What connects a castle in France with efforts to tighten abortion laws in Poland? How is the EU using drones, biometrics and automated behavioural analysis to bolster security? What does it take to buy EU citizenship?
Those are just some of the questions answered by grantees of the 2020/21 edition of IPI’s Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) programme as their cross-border projects come to fruition.
Around three-quarters of the 49 transnational teams that received a combined €1.1 million in grant funding over the past year have published some or all of their work, generating headlines in almost 200 media outlets across Europe.
Here’s a summary of recent investigations that benefited from IJ4EU’s Investigation Support Scheme and Publication Support Scheme. More stories coming soon.
See also:
- Latest IJ4EU investigations make a splash (March 16, 2021)
- New IJ4EU investigations make headlines (February 5, 2021)
Passport Papers
What really happens when wealthy investors try to purchase Maltese passports to buy their way into EU citizenship? This joint investigation by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, The Guardian, Dossier Centre and five Maltese media outlets finds out.
In 2013, #DaphneCaruanaGalizia was the first Maltese journalist to investigate the Government’s plans to sell EU citizenship.
Seven years later, we are proud to present the #PassportPapers – a collaborative investigation into the sale of Maltese passports.https://t.co/HSYr5Kchgk— Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation (@daphnefdtn) April 22, 2021
Radicals with Reach
Led by Poland’s Fundacija Reporterow, this investigation by journalists from eight countries shows how ultra-conservative groups collaborate across borders to attack liberal values in Central and Eastern Europe.
How does Poland’s ultra-conservative Ordo Iuris hide behind a mask of diplomacy? @VSquare_Project has the answer. Part of an investigation supported by IPI’s #IJ4EU fund for x-border journalism. #MediaEU https://t.co/fTmj5e50uI
— IPI – The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) February 24, 2021
Citizens as Suspects
A team of investigative journalists lifts the lid on Europe’s surveillance economy, showing how the EU has spent billions of euros on controversial technologies in the name of security. The project includes an open-source database for anyone to search.
New project! @CaitLChandler @earsinfingers @simonwoerpel and I built a thing: You can use https://t.co/fCbkWaWye9 to search for recipients of European Union security funding, for specific projects or for data by topic or country.
Here are some ideas: pic.twitter.com/Tli9cUBWXP
— Zach Campbell (@notzachcampbell) April 6, 2021
#MeToo in the Medical Sector
An international team of award-winning investigative journalists shines a light on the under-reported scourge of sexual harassment and sexualised violence between doctors and patients in Europe.
Krank geheilt https://t.co/mbTDYM7Ag7
— BuzzFeed Deutschland (@BuzzFeedGermany) March 29, 2021
Southeast Europe’s Toxic Timebomb
A cross-border team from Le Courrier des Balkans investigates deadly pollution in Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, revealing how the Balkans has become the waste dump of Europe.
#Pollution | La #Bulgarie, devenue un eldorado pour les déchets en provenance des pays riches, n’en peut plus d’être la poubelle de l’Europe. Une enquête réalisée avec le soutien du @Ij4Eu et publiée conjointement sur @Mediapart – https://t.co/TacH5cQMt7 pic.twitter.com/k6Mt67UOfE
— Courrier des Balkans (@CdBalkans) December 29, 2020
Who’s Behind the COVID-19 Infodemic?
How are bad-faith players using disinformation to drive Europe’s COVID-denial movements? Journalists from four countries show how fake news campaigns by hostile foreign actors have fuelled homegrown movements.
How Germany became ground zero for the COVID infodemic https://t.co/v8AHJUu5LF
— openDemocracy (@openDemocracy) March 31, 2021
Black Sea Gas: Profit at What Cost?
A collaboration between freelancers reveals new information about natural gas initiatives in a troubled region that may one day determine Europe’s energy fortunes.
Gaz naturel en mer Noire : pour l’Ukraine, ce n’est qu’une question de temps. Deuxième volet d’une enquête entre la #Roumanie, l’#Ukraine et la #Bulgarie. Par @marine_leduc et @Daniela_Prugger #Odessa #Romania #Russie #Russia #ecology https://t.co/IKX52dgLBS
— Le Courrier d’Europe centrale (@CEuropeCentrale) April 8, 2021
Lost in Transition
The Investigative Reporting Project Italy teams up with four other news outlets to probe the influence of lobbyists seeking to thwart the European Green Deal and get their hands on money from the EU’s post-pandemic Recovery Plan.
I volti della transizione energetica/1
Il #GreenDeal bulgaro tra oligarchi, frodi e operai sfruttati
Come la transizione energetica nel Paese che produce 4 volte la media #UE di anidride carbonica rischia di essere un boomerang sociale#GreenWashinghttps://t.co/0IQwOpsNUE pic.twitter.com/JZ5BKIO05S
— IrpiMedia (@irpinvestigates) February 24, 2021
Europe’s Far Right
A network of seven news outlets in as many countries examines the role of organised right-wing populists and their parties in movements against policies designed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Welcome to the ‘conspiracy industry’ 👀
Big profits to be made by railing against COVID-19 policies, as our #IJ4EU grantees found out during this cross-border investigation into Europe’s far right. @tazgezwitscher @nora_belghaus @chrjkb #MediaEUhttps://t.co/9iNVypci2z
— IPI – The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) March 25, 2021
Corruption Energised
This cross-border project by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network scrutinises contracts awarded to companies owned by a Serbian tycoon closely connected to the country’s ruling political elite in a strategically critical field — energy.
Kompanija Južna Bačka inkasirala je 2019. godine u poslovima sa državom 6,8 milijardi dinara, odnosno preko 58 miliona evra, od čega šest milijardi ide na tendere EPS-a, pokazuju podaci Uprave za javne nabavke. #EPS @BIRNSrbija https://t.co/xCVgpCKchA
— Dnevni list Danas (@OnlineDanas) April 5, 2021
River of Garbage
Led by Hungarian news site Telex.hu, this project reveals how enormous quantities of garbage wash down the River Tisza each year from Ukraine to Hungary and parts of Romania, threatening public health and harming the environment.
Connecting Ukraine, Hungary and Romania, the River Tisza is awash with waste. Why?
This investigation supported by our #IJ4EU fund for cross-border journalism has the answer. @Telexhu @ejcnet #MediaEU @hu_telexhttps://t.co/BDjxGOKXSX
— IPI – The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) April 12, 2021
Property ‘Vultures’ Cash in on COVID
Mapping for the first time the extent of property ownership by some of the world’s largest private equity companies, freelance journalists reveal how the pandemic has been a boon for so-called vulture capitalists.
Vulture firms – specialized in profiting from cycles of bust and booms -, are using the pandemic crisis to increase their assets in the “beds sector” (from student dormitories to rental flats), submitting increasingly housing into financial interests.https://t.co/QgV2gG4ys8
— Raquel Rolnik (@raquelrolnik) February 26, 2021
Fighting Gender Violence Fuelled by COVID
Two freelance journalists investigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the lives of women and girls in vulnerable situations, exploring how the pandemic has exacerbated systemic risks of violence and pushed the problem into the shadows.
Hoy en @Planeta_Futuro con Elena Ledda publicamos una historia de superación y música ambientada en Berlín, gracias al apoyo de IJ4EU fund.
Soñando con Mozart: Lilith, la barítono del coro berlinés para personas sin techo https://t.co/4YE9jqSSeV… https://t.co/dE11cgLMVY— Monica Pelliccia (@monicapelliccia) December 4, 2020
Cover photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash