IJ4EU Podcast

IJ4EU

The Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund supports cross-border investigative journalism in the public interest. It is run by the International Press Institute, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and the European Journalism Centre. IJ4EU provides grants to journalistic teams collaborating on investigations on transnational subjects, along with editorial and legal support. It also runs the annual #UNCOVERED conference and the IJ4EU Impact Awards. Listen to the stories behind IJ4EU-funded investigations, from the journalists who worked on them: how they came across their subject matter, built cross-border teams, overcame obstacles and created impact. Visit ij4eu.net for more information. read less

NewsNews

Start Here

Digging dirt from Brussels to Yangon

Digging dirt from Brussels to Yangon

From the Bialowieza Forest on the Polish-Belarus border to the depths of the Brazilian Amazon, reporters supported by the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund have left no stone unturned in pursuit of their stories. In this year-end edition of the IJ4EU Podcast, our hosts reflect on an exceptional 12 months for watchdog journalism, recapping just a few of the stories that have made a splash in Europe and beyond. “I’ve been amazed at just how global many of the investigations have been this year,” says Timothy Large, who leads the IJ4EU consortium. “These are stories that start in Europe but they take you to Myanmar or Sudan or Brazi or the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Investigations discussed in this episode include: The Gold Chain, exposing how European gold importers turn a blind eye to illegal mining, deforestation and rights abuses in the AmazonThe West’s Next Plastics Dump, revealing how rich countries are offloading their plastic waste in Myanmar — where citizens are too afraid to say noThe Edge of Europe, showing how a migration crisis is unfolding on an EU border in the Indian OceanThe Jungle, laying bare the dire conditions facing migrants and refugees in Europe’s last primaeval forest along the Polish-Belarusian borderBankers of Irregular Migration, revealing how a traditional system for transferring money is a boon to both smugglers and migrantsRussian Escape, probing how easy it is for Russian oligarchs to evade the sanctionsDangerous Diesel, proving how EU-based companies are fueling Russia’s war machine in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria regionRussia’s War, Europe’s Burden, demonstrating that hundreds of European components have found their way into drones used by Russia in its war against UkraineDefusing a Russian ‘Carbon Bomb’, showing how European companies continued supplying a Russian mega Arctic gas project after the invasion of UkraineThe Forever Pollution Project, a collaboration between 18 newsrooms revealing alarming levels of toxic chemical contamination across Europe Featuring: Timothy Large, director of independent media programmes at the International Press Institute (IPI)Milica Miletić, project and events coordinator at IPIZlatina Siderova, programme lead for grants at the European Journalism Centre Editing and production: Timothy Large

Episodes

Digging dirt from Brussels to Yangon

Digging dirt from Brussels to Yangon

From the Bialowieza Forest on the Polish-Belarus border to the depths of the Brazilian Amazon, reporters supported by the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund have left no stone unturned in pursuit of their stories. In this year-end edition of the IJ4EU Podcast, our hosts reflect on an exceptional 12 months for watchdog journalism, recapping just a few of the stories that have made a splash in Europe and beyond. “I’ve been amazed at just how global many of the investigations have been this year,” says Timothy Large, who leads the IJ4EU consortium. “These are stories that start in Europe but they take you to Myanmar or Sudan or Brazi or the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Investigations discussed in this episode include: The Gold Chain, exposing how European gold importers turn a blind eye to illegal mining, deforestation and rights abuses in the AmazonThe West’s Next Plastics Dump, revealing how rich countries are offloading their plastic waste in Myanmar — where citizens are too afraid to say noThe Edge of Europe, showing how a migration crisis is unfolding on an EU border in the Indian OceanThe Jungle, laying bare the dire conditions facing migrants and refugees in Europe’s last primaeval forest along the Polish-Belarusian borderBankers of Irregular Migration, revealing how a traditional system for transferring money is a boon to both smugglers and migrantsRussian Escape, probing how easy it is for Russian oligarchs to evade the sanctionsDangerous Diesel, proving how EU-based companies are fueling Russia’s war machine in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria regionRussia’s War, Europe’s Burden, demonstrating that hundreds of European components have found their way into drones used by Russia in its war against UkraineDefusing a Russian ‘Carbon Bomb’, showing how European companies continued supplying a Russian mega Arctic gas project after the invasion of UkraineThe Forever Pollution Project, a collaboration between 18 newsrooms revealing alarming levels of toxic chemical contamination across Europe Featuring: Timothy Large, director of independent media programmes at the International Press Institute (IPI)Milica Miletić, project and events coordinator at IPIZlatina Siderova, programme lead for grants at the European Journalism Centre Editing and production: Timothy Large

Does the EU have blood on its hands in Sudan?

Does the EU have blood on its hands in Sudan?

Sudan is in the grip of an underreported catastrophe. Fighting between the national army and Janjaweed paramilitaries known for war crimes has devastated Khartoum and razed to the ground cities in the western Darfur region. Against this backdrop, we speak with two investigative journalists who have exposed the European Union’s role in legitimising Sudan’s “militia state” and sowing the seeds of a conflict that threatens to spiral into all-out civil war. Gwenaëlle Lenoir and Patricia Huon are two reporters behind The EU’s ‘Pact with the Devil’, which reveals links between Brussels, former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir and Hemedti, a warlord now fighting to take over the country. Obsessed with halting migration, the European Union entrusted Sudan almost 10 years ago with responsibility for preventing migrants from reaching Libya, and therefore heading onto Europe. But the unintended consequences were catastrophic, the journalists say. For one thing, the EU's decision helped put control of borders along crucial migration routes into the hands of the Janjaweed, whose leader is now at war with the commander of Sudan’s national army, they explain. They also describe the situation today in Darfur, which they say is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis far greater than the one that grabbed the world’s attention in the early 2000s. “Twenty years ago, during the first war in Durfur, it was a story of burnt villages,” Lenoir says. “Now it’s a story of burnt cities.” Credits: Hosts: Timothy Large, director of independent media programmes at the International Press Institute (IPI)Milica Miletić, project and events coordinator at IPI Guests: Gwenaëlle Lenoir and Patricia Huon Editing and production: Timothy Large Graphics: Milica Miletić

Inside Europe’s illegal puppy trade

Inside Europe’s illegal puppy trade

Thinking of buying a puppy in Europe? A quick Google search will bring up countless ads promising the fluffball of your dreams. You can even have a dog delivered straight to your door. But a cross-border investigation into Europe’s booming puppy business reveals a stark reality: up to 80 percent of dogs advertised online are part of an underground trade run by highly organised criminals. This is a story of fake breeders, bogus pet passports and cross-border smuggling — all at a colossal scale. It is also a tale of coercion, exploitation and severe health risks. Freelance journalists Jon Erik West and Annick Hus give the inside scoop on an ongoing investigation into the movement of millions of puppies across Europe. They find that many people are forced by criminal gangs to pose as families going on holiday with their pets when they are in fact tasked with smuggling unvaccinated puppies across borders. After Russia invaded Ukraine, criminals even sought to cash in on people’s sympathies by “Ukrainising” puppies. This meant transporting dogs born anywhere in Europe all the way to Ukraine, just so they could get a Ukrainian pet passport, and then transporting them back to buyers in Western Europe who were eager to rescue a “Ukrainian pet”. The health risks associated with illegally transporting vast numbers of puppies in confined spaces range from rampant rates of parvovirus, which is deadly to dogs, to airborne transmission of rabies, which is deadly to both dogs and humans. This podcast is a teaser for an upcoming investigative documentary, “The Real Puppy Trade”. The project was supported by the IJ4EU fund for cross-border investigative journalism. Credits: Host: Timothy Large, director of independent media programmes at the International Press Institute Guests: Jon Erik West and Annick Hus

World Press Freedom Day Special Episode

World Press Freedom Day Special Episode

Due to the nature of their work exposing wrongdoing and holding power to account, investigative journalists are vulnerable to attack: smears, intimidation, legal perils and outright violence. Such threats multiply in countries where media freedom is under assault. In war zones, the dangers increase exponentially. Yet the work continues — despite bombs, death threats, harassment and countless other ways to silence independent media. And increasingly, investigative journalists working in difficult environments find it pays to collaborate across borders. This may mean publishing in other countries or teaming up with colleagues elsewhere. In extreme cases, it may mean relocating entire newsrooms to safer havens. In this special edition of the IJ4EU Podcast to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2022, host Timothy Large speaks with journalists from Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Romania, all of whom have fostered resilience through cross-border collaboration. These are tales of adaptation, ingenuity and survival. The Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) programme is Europe’s leading support scheme for cross-border journalism. Led by the International Press Institute, it provides grants and other assistance to journalistic teams collaborating internationally on stories in the public interest. Visit the IJ4EU website for more. Credits: Host: Timothy Large, IJ4EU programme manager at the International Press Institute Guests: Roman Anin, founder of independent Russian investigative news site Important Stories (iStories)Oleg Oganov, editor of the Centre for Investigative Reporting in Mykolaiv, UkraineMelinda Kertész, editor-in-chief of Transtelex, a Hungarian-language news site in RomaniaDragana Obradovic, Serbia director, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Producer and editor: Timothy Large

Chinese mafia groups flex their muscles in Europe

Chinese mafia groups flex their muscles in Europe

Think organised crime in Italy, and chances are you think of the Cosa Nostra, Camorra or Ndrangheta. But the newest kids on the mafia block come from China — and they’re expanding their influence across Europe. Host Timothy Large interviews Italian journalist Davide Del Monte, who leads a cross-border investigation into the criminal activities of the main Chinese criminal group in Europe. It’s a tale of violence, political connections and dirty business. For more on this investigation supported by the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund, see Chinese Underworld.

Investigating Frontex: Scandal, scrutiny and satire

Investigating Frontex: Scandal, scrutiny and satire

Frontex, the EU’s fastest-growing agency, is responsible for policing the EU’s external borders. In recent years, it has been hit by allegations of complicity in human rights abuses and revelations of secret meetings with arms lobbyists, which it then lied about. Host Timothy Large takes you behind the scenes of two cross-border investigations from the 2020/21 Investigative Journalism for Europe programme that thrust Frontex into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. One is the Frontex Files, which showed the power of both freedom-of-information requests and late-night satire. The other is Frontex at Fault, which used open-source intelligence to prove the agency took part in illegal maritime “pushbacks”. Together, the investigations forced an EU agency with the size of Moldova’s GDP to account for its actions before the European Parliament, the European Commission and others with an interest in safeguarding human rights at Europe’s borders.

Pandora Papers: Dodgy dealings in Slovenia and Croatia

Pandora Papers: Dodgy dealings in Slovenia and Croatia

Journalists from Oštro, a centre for investigative reporting in the Adriatic region, discuss the challenges of exposing white-collar crime in Slovenia and Croatia — two countries on the EU’s southeast flank where the space for independent media is shrinking. Host Timothy Large from the International Press Institute speaks with leading journalists behind A Small Haven for White-Collar Crime, an investigation supported by the IJ4EU fund for cross-border investigative journalism. Drawing on documents from The Pandora Papers, the biggest leak of offshore financial data in history, the investigation exposes tax evasion, fraud and the hiding of assets in offshore jurisdictions. The project also brought home the difficulties of conducting investigative work in Slovenia and Croatia, countries with much in common — including a deteriorating landscape for media freedom.

The Vapour Trail: Big Tobacco’s libertarian smokescreen

The Vapour Trail: Big Tobacco’s libertarian smokescreen

The latest episode of the IJ4EU Podcast takes a behind-the-scenes look at The Vapour Trail, a cross-border investigation into secret lobbying by the tobacco industry. This cross-border collaboration between French daily Le Monde and Dutch reporters collective The Investigative Desk exposes a secret alliance between Big Tobacco and networks of U.S. oil tycoons to thwart regulations on e-cigarettes and promote laissez-faire policies in Europe. Supported by the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund, the investigation exposes the work of fake consumer groups funded by the tobacco industry to promote vaping under the guise of defending individual freedom. Timothy Large of the International Press Institute sits down with investigative journalists Ties Keyzer and Stéphane Horel to discuss how US oil billionaires and Big Tobacco are dusting off an old battle tactic to bring libertarianism to the heart of Europe.

Shipping and climate: The making of ‘Black Trail’

Shipping and climate: The making of ‘Black Trail’

The IJ4EU fund has launched a podcast dedicated to cross-border investigative journalism. Listen to the stories behind IJ4EU-funded investigations, from the journalists who worked on them: how they built cross-border teams to pursue their topics, carried out investigations, overcame obstacles and created impact. In our first episode, we look back at Black Trail, an agenda-setting investigation into the relationship between two truly cross border topics: shipping and climate change.