How to keep watchdogs barking in a politicised and perilous world?
Three former IJ4EU grantees will take to the stage at this year’s International Journalism Festival in the Italian city of Perugia to debate how investigative journalists can navigate the delicate balance between public funding and editorial independence — especially in a climate of shrinking traditional revenue models and increasing political scrutiny.
⇒ Titled When governments fund journalism: Walking the independence tightrope, the session will take place on Saturday, April 12 (09:30–10:20 CEST) at Teatro del Pavone. Catch it live or watch the recording later.
Many investigative journalism outlets depend on taxpayer funding to carry out their work, but reliance on public money raises critical challenges. How can outlets ensure independence while managing public perceptions and countering the growing trend of bad actors labelling journalists as foreign agents?
Hosted by Timothy Large, head of the IJ4EU programme and director of independent media at the International Press Institute (IPI), the session will explore these questions in the context of a fast-changing donor landscape and the politicisation of aid dollars under the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The panel features:
- Frederik Obermaier: Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, co-founder of paper trail media and a driving force behind global collaborations including the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers.
- Anuška Delić: Founder of Oštro, a non-profit centre for investigative journalism in the Adriatic region, and Balkans regional editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
- Laurent Richard: Founder of Forbidden Stories, known for coordinating high-impact investigations such as the Daphne Project and the Gaza Project.
The session is organised by IPI, which leads the consortium of non-governmental organisations that run the IJ4EU fund.
Non-stop struggle
⇒ IPI will also host a discussion in Perugia titled We’ve been here before: The continuous fight for press freedom, moderated by IPI Executive Director Scott Griffen and featuring former IJ4EU jury chair Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.
In this urgent conversation, frontline defenders of media freedom from Ukraine, Mexico and Turkey will share firsthand accounts of courage and resilience in the face of rising authoritarianism, disinformation, media capture and direct attacks on journalists.
The other panellists are Turkish columnist and former IPI board member Kadri Gürsel and editor-in-chief of The Kyiv Independent, Olga Rudenko.
Meanwhile, the European Journalism Centre, an IJ4EU consortium partner, will host a session on the challenges and opportunities emerging as USAID funding for journalism ends.
⇒ From funding crisis to opportunity: ideas and solutions in a post-USAID landscape promises to spark fresh thinking on how journalism can adapt and thrive amid shifting funding realities. The session takes place on Thursday, April 10 (15:00–15:50) in Sala Raffaello at Hotel Brufani.
Led by EJC Director Lars Boering, it will feature insights from Eliza Anyangwe (The Fuller Project), Sharon Moshavi (International Center for Journalists), Alinda Vermeer (Limelight Foundation), Peter Erdelyi (Center for Sustainable Media) and Mira Milosevic (Global Forum for Media Development).