Training for Journalist

12 Maret 2021

Klik disini untuk membaca dalam bahasa Indonesia

Introduction

Commercial banks play a critical role in the socio-economic-political ecosystem: they command control over the financing of corporates and projects that have high social impact and costs. However, the media coverage of commercial banks is limited to financial integrity and money flows, even when there is a demand for accountability, it is limited to only financial accountability. The environment and social impact of their lending for corporates of project financing are hardly ever taken into consideration.

The seven countries that are a part of Fair Finance Asia, as seen in the survey, are interested in providing an enabling environment wherein the media within their country can hold financial institutions and corporates responsible for the environmental and social impact that their business activities are building. The country coalitions are also developing sectoral case studies of on-ground violations that establish the corporate and financial linkages.

Given this scenario, Fair Finance Asia (FFA) and its partners would like to organize workshops for the media, coalition partners and civil society working on this issue in their country to facilitate the dialogue on sustainable finance and to ensure date-driven media reportage that have a significant impact.

Aims

  1. Build the media narrative around sustainable finance through training on how to investigate, access and interpret corporate linkages and financial data, and build that into a media story;
  2. Enable journalist in the Indonesia to understand how to strengthen their stories with data-driven investigation and deepening their understanding on sustainable finance;
  3. Build relationship of Responsibank Coalition with journalists in the Indonesia.

Participants

15 Indonesian journalists will be participating through selection. 

Who can apply?

  • Applicants should demonstrate capacity for mitigation of both legal and physical threats to journalism, through objective evidence collation, rights of reply, media law, source protection and information security within a journalistic research process.
  • Previous experience in writing financial stories or investigative pieces is not mandatory but a selection process will prioritise places for journalists who have some background in financial reporting and/or a commitment to the ethical use of investigative journalism to uncover corruption and malfeasance, with the objective of furthering the public interest and producing beneficial impact through their work.

How to apply?

  • Fill out a form and send at least 2 pieces of work with significant investigative elements to successful publication to here.
  • Due date is on March 25, 2021.
  • The committee will announce the selection on April 2, 2021.

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Agenda and Trainers

10 & 11 April – Financial Investigations (Sessions 1 - 4)

10 April

Session 1: 4.00-5.30pm & Session 2: 6.30-8.00 pm - Financial Investigations Using Open-Source Intelligence gathering techniques to investigate regional and global offshore shell companies.
Dylan Kennedy, Director of Intelpool Limited

Dylan will discuss the global criminal abuse of offshore shell companies created by company formation agents and show you how to use Open Source Intelligence gathering techniques to investigate them.

Dylan is the Director of Intelpool Limited. He has over two decades of expertise in the United Kingdom’s leading international Law Enforcement Agencies, Global Correspondent Banking Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Investigations, and Global Express Courier Logistics sectors. He is an accredited intelligence analyst & investigator, and advanced OSINT collector.

11 April

Session 1: 4.00-5.30pm – Using Open Corporates for Investigations
Rebecca Lee, Open Corporates

OpenCorporates is the largest open database of companies in the world and the first port of call for any investigator wanting to find out information about a company. As an ex-investigator, Rebecca will show you how to use their website and some useful tips and tricks.

Rebecca is the Chief Impact Officer at OpenCorporates. OpenCorporates’ core mission is to promote global corporate transparency by making the world’s company data open to all, shining a light on the existence, ownership and activities of entities, and the people connected with them – particularly to tackle the use of companies for corruption, money laundering and other anti-social purposes. Their data has been involved in groundbreaking investigations including the ICIJ’s Panama Papers, Global Witness’ Narco-a-lago report, Transparency International’s London property money laundering report, and the OCCRP’s Troika Laundromat investigations.

Session 2: 6.30-8.00pm - Open Contracting Partnership or similar

Our main trainer is based in the US and with time zone differences it might not work so we are just waiting on finding an alternative trainer based either in the EU or Asia.

17 & 18 April – Story Based Investigative Methodology (Sessions 1 - 4)

17 April

Session 1: 4.00-5.30pm - From question to hypothesis
Luuk Sengers & Dr Mark Lee Hunter

A hypothesis is what you think happened -- a provisional story based on available evidence. It enables rapid assessment of the interest and viability of your idea and potential sources before investing your time in further research. Our colleagues at ICIJ call it a core skill in contemporary investigative projects.

Session 2: 6.30-8.00pm - Nailing the timeline
Luuk Sengers & Dr Mark Lee Hunter

Timelines provide a backbone to your story, allowing you to see not only what happened, but what must have happened between known events, and how the story may end. It allows you to focus on dramatic scenes that deepen the impact of your work. In the process, it creates one possible structure for your narrative.

18 April

Session 3: 4.00-5.30pm - Mapping the stakeholders
Luuk Sengers & Dr Mark Lee Hunter

A stakeholder map shows you who is involved in your story – as actors, witnesses, and victims. The map leads you to further sources, and enables you to spot relationships among everyone involved. It also indicates the core audience for your story, which is essential to promoting its impact. Not least, it captures an alternative way to structure the story.

Session 4: 6.30-8.00pm - From masterfile to masterpiece
Luuk Sengers & Dr Mark Lee Hunter

Organisation is a core process for depth reporting. A Masterfile is a simple yet effective database that we use to collect and analyse our material. We leverage organisation to facilitate the composition of final reports. The time you spend in this session will save you thousands of hours across your career. You will also learn writing techniques that enhance the power of your work.

The trainers:
Luuk Sengers is a journalist and lecturer. He investigates how large corporations affect the environment and climate change for the leading Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer. Luuk is also co-developer of Story-Based Inquiry: an acclaimed and effective method for producing investigative stories.

Dr Mark Lee Hunter is a founding member of The Global Investigative Journalism Network, the principal author of Story-Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists (UNESCO 2009) and the recipient of many awards for his reporting.

24 & 25 April – Financial Investigations continued: Case study (Sessions 1 – 4)

A step-by-step Financial Investigations case study led by former Global Witness investigators, participants will be guided through the stages of a real-life investigation into corruption, bribery and offshore financial secrecy using the actual documents. The trainers will lead discussions on several key issues and help participants to understand how to connect evidence in their own investigations.

24 April

Session 1: 4.00-5.30pm - Investigative Approaches
Leigh Baldwin and Daniel Balint-Kurti

Session 2: 6.30-8.00pm - Offshore Finance Investigations
Leigh Baldwin and Daniel Balint-Kurti

25 April

Session 3: 4.00-5.30pm - Dealing with corporate spin and controversial sources
Leigh Baldwin and Daniel Balint-Kurti

Session 4: 6.30-8.00pm - Right of Reply and Putting it all together
Leigh Baldwin and Daniel Balint-Kurti

The trainers:
Leigh Baldwin is the editor of SourceMaterial. He previously worked as an investigative journalist for Global Witness and as a reporter for Bloomberg News.

Daniel Balint-Kurti was Head of Investigations at Global Witness (until April 2020), prior to that he was campaign leader of the Special Investigations team and focused on anti-corruption issues in Africa. He is now working as a freelance journalist.

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Language

The instruction will be in English. The interpreter is provided in Bahasa Indonesia

Supporting Facility

Facility options for participants:

  • Option 1 - Meeting room with wi-fi access at the DoubleTree hotel, Jakarta, during training (2 nights per week), including room and meals.
  • Option 2 - Reimbursement of communication fee at actual cost during training..

Contact

For further information, please contact:

Fiona Armintasari (Fiona)
Mobile: +628 12 1912 9658
Email: farmintasari@theprakarsa.org

Agustinus Beo. Da Costa (Gusti)
Mobile: +628 11 8714 890
Email: reporterjak@gmail.com

Organizer

Responsibank

The Responsibank is a bank assessment tool as a means for assessing whether banks and financial institutions have considered environmental, social, governance, and human rights criteria in their investment policies. So, it is not only the element of profit that is the sole objective of the institution's existence. The institutions should consider the elements of people, planet, profit. Responsibank Coalition is a member of the global network of FFA and Fair Finance Guide International (FFGI) initiatives initiated by Oxfam Novib Nederland. This project is funded by SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). Visit responsibank.id for further information.

Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ)

The CIJ is an experimental laboratory that teaches reporters new tools alongside the traditional craft of investigative journalism. The CIJ’s core charitable purpose is the training and education of journalists in advanced investigative techniques. We were established in 2003 in London as an urgent response to the worrying fall-off in investigative reporting within the mainstream media in the UK.

Since then, the key event in our calendar has been our annual Summer Conference in London. Thus far it’s attracted thousands of journalists from thirty-five countries: including Iraq, China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Serbia. Our areas of expertise have grown to include regional and international training in data journalism, computer and operational security, business document analysis, illicit finance fraud and corruption, libel, privacy and defamation, unconventional evidence and covert recording, financial modelling, advanced internet searching and investigation, cross-border investigations, court and local reporting, surveillance, encryption and anonymity, and source protection. Our pioneering work in the tradecraft of investigative journalism has transformed newsrooms across Britain. At the CIJ our approach to ethics is rooted in the professional ethics intrinsic to good journalism. Visit tcij.org for further information.

 

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