"The Migrants' Files" is a consortium of journalists from over 15 European countries. It is coordinated by Journalism++, and is focused on examing the human and financial cost of 15 years of "Fortress Europe."
Two journalists share insights on this collaborative effort, looking specifically at:
Counting the Dead: Over 30,000 refugees and migrants have died in their attempt to reach or stay in Europe since the year 2000. The investigation showed how European policies impacted the death rate.
The Money Trails: Refugees and migrants spend over €1 billion a year to reach Europe. Europeans pay a similar amount to keep them out. A few companies benefit handsomely in the process.
Questions and topics we would like to discuss during the panel:
* How to collect data to measure something never measured before?
* How to coordinate 16 media organizations working in 13 languages?
* What tools do you use to coordinate work and databases?
* How do you reconcile on-the-ground reporting with data-journalism?
* How do you manage sending dozens of FOI requests in different countries?
This project is supported in part by Journalismfund.eu.
Award-winning filmmaker Firas Fayyad was twice held by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fearful intelligence regime for exposing human rights abuses and covering the start of the 2011 “peaceful protests” that turned into civil war. Fayyad offers tips to foreign journalists investigating the trail of Europe’s biggest immigration crisis in decades.
He is joined via Skype by a Germany-based Syrian who reached Germany after travelling on “death boats” from Turkey across the Mediterranean.
