From the Field: Data and cross-border investigations

What is collaborative data journalism and what is its purpose? What opportunities and limitations does it present? Who and what is involved in making it work? This presentation will address these and other questions during a discussion of how data and cross-border investigations empower independent journalism that is committed to reporting the truth and keeping democracy strong while seeking solutions to vital local, national, and global issues. No coding or data skills are required for this session.

About the presenters

Sotiris Sideris is an award-winning data journalist and trainer based in Athens with extensive cross-border and collaborative experience. He is the data editor of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) and of the investigative network Reporters United. He also serves as a research associate at the University of Athens and as a lecturer of digital media at Macromedia University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. In 2016 he co-founded AthensLive, Greece’s first nonprofit media outlet. Previously, he worked with the Greek NGO Network for Children’s Rights as the coordinator and chief editor of the multilingual refugee newspaper Migratory Birds and as a researcher and producer for the Greek national TV documentary series 28 Europe. His work has been published in numerous Greek and European publications, including Investigate Europe, Mediapart, and Tagesspiegel. In 2017 he was a Stavros Niarchos Foundation fellow at Columbia University, where he studied programming and data journalism. In 2019 he participated in the Bertha Challenge, a global fellowship program for investigative journalists and activists by Bertha Foundation. In 2022 Cities for Rent, a cross-border collaborative investigation he was part of, won the Innovation Award of the European Press Prize.

Yuxi Wang is a freelance writer, researcher, and data journalist based in China. Yuxi is currently a data fellow at Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) and a data wrangler at South African civic tech organization OpenUp. Yuxi has a special interest in working on Africa-related issues together with African journalists.