GIJC23 – Plenary: Watchdog Journalism in the Age of Digital Subversion (Panel)

Following Ron Deibert’s keynote, we have an all-star panel of journalists on the front lines of the digital war being waged against watchdog media. Moderator Sheila Coronel will lead an hour-long discussion about what it’s like to have your newsroom invaded, your sources exposed, and your actions tracked every day. We’ve asked noted journalists from four countries — Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Jordan, and France — to talk about what happened, and how journalists can fight back.

Carlos Dada is a pioneer of investigative reporting and online journalism in Latin America. He is co-founder and director of El Salvador news outlet El Faro, where 22 team members were infected with Pegasus, from editors and reporters to administrative staff and the board of directors.

Rawan Damen leads Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, which does training and reporting across the Middle East and North Africa. Shortly after becoming director general of ARIJ in 2020, she faced a crisis with revelations of widespread Pegasus spying of the network’s journalists across the region.

Khadija Ismayilova is a long-time investigative reporter for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. For years, the Azerbaijan regime harassed and then imprisoned her. Her phone, Citizen Lab found, was infected with Pegasus spyware for three years from 2018-21.

Laurent Richard leads Forbidden Stories, a global network that pursues investigations by murdered or threatened reporters. In 2021, the group worked with Amnesty International’s Security Lab and Citizen Lab on a leak of over 50,000 phone numbers tapped for surveillance by Pegasus clients in more than 50 countries.

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The Global Investigative Journalism Network is an international association of journalism organizations that support the training and sharing of information among investigative and data journalists—with special attention to those from repressive regimes and marginalized communities.

Our key activities include:

Providing resources and networking services to investigative journalists worldwide;
Publishing in multiple languages and on multiple platforms the latest tools, techniques and opportunities for those in the field;
Helping organize and promote regional and international training conferences and workshops;
Assisting in the formation and sustainability of journalism organizations involved in investigative reporting and data journalism around the world;
Supporting and promoting best practices in investigative and data journalism;
Supporting and promoting efforts to ensure free access to public documents and data worldwide.

Find more information on our website: https://gijn.org