Berlin Legal Leaks

By Yaroslava Sennikova
CIME Staff

The Berlin team included representatives from Access-Info, n-ost, CIME, the Center for Investigative Reporting, the European Federation of Journalists, and BIRN, among others.

Markus Beckedahl (left), co-founder of Newthinking communications, talks to participants and panel members Gordana Igric (BIRN), Lydia Medland (Access-Info), and Manfred Redelfs (Netzwerk Recherche) about networking strategies.

  CIME took part in the launch of a new Legal Leaks project "Journalism and the Right to Information", this February in Berlin, Germany. The workshop, which focused on access to information and data security for journalists, is part of a larger project of Access Info and n-ost, the Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe.

  Professionals from across Europe discussed challenges and obstacles in using information laws, exchanging and analyzing success stories that used national and transnational examples. Project participants tried to identify the best methods to find data security solutions and legal support in their journalistic work. Computer Assisted Reporting, or CAR, was highlighted as a method of data use based on governmental data in electronic format and its many challenges were enumerated and discussed. Some of the ethical challenges posed in CAR include verification of material, privacy issues, and accurate representation of information.

  Discussions of various case studies were moderated by representatives of Access Info and n-ost, and included representatives from various international organizations.