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Series: Monthly topics

«Data leaks with explosive political implications and cross-border journalism»
WOZ – Die Wochenzeitung

Talk

A series of talks organized by Gessnerallee in cooperation with various editorial teams: once a month, an editorial team selects a key journalistic topic and discusses it live with the audience. This time, the focus is on the use of sensitive data leaks, as well as the benefits and challenges of international investigative collaborations.

  • Wed 03/0619:30 – 21:00

    Stall6

Gessnerallee presents a series of journalistic focus topics in collaboration with different editorial teams. Copyright: Bodara GmbH

A massive data leak from the Israeli Ministry of Justice marks the starting point of this investigation. Yossi Bartal, a journalist originally from Israel who lives in Berlin, has delved deep into the matter and brought a major story to light: for years, the Israeli Ministry of Justice has been pursuing a targeted strategy to protect its own (former) government officials from prosecution abroad. In this context, the term ‘lawfare’ is used – the use of the law as a weapon.

Together with the “European Investigative Collaborations” (EIC) network, Bartal then set in motion the Europe-wide dissemination of the #IsraelFiles – and brought the WOZ – Die Wochenzeitung on board for the Swiss context. For this context is particularly telling: the Geneva-based lawyer and FDP politician Christian Lüscher worked on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Justice as part of a mandate from the commercial law firm CMS to avert a lawsuit against Israeli government officials in Switzerland.

A drastic case of the concealment of interests within the Swiss Parliament.

Enrico Kampmann, Jan Jirát and Yossi Bartal explain how a massive data leak can be structured and analysed to ultimately produce an investigative story. They also highlight the major benefits and challenges that a large-scale international investigative collaboration entails.


Speakers:

  • Enrico Kampmann and Jan Jirát (WOZ), Yossi Bartal

Moderation:

  • Johanna Weidtmann (REFLEKT)

More on the journalistic research:

Information about the host

The WOZ – Die Wochenzeitung has stood for independent and self-managed journalism for 45 years now, proving to be extremely resilient and successful in the face of the current crisis in the media industry. Whilst major publishers are in some cases drastically downsizing their editorial teams, the WOZ is expanding its own. Enrico Kampmann and Jan Jirát both work in the WOZ’s politics department, with a particular focus on cross-border investigative reporting.

Information on accessibility and language

  • 110-minute event with intermission

  • In spoken German

  • Stepless access

  • Once a month, an editorial team selects a journalistic focus topic and shares it live with visitors on site. Gessnerallee's new series of talks takes place in cooperation with various editorial teams. The ‘monthly topics’ were inspired by the highly acclaimed ‘Kosmopolitics’ series, which took place at the former Kosmos.

  • SRF Investigativ conducts independent, long-term research into power structures, abuses and socially relevant issues. The focus is on political, economic and institutional responsibility, as well as thorough source work. SRF Data analyses complex issues using data, statistics and programming. With interactive visualisations and comprehensible classifications, both teams contribute to transparency, critical public discourse and democratic opinion-forming.

    CORRECTIV.Schweiz is a non-profit research centre. Together with the population, they conduct research to strengthen democracy. They use innovative approaches and methods, such as the CrowdNewsroom they developed. They also network local journalists and uncover social injustices, either alone or together with partners.

    REFLEKT, Switzerland's first independent and non-profit research team, was founded in 2019. Since then, a small, powerful team has been carrying out major research with a big impact. In order to uncover abuses and promote transparency, they focus on investigative research projects lasting several months, which traditional editorial teams are increasingly unable to handle. By presenting their work in an attractive way and publishing it via various channels, they make their work accessible to the widest possible audience. In this way, they promote quality in journalism, increase public awareness and contribute to media diversity and a functioning democracy.

    The Republik is a digital magazine covering politics, economics, society and culture, which has been published since January 2018. It is financed by its readers and publishes one to three articles every day.

    Tsüri.ch was founded in 2015 by Simon Jacoby together with a group of young journalists with the aim of producing independent local journalism. A city magazine that is always critical, on the pulse of the city and transparent. Every year, they organise focus months on topics such as housing, addiction and mobility. The content of these focus months includes panel discussions, city walks and workshops.

    WAV is a twelve-member research collective from Zurich. They have been research partners for journalists and editorial offices, civil society and the non-profit sector since 2021. Their research critically scrutinises and opens the doors of boardrooms and boardrooms where decisions that affect everyone are quietly made. They create transparency - so that those responsible are not judged by their words, but by their actions.

    WOZ – Die Wochenzeitung is an independent, left-wing green weekly newspaper from Switzerland. Since 1981, it has been reporting critically on politics, economics, society and culture, placing particular emphasis on background information, power relations and social justice. WOZ is organised as a cooperative and is largely independent of advertising and corporate interests. With carefully researched analyses, reports and commentaries, it sees itself as a countervoice to the mainstream and as a contributor to an informed public and a vibrant democracy.

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