Registration for the 17th International Congress of Investigative Journalism is now open

You can now register for the 17th International Congress of Investigative Journalism of Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism), one of Latin America's most extensive journalism meetings. Held since 2005, the Congress will take place from August 3 to 7 in online and in-person formats with more than 80 activities and almost 200 speakers. The IX Research Seminar on Investigative Journalism – in which researchers present their scientific work, and newly trained journalists discuss their studies of course completion – is part of the online programming.

"We enjoyed the perspective of holding a mixed-format congress for the first time, and by doing that, we favor the participation of journalists from other regions and keep a face-to-face meeting, something that had not happened for two years," says the President of Abraji, Natália Mazotte. "In 2022, Abraji celebrates 20 years and faces the challenges of a presidential election and a polarized political environment. We have created a program that reflects this climate of reunion, celebration, and challenges for journalistic practice," she says.

Programming is distributed over five days, from Wednesday (3) to Sunday (7). On August 3 and 4, the free online part of the event will be held. The face-to-face and paid version (without live online sessions) will take place from August 5 to 7 at FAAP (Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation), in Sao Paulo. The last day of the Congress is dedicated to the 4th edition of Data Sunday, with workshops on data journalism and behind-the-scenes journalism investigation related to the topic.

The 17th Congress will include more than 20 foreign guests from countries such as the United States, Ukraine, Argentina, Peru, France, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Russia, Mexico, and Colombia.

In the online version, the guests confirmed so far are Natalie Remøe Hansen, Erlend Ofte Arntsen, Kristoffer Kumar, from the Norwegian newspaper VG, authors of the report that gave birth to the documentary "The Tinder Swindler"; Laurent Richard, director of the Pegasus Project at Forbidden Stories, which revealed the scandal of thousands of activists and journalists spied by governments; Ukrainian Katerina Sergatskova and Sevgil Musayeva, women who are covering the war; Julia Angwin, founder and chief editor of The Markup, created to investigate the impact of algorithms on society and the lack of transparency of major technology companies; engineer Christopher Bouzy, of Bot Sentinel, which focused on fighting disinformation and discovered thousands of false Twitter profiles as followers of President Jair Bolsonaro; Peruvian Paola Ugaz and Mexican Maria Teresa Montaño Delgado and Gabriela Martinez, who will talk about the attacks they have suffered in their countries.

The face-to-face and paid sessions will count on two data experts and visual investigations.

The New York Times' Haley Willis will show how the world's most prestigious newspaper rebuilt the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, after six months of counting and crossing various methodologies. The documentary "Day of Rage," based on the images produced by Trump's supporters, tells of the chronological order of events and how the aggressors dribbed security, took the center of power of the world's leading democracy, and threatened congressmen. The same team also revealed videos and testimonies of Russian war crimes in the city of Bucha, Ukraine, known for images of bodies scattered around the streets.

Ben Welsh (picture), from the Los Angeles Times, is responsible for the newspaper's partnership with Stanford University to collect and analyze vital public data. Big Local News compiles, processes, and shares hard-to-obtain government data. Its products enabled the newsrooms to produce in-depth stories on issues such as criminal justice, public health, housing, and education.

Another guest is Errin Haines (picture below), who created 19th News, a non-profit, non-partisan organization to cover the intersection of gender, race, power, and public policies. Salvadoran Carlos Dada, from El Faro, and Nicaraguan Jennifer Ortiz will talk about the worsening repression of journalists by autocratic regimes.

Errin Haines, founder of the 19th News. Credit: Susan Beard Photography, posted on the organization's website

Brazilian Rosental Alves, director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas – which was decisive for creating Abraji and other similar organizations in Latin America – will join the session dedicated to the year's tributes.

Argentinian Gabriela Bouret, from La Nación; Colombian Claudia Báez ( Cuestión Pública/ Chicas Poderosas/ Pulitzer Center); Peruvian Jason Martínez (Salud con Lupa), American Jessica Brice (Bloomberg) and a Colombian representative of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) will conduct trainings in the 4th edition of Data Sunday.

The 17th International Congress of Investigative Journalism is carried out by Abraji and the School of Journalism of the FAAP University Center.

The event is sponsored by Google News Initiative, Meta Journalism Project, Luminate, Grupo Globo, U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Brazil, Tiktok, Itau, Alma Preta, ARTIGO 19, CNN Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, Poder 360, Lupa, Metropoles, O Estado de S. Paulo and the Trust Project.

The event is institutionally supported by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasting (Abert), Digital Journalism Association (Ajor), National Association of Newspapers (JNA), FCB Brasil, Forum on the Right to Access Public Information, Instituto Palavra Aberta, Jornalistas&Cia, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, Portal Imprensa, Institute for the Development of Journalism (Projor), Oboré, Agencia Eko, Textual Comunicação, UNESCO. Media support is from GloboNews, piauí magazine, and CBN radio.

Google News Initiative, Meta Journalism Project, Luminate, Itau, CNN Brasil, and O Estado de S. Paulo also sponsor the 4th Data Sunday.

When and where

17th International Congress on Investigative Journalism.

When: Online event August 3 and 4, with free access

Face-to-face event August 5, 6, and 7, with paid tickets

Where: Faculdade Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP)

Rua Alagoas, 903 - Higienópolis, Sao Paulo, 01242-902