summer school 2008

The cij summer school 2008 took place from 18-20 July. We had more people attending than ever before and the conference was judged by all as a great success.

Just some of the comments from those who attended:

→ “I felt like a gannet chick, being fed large fish and still wanting more. Now it’s time to digest.”
→ “For a rookie like me it’s priceless to be around lots of experienced colleagues.”
→ “Hugely helpful, lots of new skills and insight, and at times inspiring. Many thanks.”
→ “Great networking opportunity.”
→ “Highly useful technically and a great course for getting you all fired up about stories.”
→ “Very well organised, excellent speakers, relevant sessions.”
→ “Thank you, fantastic, I’ll be there next year.”

Summer school 2008 speakers included:

→ John Pilger, documentary film maker.
→ Vandana Shiva, Indian environmentalist.
→ Nick Davies, author Flat Earth News.

We heard from Mark Schapiro, of the Centre for Investigative Reporting, San Francisco, Robert Wardle, retired head Serious Fraud Office, Professor Sheila Bird on how the news distorts statistics, and Solomon Hughes author of War on Terror Inc.

Speakers on the environment included: Irene Gerlach, Greg Muttitt, Julian Newman, Andy Rowell and James Sanders.

We also had Jim Nichol and Raphael Rowe speaking on miscarriages of justice, Drew Sullivan on investigating organised crime, Mark Hunter on testing and presenting your investigation, Paul Radu tracing the ownership of European companies, Richard Orange on local authority contracts and deals in the UK, a look at online security with Dimitri Vitaliev, and undercover filming skills with Alan Harraden.

Our courses this year included:

→ Law for journalists with Philip Conway, Justin Walford, Heather Rogers QC and Gavin Millar QC.
→ Understanding company accounts with Raj Bairoliya of FTI Forensic Accounting and a team of financial journalists.
→ How the Freedom of Information Act can work for you with Heather Brooke, whose stories on MPs expenses have filled the press in recent months and David Gordon, of The Belfast Telegraph who can claim a scalp.

Here is the timetable for the cij summer school 2008.