The IJ4EU programme has held its first workshop dedicated to helping team leaders coordinate cross-border investigations more effectively.
The online session, held on June 17, 2026, was organised in partnership with Arena for Journalism in Europe and led by veteran investigative coordinator Hazel Sheffield.
The workshop responded to a growing need among collaborative journalism teams: how to manage complex investigations across borders, newsrooms, languages, cultures, time zones, and editorial traditions.
While cross-border journalism continues to produce powerful public-interest investigations, successful collaboration depends on more than a strong story idea. Teams must also agree on roles, responsibilities, communication habits, decision-making processes, legal risks, credit, and expectations from the outset.
The session offered practical guidance on how to prevent common sources of tension before they derail a project. Sheffield encouraged participants to move beyond the “lone-wolf reporter” mindset and embrace a model based on transparency, shared responsibility, and trust.
A key focus was the distinction between roles and responsibilities. Participants explored how clear responsibility mapping can help teams avoid misunderstandings, especially when several partners are working toward the same editorial standards from different positions in the project.
The workshop also examined the full life cycle of a collaborative investigation, from building trust and defining each partner’s local interest to managing deadlines, navigating cultural differences, and allowing space for different national storytelling conventions.
Participants discussed real-world challenges, including power imbalances, unclear leadership, “bossy” partners, and the difficulty of raising concerns once funding has been secured.
The session emphasised the importance of psychological safety, making it clear from day one that team members should feel able to speak up, disagree, and ask for help.
The training also highlighted support available through Arena for Journalism in Europe, including memorandum of understanding templates, the Collaborative Desk, the Coordinators Without Borders peer-support network and resources for newsrooms involved in cross-border projects.
IJ4EU will host a similar workshop for team leaders selected after the next call for applications, which opens on December 1, 2026.