Spotlight Editor Robby Robinson, played by Michael Keaton in the movie, leads an all-star cast of journalists.
GIJN and its partners are busy putting together an extraordinary lineup of top journalists and cutting-edge topics for the second Asian Investigative Journalism Conference on September 23 to 25. We’re bringing to Kathmandu leading investigative reporters, data journalists, and media law and security experts from across Asia and around the world.
There will be winners of the Pulitzer and European Press prizes, SOPA award winners, and the best data trainers in the business. In all, we’ll have about 50 workshops, panels, brainstorming sessions and lightening rounds. Speakers include Umar Cheema (Pakistan), Sayed Nazakat (India), Sheila Coronel (Philippines), Yongjin Kim (Korea), Steven Gan (Malaysia), Ying Chan (Hong Kong), Wahyu Dhyatmika (Indonesia), Kunda Dixit (Nepal), and many more to be named soon.
Keynote by Spotlight Editor
The lineup is led by keynote speaker Walter “Robbie” Robinson, editor of the Boston Globe Spotlight team‘s Pulitzer-winning series on Catholic Church sexual abuse. Robinson was played by actor Michael Keaton in the movie Spotlight. Robinson has worked at the Globe as reporter and editor since 1972. He is currently the paper’s editor at large. Says Robinson: “Doing good journalism is a life worth living.”
Showcase on Panama Papers
We’re hosting a showcase panel on the groundbreaking Panama Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The extraordinary collaboration included nearly 400 journalists from 107 outlets working on the media’s largest-ever leak: 11.5 million records of secret offshore holdings. The session will feature ICIJ’s dynamic data editor Mar Cabra and top members of the group’s Asian team from a half-dozen countries.
Pulitzer Winner on Slavery
We’re also featuring Martha Mendoza of the Associated Press, who just shared the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Mendoza and her colleagues won the award for Seafood from Slaves, a remarkable investigation that tracked ships, exposed abusive practices, and led to the release of more than 2,000 slaves in Indonesia.
Data and More Data
Nearly a third of the sessions will focus on data journalism. This will be valuable whether you’re just learning spreadsheet basics or embarking on advanced mapping and database management. We’ll have data trainers from The Guardian, New York Times, Columbia University, IndiaSpend, and Thomson Reuters on hand. Also covered: cleaning data, document conversion, mapping, visualization, and analysis. There will be workshops, seminars, and a lightening round where data experts share their favorite tools.
Cutting-Edge Techniques
IJAsia will host sessions on climate change and covering disasters, and on cutting-edge techniques like sensors and drones. You’ll find panels on digging out hidden facts online, tracking dirty money, trafficking and slavery, and cross-border reporting. Our security experts will explain how to encrypt your email and protect yourself, both physically and digitally. There will be sessions on starting and managing nonprofits, and on crowdfunding and other ways to fund your pet project. Teachers and trainers: We’ll have panels on best practices in teaching both investigative and data journalism.
Network and Collaborate
And there will be lots of networking. Come meet your colleagues from across Asia. Share a drink along with stories, sources, and ideas for collaboration. We know from experience that the best ideas often come in the hallways and bars of our events. So come join us. We’ll change the way you report on the world.
You can follow us on Twitter at #IJAsia16.
