VVOJ Conference 2010 in Ghent

GHENT - The VVOJ Conference on Investigative Journalism 2010 has a distinctive international feel to it. Even though the VVOJ is an association aimed at Dutch-Flemish (investigative) journalists, we strive to look and learn across borders, be it our countries’ or our professional borders.

Throughout the conference program, you find a large number of panel and training sessions in English, and thus accessible to non-Dutch speaking journalists. Trainers and speakers come from the United States of America, Great-Britain, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Location
Arteveldehogeschool, Campus Kantienberg, Voetweg 66, Ghent (Belgium)

Panel and training sessions in English include

Thursday, November 18
19.30 – 22.00 ‘Free media, bad media?’, panel discussion on the future of free content with Paul Lewis (special projects editor The Guardian, UK), George Brock (City University London, UK)
10.00 – 17.00 Data journalism bootcamp with Elena Egawahry (freelance, UK) and David Donald (Center for Public Integrity, USA)

Friday, November 19
10.30-11.10 key note session by Vadim Lavrusik (Mashable, USA) on the use of social media to the investigative journalist
11.25 – 12.05 key note session by Stephen Engelberg (Pro Publica, USA) on the increasing influence of non-profit investigative reporting organisations
14.00 – 15.15 Paul Lewis (The Guardian) and Stephen Engelberg (Pro Publica) discuss running an investigative project at management level
15.45 – 17.00 Paul Bradshaw (onlinejournalismblog.com) shows the latest and most advanced techniques on crowd sourcing, using the public’s knowledge, for investigative reporting
15.45 – 17.00 David Donald (Center for Public Integrity) teaches a hands-on class on SQL, a technique to work with large amounts of data
15.45 – 17.00 Deborah Cohen (British Medical Journal, UK) shows how the use of FOIA laws (freedom of information laws) helped her uncover the dangerous side effects of diabetes medication
15.45 – 17.00 Vadim Lavrusik teaches a hands-on class on the use of social media to find stories and develop sources

Saturday, November 20
9.00 – 10.15 Starters in data analyses join Elena Egawhary for a quick course in all the Excel basics
9.00 – 10.15 In a globalizing world, (inter)national company records, financial statements and accountants reports hold valuable information to all investigative journalist. Financial experts from the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands talk about the information they gather and are willing to share with reporters.
10.45 – 12.00 Wikileaks publishes 92.000 documents and you need to grasp their content in a day’s time? John Bones (Verdens Gang, Norway) has the solution: text mining!
14.00 – 15.15 David Donald answers questions on data analysis. Bring your bag of troubles, and let him help.
14.00 – 15.15 How to handle tips from readers and viewers so they keep bringing you new story ideas? John Bones shows the successful model his newspaper, Verdens Gang, developed over time.
15.45 – 17.00 Battle of the brains. In the closing key note of the conference, search experts Paul Myers (BBC) and Henk van Ess (Voelspriet) clash and unite in a battle to unearth the latest ánd most fruitful search techniques.

Interested?
Participation is open to journalists and journalism students and teachers. VVOJ-member fee € 195, non-VVOJ member fee € 390 (including all sessions, receptions, lunches and Friday night dinner). Application form here http://www.vvoj.nl/register/order.php or send an e-mail to secretariaat@vvoj.nl for instructions on how to apply.