Courses

We offer a number of courses throughout the year as well as bespoke training to media organisations, Universities and NGOs both in the UK and internationally.

We specialise in training in the areas of database journalism and Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR), advanced internet research, digital security and online anonymity, forensic accounting and financial document analysis, investigating offshore accounts and tax havens, using the Freedom of Information, hypothesis-based investigative writing and story-building, libel and privacy law, and covert recording.

Here is some of the feedback from people who attended our courses:

Summer School

"The most intellectually invigorating weekend I spent for some time. Should be a requirement of any serious journalist!"
"A hub of diverse knowledge that takes years of experience, gained in a weekend Рinvaluable!"


"So reassuring and life affirming to know the good work continues. You made me very, very proud to be a journalist."
"I felt like a gannet chick, being fed large fish and still wanting more. Now it’s time to digest.”

Understanding Company Accounts

"Raj [Bairoliya] made accounts less daunting by speaking ‘normal’ English and translating the jargon."
"Brought a rather dry topic to life and conveyed very useful skills."
"The Understanding Company Accounts sessions at the summer school were thoroughly interesting, clear and informative, and was worth the summer school cost itself!".

Data Journalism Bootcamp

“I attended CIJ Bootcamp with very little experience of Excel. David Donald’s excellent teaching, patience and his ability to make statistics sound fascinating meant I left the course confident and keen to handle large volumes of data. A few months later, the investigative news website I work for partnered with BBC Northern Ireland to publish my first big data story. My analysis was based on 14,259 rows in Excel. Before the training, I wouldn’t have known where to start! Thanks to David and the CIJ, I have been bitten by the data bug and regularly have dreams about pie charts.”
Kathryn Torney, senior journalist at The Detail (www.thedetail.tv) in Belfast attended the October 2011 bootcamp and in May 2012 was short-listed for the first International Data Journalism Awards. Here are some of her data-based stories:

Jailed for Non-Payment of Fines in Northern Ireland
Thousands Imprisoned for Minor Crimes
Ambulance Response Times