dirty. This very worthwhile session will give you ninja skills but is not for the faint of heart.

Speakers

Adi Eyal

Director, OpenUp – Codebridge

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

3:30pm SAST

Exposing pseudo science and predatory journals

Katrina Langhans was one of a group of reporters from Germany, Austria, India and several other countries to undertake a nine-month investigation into the world of pseudo-science. They revealed that hundreds of thousands of scientists around the world have published studies in self-described scientific journals that don’t provide traditional quality checks for quality and publish the biggest nonsense for financial gain. High-ranked scientists had published in these journals, as did large companies who were promoting their products and dubious businessman who used these pseudo-journals to promote unproven treatment of cancer as science.

This team of reporters analyzed the data of five of the most relevant pseudo-journals and showed that these publishers are willing to publish even computer-generated nonsense for money.

Katrin Langhans from the investigative team of the Süddeutsche Zeitung will give insights into the research and explain how one can search for scientists, companies and businessman that published in predatory journals in countries all over the world.

Speakers

Katrin Langhans

Investigative Journalist, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

3:30pm SAST

Water Project Meeting

Anyone interesting in conributing to the global water project (announced at the first plenary) should come to this meeting.

Speakers

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein

Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University, USA

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein is an investigative journalist, author and assistant professor at Grand Valley State University. His work has been published in The New Yorker and the Center for Public Integrity, among many outlets, and has earned national and international recognition from... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Networking

3:30pm SAST

Digital Security: How to communicate safely

The session will focus on the best digital security tools that you can use to protect your communication via email, instant messaging, video- and audio calls. It gives you a wide toolkit for you to talk safely to your sources and give them protection.

Speakers

Jorge Luis Sierra

Investigative Journalist, Latinointx, Mexico/USA

Jorge Luis Sierra (@latinointx) is an investigative journalists who focuses on the intersection of digital technology, investigative journalism and cybersecurity. Jorge develops risk assessment tools and crowd-sourced maps to track crime, corruption and attacks on journalists. An... Read More →

Monday October 29, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Security

5:00pm SAST

Book Launch: Southern African Muckrakers

This anthology of investigative reporting includes 49 case studies from nine countries and stretches the history back over 300 years to trace a rich history of this journalism and the enormous impact it has had on the region. Many of the 35 expert contributors to the book will be present.

Speakers

Anton Harber

Conference Director, African Investigative Journalism Conference

Monday October 29, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

African Stories

6:30pm SAST

Networking braai

Dinner, drinks and a chance to mingle

Monday October 29, 2018 6:30pm - 9:00pm SAST
Wits Club

Networking

9:00am SAST

Keynote: Claire Baldwin - Duterte's War: tracking police killing squads in the Philippines

A charismatic politician. A president who calls for killings. A man who thinks drug users should die. Meet Rodrigo Duterte. Soon after he was elected president of the Philippines in May 2016 and launched his war on drugs, the bodies started appearing in the streets. Clare and her colleagues won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for a brutal series of stories that exposed how the drug war killings - by the Philippine National Police, including a commander surnamed "death" - were executions. Police in countries such as the Philippines operate in a bubble of impunity. Stories can puncture that bubble, but they have to be impossible to contradict. Clare will explain how she and her colleagues built their investigations around official police reports, security camera footage, forensic analysis of photographs, interviews with unexpected experts, Facebook, and, of course, the police themselves - who as one officer told Clare, have "special kill skills."

Speakers

Clare Baldwin

Special Correspondent, Thomson Reuters, Hong Kong

Clare Baldwin is a Special Correspondent for Reuters. She won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for her work with her colleagues on the Philippine drug war. She has also written about the Myanmar military, cyber thieves, pro-democracy protests, sanction-busting and government... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

10:00am SAST

Making Newsrooms Sustainable - money, audiences and commerce (Half-day workshop)

Whether you are a running a journalism start up, or whether you are working in an established team or network of investigative journalists, if you are looking for ideas and advice on how to pay the bills, this workshop is for you. The Global Investigative Journalism Network and the Journalism and Media Lab at Wits have brought together a team of advisors who will look at options for fundraising, for getting revenues from audiences and for advertising and sponsorships.

This will be a practical and interactive workshop so bring your ideas and experiences, questions and problems. You can also reserve one-on-one time with the experts afterwards.

Speakers

Stefaans Brümmer

Managing Partner, amaBhungane, South Africa

Stefaans is an old hand at investigations. He cut his reporting teeth at The Argus in Cape Town during the tumultuous early 1990s; then joined the uppity national weekly Mail & Guardian as South African democracy dawned in April 1994.The Mail was his launch pad for award-winning investigations... Read More →

Bridget Gallagher

Principal, Gallagher Group

As a career fundraiser for more than 20 years, and a solopreneur/entrepreneur building and running her own business for the last dozen of those, Bridget thinks a lot about sustainability, growth, and money. The skills that serve Bridget as a fundraiser have also helped her thrive... Read More →

Anne Koch

Program Director, Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)

Anne Koch worked as a broadcast journalist and executive for more than 20 years, mostly for the BBC, before becoming a director at anti-corruption NGO Transparency International. Her award-winning career in BBC journalism included service as deputy director of the English World Service... Read More →

Indra de Lanerolle

Director, Jamlab, Wits University

Indra de Lanerolle is the director of the Journalism and Media Lab at Tshimolong Digital Innovation Precinct in Johannesburg, Africa's first journalism and media accelerator and innovation lab. He has published research on civil society use of technologies in accountability, on the... Read More →

John-Allan Namu

CEO & Investigative Journalist, Africa Uncensored

John-Allan Namu is an investigative journalist and the CEO of Africa Uncensored, an investigative and in-depth journalism production house in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa Uncensored’s ambition is to be the premier source of unique, important and incisive journalism. Prior to co-founding... Read More →

Mohamed Nanabhay

MDIF / Mozilla Ventures

In addition to sitting on MDIF’s Investment Committee, Mohamed is the Managing Partner of Mozilla Ventures, a first-of-its-kind impact venture fund that invests in early-stage startups pushing the internet — and the tech industry — in a better direction. He is a digital media... Read More →

Dapo Olorunyomi

Publisher, Premium Times

Alec Saelens

Researcher, Membership Puzzle Project, UK

Alec Saelens is a Membership Puzzle Project researcher. Previously he co-founded and spent four years at the Bristol Cable, a UK based local media cooperative that has gained a reputation in the field for its impactful journalism, community engagement, and pioneering business model... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:00am - 1:00pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Media Sustainability

10:15am SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Cracking organised crime in South Africa

Crime is routine news in South Africa, but these two journalists have written in-depth investigations into the country's crime syndicates. This session is a conversation between best-sellling author and well-known radio journalist Mandy Weiner, who tackled a notorious Joburg mobster in her book Minister of Crime: An Underworld Explored, and Anneliese Burgess, who probed the phenomenon of cash-in-transit robberies in her book, Heist.

Speakers

Anneliese Burgess

Author, Freelancer, South Africa

Anneliese Burgess is a former specialist producer for the Truth Commission Special Report and a founder member of Special Assignment, the SABC's flagship current affairs show. She has just published a book: Heist! South Africa's cash in transit epidemic uncovered

Mandy Wiener

Best Selling Author, South Africa

MANDY WIENER lives and works in Johannesburg. She is one of South Africa’s best-known and most credible journalists and authors. Wiener worked as a multi-award-winning reporter with Eyewitness News from 2004 until 2014 and is currently a freelancer. Ministry of Crime is her fourth... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

African Stories

10:15am SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: How cough syrup is creating a generation of addicts in Nigeria

Meet the investigative journalist who used the pain of an addicted brother to expose the illicit trade in codeine cough syrup in Nigeria. Reporting for Africa Eye, the BBC's new investigative journalism arm, Ruona was the central figure of Sweet Sweet Codeine.
The documentary, which has racked over two million views on YouTube, spanned months of undercover stings by the Africa Eye team, involving dangerous deals with cartels in three famous pharmaceutical companies. Within 24 hours of its broadcast across Africa, the Nigerian government announced a ban on codeine syrups, commenced investigation on the companies, and is still recalling millions of bottles of cough syrup.
Hear Ruona Meyer discuss her work, as well as the challenges and advantages of being a female investigative journalist in Nigeria, the same country where her father was shot to death in 2006 for being a journalist.

Speakers

Ruona Meyer

Freelancer, Nigeria

Ruona Meyer is an award-winning multimedia journalist with 15 years’ experience, across print, radio, wire agency and digital outlets across Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK. She won the Reuters Niall Prize For Young African Journalists in 2010, and the Nigerian Investigative Reporter... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

10:15am SAST

Data tools for the non-data savvy

An introduction to a host of easy-to-use, data rich tools like Wazimap, Youth Explorer, Municipal Money, Vulekamali, Open Gazettes and lots more that are great for research and reporting

Speakers

Ray Joseph

Freelance Journalist, South Africa

Data tools for the non data savvy pdf

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

10:15am SAST

Learn Python for Data Journalism

Speakers

Siyabonga Africa

Program Officer, South Africa Media Innovation Program

Siyabonga Africa is the program officer of the South Africa Media Innovation Program. Innovation is something that has been an interest of his since he began my media career at the University of Pretoria and right through to his masters studies in the US.He has dabbled in data-driven... Read More →

Learn Python for Data Journalism Day 1 pptx

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

10:15am SAST

Become part of the mojo revolution: Mobile journalism workshop 1/2

How to use advanced search tools and techniques to find and monitor key sources and content to enhance your journalism.

Speakers

Michael Salzwedel

Co-Founder & Trainer, Social Weaver, South Africa

Michael Salzwedel is a co-founder and trainer at Social Weaver, a digital media training company working with newsrooms, small businesses and NGOs in South Africa. Previously he was a Digital Media Specialist at SABC News and New Media Editor at Grocott’s Mail.

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

10:15am SAST

High Risk Stories: How to stay safe (The Battlefield Simulator)

This is a session for those working in conflict zones, but also for journalists covering protests and riots. This session will focus on the skills needed for investigative journalists to reduce physical risk. How do you analyse threats, vulnerabilities and strengths and how do you behave when crossing checkpoints, covering demonstrations, riots and public unrest. This session includes a battlefield simulator and physical security training.

Speakers

Jorge Luis Sierra

Investigative Journalist, Latinointx, Mexico/USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

10:15am SAST

Master class: Ben de Pear on telling the story for television

Tuesday October 30, 2018 10:15am - 11:15am SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

11:15am SAST

Coffee break

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:15am - 11:45am SAST
Lawn

Break

11:45am SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Checkpoint takes you into illegal gold mines

Filming a crime in progress raises many ethical and legal questions. Using compelling personal narratives Checkpoint’s 30 minute documentary on illegal mining showed the conditions under which illegal miners live and work underground.

Speakers

Nkepile Mabuse

Executive Producer, Checkpoint, eNCA, South Africa

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:45am - 12:45pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

11:45am SAST

Building socially conscious, narrative-rich dashboards using TableauPublic (for exploration, analysis, and publication)

*Please note that TableauPublic is the open source version of Tableau, a commercial data processing and visualisation tool.

We can use data for storytelling when we understand how to interrogate the information contained within a dataset. Technology has made data a tangible artefact, which can be worked with in different ways, shaped in different forms, and seen from different perspectives.

This workshop exposes participants to using data visualization as a platform for for mining, exploration and analysis, as well as setting up dashboards that are designed for end-user consumption guided by a narrative-rich user journey.

Requirements: Participants should have pre-installed TableauPublic on their laptops. The workshop is structured as a guided tutorial. The data and tutorial will be made available to participants at the onset of the session, which they can use to follow throughout the workshop.

Speakers

Lailah Ryklief

Trainer, Open Up, South Africa

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:45am - 12:45pm SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

11:45am SAST

Turning Data into Stories 2/3: Sorting News from Noise

During this session we'll walk you through the powerful and simple ways spreadsheets allow us to sift through and visualise data in order to find the patterns and trends behind data-driven news stories. Attend this session if you've attended session 1.

Speakers

Tegan Bedser

Digital Media Specialist, SABC News Online

Sibusiso Biyela

Science writer, ScienceLink/Scibraai

I am a passionate science writer who uses digital tools to translate complex South African research.

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:45am - 12:45pm SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

11:45am SAST

Become part of the mojo revolution: Mobile journalism workshop 2/2

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly competent and convenient as tools for content creation and distribution. This second of a two-part session covers how to create multimedia content that resonates with social media audiences, incorporating audio, video, text and photography. The session covers various tips, tricks and techniques and offers guidance on recommended equipment and apps.

Speakers

Michael Salzwedel

Co-Founder & Trainer, Social Weaver, South Africa

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:45am - 12:45pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

11:45am SAST

Fact Checking and Verification Workshop

Cyberspace and social media platforms have become a minefield of fake news, deception and political manipulation. We have seen fake news sway elections, manipulate public opinion, destroyed reputations of citizens and organisations. Learn the tricks of the trade to fact-check and verify content as we take you through the dark world of fakes news.
The following will be covered:

Why is fact-checking important
What to fact-check
Why fact-checking around elections in Nigeria and Kenya matters. Perspectives from Africa Check
What good is fact-checker when there's no data? How to work around this. The Nigerian example.

Speakers

David Ajikobi

Editor, Africa Check, Nigeria

David Ajikobi (@Pantaphobious) joined Africa Check as Nigeria editor in November 2016. He was previously an Editor/Producer at Channels Television with about a decade of experience across different media platforms. He was one of the pioneer News Editors/Producers at 99.3 Nigeria Info... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 11:45am - 12:45pm SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

12:45pm SAST

Lunch

Tuesday October 30, 2018 12:45pm - 2:00pm SAST
Marquee

Break

2:00pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Gauteng's Unidentified Dead

In May 2015, I sat across from an academic, who held a human skull in her hand and told me it belonged to one of the thousands of unidentified dead in Gauteng. It was the beginning of a storyline that I would follow for two years, from Hillbrow Mortuary, watching autopsies, to a pauper’s graveyard in Soweto, where I counted as babies’ bodies were stacked into unmarked graves. I could not let go of the idea that there were all these people out there who did not know that their brother or mother or husband or daughter was dead: how was it possible that this was not a national scandal?
The resulting story series won a gold Kavli award, the highest honour in international science journalism.

Speakers

Sarah Wild

South Africa

Sarah Wild is a South African science journalist. She studied physics, electronics, and English literature at Rhodes University in an effort to make herself unemployable. It didn't work so she read for an MSc in bioethics and health law (Wits University), with a special focus on... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

2:00pm SAST

The Daphne Project

When Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb there was little doubt she had been murdered because of her work. A group of 45 journalists representing 18 news organisations from 15 countries step into pick up her work and keep digging to try to get to the bottom of the many leads the formidable woman left behind. This became known as the Daphne Project. Also under discussion here will be the work done after the killing of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak, and the Khadija Project, the investigation to release the jailed Azeri journalist.

Speakers

Miranda Patrucic

Editor in Chief, OCCRP

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Covering the Issues

2:00pm SAST

A case study in forensic Journalism: How the BBC nailed the Cameroonian soldiers?

The BBC caused a stir when it used advanced forensic techniques to analyse a video showing Cameroonian soldiers killing a woman, and debunking their denials. Bedser will take a close look at how the BBC did this, and the tools and techniques they used, as well as how they told the story.

Speakers

Tegan Bedser

Digital Media Specialist, SABC News Online

181022 AIJC presentation BBC pptx

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

2:00pm SAST

DubaiLeaks: How we did it … and how you can use it

In June, the Organised Crime & Corruption Reporting Project and Finance Uncovered published Sandcastle a number of hard-hitting stories focusing on kleptocrats, Politically Exposed People, criminals and alleged tax evaders who owned Dubai real estate. The story came about thanks to an unprecedented leak of Dubai real estate information. It was published in leading outlets around the world including Premium Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung and the UK Observer. Margot Gibbs led the Finance Uncovered investigation. This session will show how she organised the data using excel and then verified the names of individuals who made the headlines by using corporate registries, court records and social media tools.
There is scope for African journalists to dig into the data to see if they can identify those relevant to their countries subject to certain conditions. Come to the session to learn how to access the data.

Speakers

Margot Gibbs

Finance Uncovered, UK

Margot Gibbs is an investigative reporter at Finance Uncovered in London, covering UK facilitation of corruption, kleptocracy and illicit finance. She has written extensively on corruption in the Nigerian oil industry and the London property market, and produced critically-acclaimed... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

2:00pm SAST

Free tools for fact-checking

With more people going online via smartphones, it’s essential that journalists know how to fact-check using their devices. Learn about free tools that are available, and also how to set up your device for quick fact-checking. The session will also include fact-checking on a PC or Mac and includes a comprehensive takeaway list of free verification tools.

Speakers

Ray Joseph

Freelance Journalist, South Africa

free tools or factchecking pdf

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Resources and tools

2:00pm SAST

Security: One-on-One with Jorge Luis Sierra (Booking required)

A chance to book one-on-one time with Jorge to run through any issues you are having with your security. Bring your devices!

Speakers

Jorge Luis Sierra

Investigative Journalist, Latinointx, Mexico/USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Security

3:00pm SAST

Coffee break

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:00pm - 3:30pm SAST
Lawn

Break

3:30pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: John-Allan Namu's latest work on South Sudan

Speakers

John-Allan Namu

CEO & Investigative Journalist, Africa Uncensored

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

3:30pm SAST

The Big Business of Human Smuggling/Trafficking

In some African, Asian and Central American countries, smuggling services are freely touted on the streets, luring customers the way agents at popular tourist destinations sell sailing or snorkeling excursions. The hawkers then drop potential customers off with the salesmen, who pitch them a smuggling route in a backroom somewhere.
The increased criminality and corruption in the human-smuggling business has blurred the line between voluntary smuggling and involuntary trafficking.
But smugglers have become more of a necessity as the trip to Europe or the United States has become more dangerous. That’s not just because of law enforcement but organized crime syndicates that have come to view migrants as a diversified income source to augment their earnings from drug trafficking, theft and protection rackets.
This session offers tips, techniques and suggested sources for investigating the shadowy syndicates behind smuggling networks.

Speakers

Juliana Francis

Crime Editor, New Telegraph, Nigeria

I seriously enjoy issues that have to do with child abuse and domestic violence. I enjoy discussions that have to do with youth advocacy. I enjoy conversations that centres on restructuring of police and pushing for better force void of extrajudicial killings, torture and extortion... Read More →

Inna Lazareva

Correspondent, Thomson Reuters, UK/Cameroon

Ron Nixon

Homeland Security Correspondent, New York Times, USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

3:30pm SAST

Cleaning data with OpenRefine

Through data sourcing we are exposed to the many forms in which data is packaged and made accessible. But it's not enough to have access to information, it is necessary to understand the correct way to organise, reorder and shape a dataset dependant on the need or the angle of a story. Open source data cleaning tools, such as OpenRefine, allow those working with data to correct typo’s or other errors that can creep into datasets through different data capture methods.

Speakers

Lailah Ryklief

Trainer, Open Up, South Africa

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

3:30pm SAST

Making sense of your social media analytics

A practical overview of Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics and other tools that can be used to gather and understand key statistics about your (and your competitors') social media presences and content.

Speakers

Michael Salzwedel

Co-Founder & Trainer, Social Weaver, South Africa

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

3:30pm SAST

Villians in the Mist: How to do visual storytelling without the visuals

Investigative television often presents with a unique problem. The subjects of a television investigation understand how damaging it can be to face off, on camera, against a well- prepared journalist or presenter. They refuse interviews, send reams of responses on paper or via their lawyers, some wipe all their images from the internet, leaving you the journalist trying to tell a visual story with no visuals of your subject. So, what do you do? Using a few recent examples of my story telling I will take you through how I solved some of these problems and still got the story on air.

Speakers

Joy Summers

Investigative Producer, Carte Blanche

The world of Joy Summers is a world of stories and investigations. She has exposed high profile executives in the private and public sectors. She has stayed on the trail of the corrupt, and uncovered malfeasance in meticulous detail. She has waded through thousands of pages of documents... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

3:30pm SAST

The Global Lottery Industry: The Anatomy and Substance of an International Investigation

In November 2016 a group of journalists from Africa, Europe, the United States, Australia, and Latin America met during the Africa Investigative Journalism Conference. Over a bottle of red wine or two we committed to expose the workings, transnational links, architecture, and impact of the global lottery industry that in 2014 generated nearly $300 billion in revenue.
Composed of professional and student journalists and civic tech organization Open Up, our team has carried out the project since then. We revealed for the first time the many dubious recipients of Lottery funding in South Africa and the lavish parties political elites in Mali throw themselves with Lottery funding. We also laid bare the eight companies that play an outsized role in the industry, carrying out a regressive tax on poor people while avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Published in radio, online, print and television outlets, the project has sparked impact and earned national recognition in South Africa and the United States.
Join us as we talk through our project's key findings, collaborative process and impact.

Speakers

David Dembélé

Correspondent, Dépêches du Mali

David Dembélé is an investigative journalist born in Mali in 1984. He entered journalism by pure passion in 2006, he works for the newspaper "dispatches of Mali", "Les Echos", and is correspondent in Bamako of the newspaper "Le World". He has specialized in the field of investigation... Read More →

Adi Eyal

Director, OpenUp – Codebridge

Ray Joseph

Freelance Journalist, South Africa

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein

Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University, USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

3:30pm SAST

Security: One-on-One with Jorge Luis Sierra (Booking required)

A chance to book some one-on-one time with Jorge who will assist with any security problems you are having. Bring your devices!

Speakers

Jorge Luis Sierra

Investigative Journalist, Latinointx, Mexico/USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Security

4:30pm SAST

Water Project

A second gathering for those interested in the water project.

Speakers

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein

Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University, USA

Tuesday October 30, 2018 4:30pm - 5:30pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

5:30pm SAST

Carlos Cardoso Memorial Lecture: Befekadu Hailu Techane (Ethiopia)

This annual lecture to commemorate a journalist who was killed while investigating corruption in Mozambique will focus on Ethiopia, a country which has seen intense struggles over media freedom in recent years, delivered by a writer who has been at the heart of that struggle.

Speakers

Befekadu Hailu Techane

Executive Director, Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD)

Befeqadu Hailu Techane is an Ethiopian writer, activist, and blogger. He is a cofounder of the renowned Zone 9 Bloggers group that were arrested in 2014 due to their blogging activities after being accused of inciting violence through writing. He has been the editor of various newspapers, and currently he is the executive director of CARD, a civil society organization he cofounded. His published nov... Read More →

Tuesday October 30, 2018 5:30pm - 6:30pm SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

7:00pm SAST

Awards Dinner

The African Fact-Checking Award, dinner and entertainment

Tuesday October 30, 2018 7:00pm - 11:00pm SAST
Marquee

Plenary

9:00am SAST

PLENARY: Special Guest Richard Goldstone on Integrity Initiatives International

The former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on the potential for international prosecutors to work with investigative journalists, through the organisation Integrity Initiatives International (Triple I).

Speakers

Richard Goldstone

Wednesday October 31, 2018 9:00am - 9:15am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

9:15am SAST

Plenary: Anas Aremeyaw Anas

Speakers

Anas Aremeyaw Anas

Ghana

Anas Aremeyaw Anas is an undercover journalist working in Ghana and across the African continent. In disguise, he finds his way into asylums, brothels, prisons, orphanages and villages, where he methodically gathers evidence for hard-hitting stories – then presents the evidence... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 9:15am - 10:00am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary

10:00am SAST

Coffee break

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:00am - 10:30am SAST
Lawn

Break

10:00am SAST

Master Class in Following the Money (ends 1pm)

How do you find fortunes hidden in tax havens? Where do you track assets, that a local business tycoon has in other countries? How can you use public records and online business databases to get closer to the answers? How do you get leads for your stories in company accounts?
Miranda Patrucic knows the answers – or some of them. And in this whole-day masterclass, she shares them with you. During the day, you will learn to understand and work with:
- Exposing Crime and Corruption: How They Operate
- The Research Process: Investigating People and Companies
- Understanding Public Records
- Online Business Databases
- Tracking Offshore Companies (Bring your own laptops)

Speakers

Miranda Patrucic

Editor in Chief, OCCRP

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:00am - 1:00pm SAST
WSS207 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

10:30am SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Heineken in Africa - Tackling a huge multinational

This presentation will shed light on some of the major revelations in the upcoming book Heineken in Africa. While Africa is very profitable for Heineken, the global number two brewing company employs highly controversial business practices on this continent. Investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen will also speak about his research methods and his dealings with a powerful multinational corporation. 'Don't go on a crusade against Heineken, you're too young for that', were the words CEO Jean-François van Boxmeer used when they first met.

Speakers

Olivier van Beemen

Holland

Olivier van Beemen is an investigative journalist and the author of Heineken in Africa. A multinational unleashed (Hurst, expected early 2019). This book is the result of more than five years of thorough journalistic research, visits to twelve African countries and almost 400 interviews... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am SAST
WSS106 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

10:30am SAST

Extracting truth from the extractive industry

This session will elucidate the ways – initiatives, data sources and methods - journalists have been using extractive industries data across the continent in investigations, and discuss the challenges journalists face in doing so and offer some solutions.

Speakers

Lucas Ledwaba

Journalist, Mukurukuru Media, South Africa

Gemma Parellada

Correspondent, El Pais, CNN Español

An award-winning Africa correspondent for El Pais and CNN Español based in Abidjan, Gemma is the longest-serving Spanish correspondent on the continent. She has specialised in the deadliest conflict in the world - in the -Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes... Read More →

Ryan Powell

Media development Associate, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Dar es Salaam

Based in Dar es Salaam, Ryan is the Media Development Associate for the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). He implements media development projects in Tanzania and Ghana and coordinates NRGI’s media development research. Before working in international development, Ryan... Read More →

Estacio Valoi

Freelance

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

10:30am SAST

The challenges of being a woman investigative journalist

Speakers

Motunrayo Alaka

Executive Director/CEO, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism

Motunrayo Alaka is the executive director/ceo of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism – one of the first centres for investigative reporting in Africa. She has worked over the last decade and a half to expand the frontiers of social justice, democracy and human rights in Nigeria and Africa especially through the media and other civil society bodies. Working with... Read More →

Juliana Francis

Crime Editor, New Telegraph, Nigeria

Pauli Van Wyk

Journalist, The Daily Maverick, South Africa

Pauli van Wyk is a journalist for Scorpio, the investigative arm of South African online news site Daily Maverick. She focuses on the intersection between private interests and national politics.

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Covering the Issues

10:30am SAST

Turning Data into Stories 3/3: On a quest for data-driven news

In this final session, we'll apply the skills learnt in sessions 1 and 2 to actual, current data sets. You may well walk away from this session with a real story. Attend this session if you've attended sessions 1 and 2.

Speakers

Tegan Bedser

Digital Media Specialist, SABC News Online

Sibusiso Biyela

Science writer, ScienceLink/Scibraai

I am a passionate science writer who uses digital tools to translate complex South African research.

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

10:30am SAST

The Art of the Interview

To be an effective reporter requires honing your interviewing skills to an art. This session will focus on preparing for an interview, asking the right questions, maintaining control of the interview and becoming a better listener.

Speakers

Cheryl W. Thompson

Associate Professor and Contributing Investigative Reporter, The Washington a Post.”, George Washington University, USA

Wednesday October 31, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

12:00pm SAST

Python for data journalism 2

Speakers

Siyabonga Africa

Program Officer, South Africa Media Innovation Program

Learn Python for Data Journalism Day 2 pptx

Wednesday October 31, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
Lab 1 Maths Building

Data Journalism

12:00pm SAST

Social media sleuthing: Advanced search tools for monitoring your sources

How to use advanced search tools and techniques to find and monitor key sources to enhance your journalism.

Speakers

Michael Salzwedel

Co-Founder & Trainer, Social Weaver, South Africa

Wednesday October 31, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

12:00pm SAST

Open secrets: How to find and use open sources to crack open stories

Some of the world’s secrets are out in the open, just waiting for keen reporters. Stories about high-level bribery in Africa have been revealed by obtaining public documents from government offices. These records were just begging to be read and shared with the world. We'll go over story ideas and tools that journalists can harness to find open secrets in Africa.

Speakers

Emmanuel Freudenthal

Investigative reporter

I'm a freelance reporter who has conducted investigations in Africa (and beyond) for a decade. I won (and lost) prizes for my work, often working in collaboration with other journalists (including Peabody, Webby, European Press Prize, Sigma and Frontline Club awards). I like to m... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Learn from the Masters

12:00pm SAST

Stalkers and threats: How to react, not over-react and continue your work

In recent years across the globe there has been an increase in threats and attacks on journalists. These may be direct threats or veiled or ambiguous threats. These have an impact on the safety and psychological wellbeing of journalists, and their ability to do their work. The typical threats come from a delusional stalker, to people who are being investigated by the journalist. Journalists, especially investigative journalists, probe where people don’t want them to, thus increasing the risk for threats.
People often over-react to threats, which is unhelpful in its own right, and hire bodyguards, without first properly assessing and monitoring the level of threat. In this presentation the presenter will discuss the role that threat assessment and management play in dealing with communicated threats. It will also highlight what to expect from someone claiming to be a threat assessment expert. Myths about threats will also be discussed. A significant amount of time will be devoted to helping the journalist understand the warning signs for serious concern, how to predict a possible violence act is imminent, and also highlight the profiles of different threateners and the harm they each may pose. The primary aim of the presentation is to help the journalist protect themselves, and secondly to assist the journalist to report on stories that may involve threats.

Speakers

Gerard Labuschagne

L&S Threat Management, South Africa

Gérard Labuschagne PhD is a Director of L&S Threat Management, South Africa’s first sole purpose workplace violence threat assessment and management consultancy. He was Section Head of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) specialized Investigative Psychology Section (IPS... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Security

1:00pm SAST

Lunch

Wednesday October 31, 2018 1:00pm - 2:00pm SAST
Marquee

Break

2:00pm SAST

AFRICAN STORIES: Investigating China in Africa

The Wits Africa-China Reporting Project works with journalists to promote better coverage of China's growing presence in Africa. This panel will highlight some of the most interesting investigative work done on this important topic.

Speakers

Huang Hongxiang

Founder, China House, Kenya

Huang Hongxiang is the Founder of China House, a social enterprise that researches and engages Chinese in Africa regarding sustainable development, wildlife conservation and so on; and an ivory investigator featured in the Netflix documentary The Ivory Game

Christian Locka

Freelancer, Cameroon

Christian Locka is a Cameroonian freelance reporter who exposes human rights abuses, corruption, misuse of power and organized crime. His work has appeared in international publications including 100Reporters, USA Today, Washington Times, Public Radio International, Mail and... Read More →

Solomon Serwanjja

Anchor/Investigative Journalist, NBS Television, Uganda

Solomon Serwanjja is a practicing broadcast investigative journalist currently working with NBS Television as an anchor and investigative reporter in Uganda. He also doubles as a Ugandan Correspondent for KTN News, a station based in Nairobi, Kenya. Previously, he worked as a news... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS103 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

African Stories

2:00pm SAST

Investigating the South African Criminal Justice System

Successes, challenges and case studies on investigating miscarriages of justice such as wrongful convictions and human rights violations in places of detention.

Speakers

Ruth Hopkins

Senior Journalist, Wits Justice Project, Johannesburg

Ruth Hopkins is a senior journalist with the Wits Justice Project. Ruth wrote a book on trafficking in women in/to Europe, which was published in 2005 (Ik laat je nooit meer gaan, I will never let you go again), based on five years of research in Albania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the... Read More →

Carolyn Raphaely

Senior Journalist, Wits Justice Project, South Africa

Carolyn Raphaely is a senior journalist at the Wits Justice Project. Carolyn’s professional career and personal interests have always been informed by an insatiable curiosity and a desire to improve the way we live. With a psychology and drama degree, a Masters in City and Regional... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS104 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Covering the Issues

2:00pm SAST

How to make your data visualisation talk

Dataviz should not only be used to add colour to your story, but rather as a tool for communication in its own right. In this session, we will critique data visualisations from real stories and discuss whether they were effective. We will also briefly touch on the economics of dataviz and how much time you should spend on it in order to get the best return on investment. The session will take the form of an interactive discussion.

Speakers

Adi Eyal

Director, OpenUp – Codebridge

Wednesday October 31, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
Lab 2 Maths Building

Data Journalism

2:00pm SAST

A survival guide for freelancers

With cutbacks a reality for journalists, more people are going freelance. It means that it’s more important to market yourself across different platforms, and to learn new skills to get a share of shrinking editorial budgets. This session will also look at the need to think of yourself as a business, as well as opportunities to access reporting grants and other ways to survive as a freelancer in the 21st century.

Speakers

Ray Joseph

Freelance Journalist, South Africa

Wednesday October 31, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS105 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Enhance your skills

2:00pm SAST

Money Trail: Support for those who want to investigate illicit financial flows, tax abuse and corruption

Interested in investigating illicit financial flows, tax abuse and corruption across borders?
Intercontinental journalist teams consisting of at least one African, one Asian and/or one European journalist can apply for the Money Trail grants to investigate cross-border illicit financial flows, tax abuse and corruption.

- Each team must consist of journalists from at least two continents.
- In order to be eligible for application, the teams have to ensure that their story will be published in at least two continents. Therefore, during the application procedure they will be asked to upload letters of intent for publication from media organizations in at least two continents.
- Money Trail supports costs related to journalistic research for all media. This can include travel, translation, access to pay-databases or simply time to research. The teams will have to draw a budget of the overall costs of their investigative project.

Wondering how to find a team and apply?
In this session Lisa Akinyi May, grant coordinator at Journalismfund.eu, will answer all your questions on how to best prepare for the application.

Speakers

Lisa Akinyi May

Grant Coordinator, Journalismfund.eu

Lisa Akinyi May is in charge of Journalismfund.eu’s communications. She also coordinates the Money Trail Grants. Lisa studied Journalism at Thomas More University College, majoring in television broadcasting.She's a multimedia journalist with experience in television and online media. Her areas of strength include news production, researching, and work experience in the Belgian media. As a... Read More →

Wednesday October 31, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm SAST
WSS107 Wits Science Stadium, First Floor

Resources and tools

3:00pm SAST

Closing session: Keeping yourself and your data safe

Speakers

Jorge Luis Sierra

Investigative Journalist, Latinointx, Mexico/USA

Wednesday October 31, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm SAST
Auditorium 3 Wits Science Stadium, Ground Floor

Plenary