Abraji Congress draws more than 800

The recent 6th International Congress of Investigative journalism, held by Abraji (the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism) drew more than 800 persons, including professional journalists, students, and professors.

A team of journalism students, both current and recently graduated, participated on the project “Reporter do Futuro”, of Oboré (www.obore.com), which was responsible for the official coverage of the Congress. Reports on all the lectures can be read at the blog http://6congressoabraji.wordpress.com/. The presentations and contacts of the speakers are available on that channel.

Held annually since 2005, the Congress this year featured more than 70 panels and about 120 speakers and moderators from Brazil and other countries, including the U.S.A, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Argentina, El Salvador, Paraguay and Iceland.

The Abraji Congress has become a major conference for Brazilian reporters, said Fernando Rodrigues, Abraji’s president: “Once a year, this is the largest and most appropriate event to share experiences, exchange tips on reporting, and to improve the standard of journalism in our country.”

A major goal of Abraji is to train journalists and the Congress is divided into lectures and workshops. This year’s them was online journalism.

The workshops took place on the first day, June 30, and topics included computer-assisted reporting, research on public spending, the Human Development Index, interpreting corporate balance sheets, and issues related to routine work by reporters and editors.

At each Congress, Abaji honors journalism and communications professionals whose work has contributed in a remarkable way to the journalism.

This year, the Abraji board unanimously selected the journalist and professor Rostental Calmon Alves as its honoree. He is a Knight chair at the University of Texas in Austin and founder and director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. He also launched the first online version of the traditional newspaper in Brazil, “Jornal do Brasil online.”

6º International Congress of Investigative Journalism
When: from june, 30 to July, 2 – 2011
Where: São Paulo – Universidade Anhembi Morumbi – campus Vila Olímpia – unit 7 (Rua Casa do Ator, 275)