Document:Journalism skill sharing seminar

A spooky company called Foreign Desk Ltd suggest a joint event with the Integrity Initiative to groom 15 young journalists. The proposal has comments from II's Victor Madeira

 review of proposal of joint event with private (?) company  by Integrity Initiative dated 26 December 2018

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Example of: Integrity Initiative/Leak/4
Source: Anonymous (Link)

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Foreign Desk Ltd.

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Concept Paper

Journalism skill sharing seminar

July 2018

Description:

To develop and strengthen the journalistic integrity of young professionals working on topics of disinformation, corruption and other tools of malign interference.

The Integrity Initiative is seeking to establish a training & skill sharing seminar for 15 journalists Comment [VM1]: Will selection criteria include gender and affiliation? A fair few journalists in critical countries aren’t officially known as such, and can be community bloggers, anti-corruption activists, etc. in the initial stages Comment [VM2]: How would we define this? E.g. First 5 years, etc.? of their careers, who operate in areas of restricted media are connected to, in a seminar setting, experienced International journalists discuss the skills and techniques that will ensure that the stories the young journalists pursue are grounded in good journalistic practice. It would also represent an opportunity for the participants to share skills and experiences with one another, growing their international support and information networks.

Selection Process:

We will reach out to our country networks Comment [VM3]: Only? What about journalists II team members e.g. you, Chris H, Ben R have met/followed (online) over time? Would you have an input? Sometimes, local perspectives can be quite different from our own – and often for the better – but I’ve organised events before where local groups of activists looked to shut out local ‘competitors’ when potential funding was at stake. to request candidates. At which point we might invite individuals to state their experience, ambition, and a question that requires a short, written answer that allows them to demonstrate their written language skills. Malta, Serbia, Moldova (for example) Location: London – somewhere on Fleet Street?!

Date: mid October 2018

Total budget: £30k?

Accommodation & Travel: Included in budget

In collaboration with: Foreign Desk Ltd Comment [VM4]: Are Foreign Desk contributing any of the budget for such events?

Suggested speakers Comment [VM5]: Get 1-2 big names to attract interests, if possible (e.g. Ed L) but most of these big names won’t necessarily know what’s required ‘in the trenches’ these days. Yes, they are have high profiles which means they’ll have to protect themselves quite carefully, but people like Jessikka Aro, Yevhen, are probably more likely to be up to date on the latest threats and counter-measures… e.g. Ukrainian, (Russian – always a tough one to invite i.e. can we really ... : BBC, Foreign Desk contacts, partners like StopFake and EuroMaidan Press (both from Ukraine)…

Format Comment [VM6]: How will the training actually take place? If we’re introducing people to better practices and therefore tools that may help them stay safer and more secure, might this not require some (basic) training?: pm session, evening dinner, am session? Short stories by speakers (x6 total?) followed by more lengthy Q&A for participants

Stephen made a valid point in his recent email re FD getting equal billing and II picking up the tab. If that’s part of our aim – i.e. partner up with other organisations that can help us reach out to critical areas, then fair enough.

But if not, I’d expect FD to cover at least 1/3 of this event’s total costs and help us on the organisational side.

... Next action points:

Lists of possible participants

Lists of possible speakers Comment [VM7]: Some of the bigger names on your list may be unable to attend. I’d ask 1-2 key ones who’ve led the way over time in inspiring/nurturing some of this young talent if they could join us (e.g. Ed L, Luke H) and take it from there. Happy to chat through options later today. Reach out to e.g. OpenDemocracyRU, OCCRP and Codastory – they’re key players (actually, far more than FD, whose main area of expertise seems to be AfPakInd – I’m not sure why we’re going so heavy on that side of things…). – Foreign Desk to make initial suggestions

Legacy – how do we conclude the session best? Do we create a support network for journalists identifying legal assistance and other key contacts in each country network? How might we achieve this? Comment [VM8]: Many of these (in)formal communities of practitioners are already selforganised to some extent. May be best to reach out to relevant members of our clusters and ask them what they feel they need the most (like we did with Andja and Milan in LT). Local colleagues know best what threats they face, what skills they lack and what help they need.

Wikispooks edit notes

Victor Madeira's comments are marked in red. [VM1] etc.

Luke H is probably Luke Harding the Guardian Ed L is Edward Lucas from the Times

Comment [VM5] the text is cut off after 'really'