Members of Europe’s investigative journalism community will gather in Budapest on September 17 and 18 for UNCOVERED 2026, the latest edition of the IJ4EU programme’s annual conference.
The event brings together IJ4EU grantees and journalism experts from across the continent to share lessons from investigations, explore the pressures facing independent journalism and exchange practical ideas on everything from newsroom sustainability and online safety to cross-border collaboration, funding and newsgathering techniques.
Alongside panels, workshops and rapid-fire presentations from grantees, UNCOVERED 2026 will feature one-to-one mentoring, informal networking and the presentation of the 2026 IJ4EU Impact Awards, honouring outstanding cross-border investigations that have made a real-world difference.
- When: September 17-18, 2026
- Where: Goethe-Institut Budapest
- Admission: Sold out
Thursday, 17 September
10:00–10:15 — UNCOVERED 2026 Begins Now!
A welcome to Budapest and the start of the two-day conference, with an introduction to what lies ahead and to the community gathered for UNCOVERED.
Speakers
- Timothy Large — Director of Journalism Programmes, International Press Institute
- Miriam Bruns — Director, Goethe-Institut Budapest
- Juliette Gerbais — Project Manager, European Journalism Centre
- Deniz Bozkurt — Events and Outreach Manager, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
10:15–11:00 — What Happened Next?
Panel discussion (Main Hall)
What happens after a major investigation is published? Former and current IJ4EU grantees discuss the consequences of their reporting — from resignations, reopened cases and legal or policy change to personal repercussions for the reporters themselves. The session looks both at what it took to publish the investigations and at the fallout once they entered the public domain.
Moderator
- Timothy Large — Director of Independent Media Programmes, International Press Institute
Speakers
- Andrei Popoviciu — Investigative Reporter
- Hoda Osman — Executive Editor, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism
- Nico Schmidt — Investigative Journalist, Investigate Europe
- Stéphane Horel — Investigative Journalist, Le Monde
11:00–11:30 — Coffee Break #1
11:30–12:30 — Told Not to. Reported Anyway
Panel discussion (Main Hall)
Four journalists from Turkey, Hungary, Albania and Azerbaijan discuss continuing to investigate despite government pressure, legal threats and other forms of intimidation. One continues to report on their home country while living in exile. The discussion focuses on the personal and professional cost of refusing to back down — and why journalists make that choice.
Moderator
- Amy Brouillette — Director of Advocacy, International Press Institute
Speakers
- Aleksandra Bogdani — Investigative Journalist, BIRN Albania
- Doğu Eroğlu — Journalist, Ortak
- Szabolcs Panyi — Investigative Journalist, VSquare.org
- Orkhan Mammad — Speaker
11:30–12:30 — Defending the Beat when the Backlash Comes Online
Workshop (Workshop Room)
A practical workshop on protecting investigative journalists from coordinated online attacks. Drawing on a decade of work tracking attacks on journalists, it covers identifying digital vulnerabilities, assessing threats and adopting countermeasures, as well as dealing with the emotional, psychological and professional impact of targeted harassment.
Speaker
- Javier Luque — Head of Digital Media and Online Safety, International Press Institute
11:30–17:00 — Power Chats with Mentors #1
Networking (registration required)
Twenty-minute, one-to-one mentoring sessions for participants who want advice on subjects ranging from grants and budgeting to cross-border investigations and satellite imagery. There are nine sessions available.
Mentors
Cora María Moyano Reymundo — Finance Manager, Arena for Journalism in Europe. Topics include grants and fellowships, budgeting and financial management, contracts and invoicing, basic EU rules, cash flow, business planning, and pricing/rates.
Jelena Prtorić — Freelance Journalist, Arena for Journalism in Europe. Topics include starting cross-border investigations, finding collaborators, organising research, finding environmental stories in the EU, and grant applications/budgets.
Michael Anthony — Co-founder, Vertical52. Topics include satellite imagery and Earth observation, finding appropriate satellite data, geospatial verification, radar/SAR, thermal and hyperspectral imagery, commissioning imagery, combining OSINT and AI with satellite data, ethical use of AI-enhanced imagery, and collaborations between journalists, scientists and satellite providers.
12:30–13:30 — Lunch Break
13:30–14:30 — Cross-border Snapshots #1
Presentation (Main Hall)
A rapid-fire showcase in which IJ4EU grantees have around five minutes each to present an investigation, a cross-border reporting challenge or a useful solution they have discovered. The presentations are followed by audience questions and reflections.
Topics:
- Europe’s gas diversification and environmental/social harm in the Global South — Giorgio Michalopoulos, freelance investigative reporter
- How scrap from conflicts feeds the steel industry in wealthy countries — Andrés Mourenza, investigative journalist
- Biofuel fraud and sanctions breaches — Camille Corcoran, reporter, France24
- Mining, steel and survival — Daniel Wizenberg, journalist, Revista Late
- Big Tech’s secrecy around data centres — Nico Schmidt, investigative Journalist, Investigate Europe
- Conflict gold and the EU defence sector — Vittoria Torsello, freelance investigative journalist
Moderator
- Juliette Gerbais — Project Manager, European Journalism Centre
13:30–15:00 — What It Costs: An Open Table on Gender and Investigation
Networking (Workshop Room)
A working discussion about the particular pressures faced by women in investigative journalism, including threats, burnout, obstacles to sourcing and advancement, and the cost of remaining in demanding investigations. Ukrainian investigative journalists begin by sharing their experiences and approaches that have helped; the second half opens up to participants to raise problems, solutions and questions.
Organised by Women in Media (Ukraine) and ECPMF, with support from the German Federal Foreign Office’s #CivilSocietyCooperation programme.
Moderator
- Olha Syrotiuk — Programme Coordinator, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
Speakers
- Anna Myroniuk — Investigative Journalist, Editor; Freelance
- Olesia Bida — Journalist, War Crimes Investigations Unit, The Kyiv Independent
- Svitlana Stetsenko — Journalist, Bihus.Info
14:30–15:00 — Public Good or Business Model?
Keynote (Main Hall)
Direkt36 co-founder András Pethő explains how the Hungarian investigative newsroom has developed an unusually sustainable model built substantially on reader revenue. He discusses its business model, lessons and mistakes, the numbers behind it, and whether similar approaches could work in other countries and markets.
Speaker
- András Pethő — Executive Director, Direkt36
15:30–16:30 — Cross-border Snapshots #2
Presentation (Main Hall)
The second rapid-fire session of short IJ4EU grantee presentations, again followed by audience questions and discussion.
Topics:
- How an ultra-Catholic movement influences Europe’s anti-rights agenda — Fernanda Seavon
- Working conditions in the automotive supply chain — Lucia Steinwender
- The reinvention of the transnational surrogacy market in Europe — Magdalena Bandera
- The business behind misogyny — Mayya Chernobylskaya
- Science journalism and investigations — Laura Margottini
Moderator
- Deniz Bozkurt — Events and Outreach Manager, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
15:30–17:00 — The Freelancer Files
Workshop (Workshop Room)
A hands-on financial clinic for freelance journalists dealing with the peculiarities of investigative work: tax treatment of grants, cross-border invoicing, multiple currencies and highly irregular income. Participants pool their experiences and try to develop practical approaches that can be adapted to different national jurisdictions.
Speaker
- Cora María Moyano Reymundo — Finance Manager, Arena for Journalism in Europe
16:30–17:00 — Bragging Rights: The UNCOVERED Quiz Challenge
Open Mic (Main Hall)
A quiz combining investigative and cross-border journalism trivia with deliberately odd pop-culture questions. The stakes are an IJ4EU T-shirt and, more importantly, bragging rights until the next UNCOVERED.
Moderator
- Timothy Large — Director of Independent Media Programmes, International Press Institute
17:00–17:30 — Coffee Break
17:30–19:00 — IJ4EU Impact Award Ceremony 2026
Awards (Main Hall)
The ceremony reveals the three winners of the 2026 IJ4EU Impact Award, selected by an independent jury. Each winning team receives €5,000. The sixth edition of the award recognises cross-border investigations from 2025 that produced tangible impact beyond publication, such as policy reform, exposure of wrongdoing or greater accountability.
Speakers
- Scott Griffen — Executive Director, International Press Institute
- Olga Komarova — Senior Communications Officer, ECPMF
- Deniz Bozkurt — Events and Outreach Manager, ECPMF
- Leila Bičakčić — Executive Director, Center for Investigative Reporting
Friday, 18 September
07:00–08:00 — UNCOVERED Running Club
Networking (Musical Fountain, Margit Island)
A relaxed 5.3 km lap of Margit Island, led by András Pethő and Gabriela Manuli. All running speeds are welcome, with enough time afterwards for participants to return, shower and have breakfast before the conference programme begins.
The meeting point is the Musical Fountain on Margit Island, and participants are asked to register through the Running Club Signal group.
Running Club Leads
- Gabriela Manuli — Director of Special Projects, International Press Institute
- András Pethő — Executive Director, Direkt36
09:30–10:30 — Power Chats with Mentors #2
Networking (registration required)
A second round of the one-to-one, twenty-minute mentoring sessions. Again, only nine slots are available.
The mentors and areas of expertise are the same as on Thursday:
- Cora María Moyano Reymundo — finance, grants, budgets, contracts, administration, EU rules, cash flow and rates.
- Jelena Prtorić — cross-border investigations, collaborators, research organisation, environmental reporting and grant applications.
- Michael Anthony — satellite imagery, Earth observation, geospatial verification, specialist satellite technologies, OSINT/AI and collaborative satellite investigations.
09:30–11:00 — Revenue Roadmap: Future-Proofing Your Media Business
Workshop (Workshop Room)
A workshop on newsroom sustainability and the fact that there is no universal revenue solution for independent media. Participants examine their organisation’s particular editorial niche and value proposition, then use that analysis to decide which potential revenue streams deserve investment and which probably do not.
Speaker
- Manon Verchot — Innovation Projects Manager, International Press Institute
09:30–10:30 — Conflict, Communication, and Care
Workshop (Main Hall)
The session looks beyond the obvious trauma and pressure associated with investigative reporting to the everyday tensions between colleagues that can contribute to stress and burnout. It explores how differences in communication styles create conflict and offers practical approaches to managing these tensions before they damage mental health or working relationships.
Speaker
- Emma Thomasson — Journalist, Media Adviser and Trainer
10:30–11:00 — The Uneven Split
Panel Discussion
An open conversation about whether freelancers receive a fair share of investigative-journalism grants. Topics include delayed payments, grant shares becoming smaller before work starts, and freelancers being left out of particularly labour-intensive or risky investigations. Editors, freelancers and funders are invited to consider what a more equitable system might look like.
Moderator
- Juliette Gerbais — Project Manager, European Journalism Centre
Speakers
- Sofia Cherici — Freelance Investigative Journalist
- Andrei Petre — Investigative Journalist, PressOne
11:00–11:30 — Coffee Break
11:30–12:30 — Cross-border Snapshots #3
Presentation (Main Hall)
The third and final round of five-minute IJ4EU grantee presentations, covering investigations in progress, reporting techniques, challenges and lessons learned, followed by questions and reflections.
Topics:
- Russian microelectronics supply chains — Lucas Tonks
- Collecting data in opaque sectors — Maria Christoph
- The footprint of data centres and nuclear weapons in Belarus — Investigative journalist
- A major dataset leak connected with the Democratic Republic of Congo — Robert Flummerfelt
- The weaponisation of archaeology in occupied Crimea — Nikola Budzińska
- Curaçao as an offshore gambling hub — Sam Kunti
Moderator
- Dumitrița Holdiș — Europe Programme Manager, International Press Institute
12:30–13:15 — Open Mic: Uncovered and Unfiltered
Open Mic (Main Hall)
An unscripted session in which attendees can take the floor to tell a story, vent, share something learned through experience or recount a memorable moment from reporting. It is deliberately unpredictable and informal.
Moderator
- Milica Miletic — IJ4EU Project Coordinator, International Press Institute
13:15–13:30 — Until Next Time
A short closing session reflecting on the conversations, collaborations and ideas generated during the two days — and looking ahead to wherever the next UNCOVERED conference might take place.
Moderator / Speaker
- Deniz Bozkurt — Events and Outreach Manager, ECPMF
That brings the official conference programme to a close at 13:30 on Friday, 18 September.