Harachaja Kapa is an investigative journalism accelerator for activists, journalists, analysts, and representatives of civic organisations and the IT sector from Belarus. The programme includes masterclasses with leading investigative journalists from the region, followed by a grants competition for proposed investigative reporting projects.
When: Online lectures and master classes will be held from 10 October through 10 November 2022 for up to two hours a day, twice a week. The grant competition will take place in November 2022, and work on investigations will continue through mid-2023.
Who can take part: The programme is open to journalists as well as activists, analysts, and representatives of civic organisations and the IT sector with an interest in investigative journalism. We plan to select around 15 participants from among the applicants.
Language: Russian
Application deadline: 5 September 2022
Why? Investigative journalism is an important tool for public scrutiny, through which abuses of power, illicit money flows, and other misdeeds are revealed. Documenting and exposing abuses of power is especially important in authoritarian countries where there is no independent judiciary, and civic participation and access to information are limited. The crimes and offences exposed by investigative journalists can serve as evidence in support of sectoral and personal sanctions. Over the past decade, investigative journalists from around the world have published many cross-border and domestic investigations that have generated widespread public outcry. Some of them have racked up millions of views and spawned countless memes.
What to expect? You’ll take a series of master classes lead by top investigative journalists from the region who have authored some of the most resonant investigative projects. Together you will analyse some of their most interesting investigations, learn how to test the viability of your investigation topic, ask questions and get one-on-one consultations. During the programme, you will have the opportunity to discuss the idea of your investigation with a mentor and apply for a grant to fund your project as part of a grant competition. Well thought-out, interesting proposals will receive financial support, after which you can start working on your investigations together with your mentor, who will collaborate with you on the project.
Programme highlights:
- Preliminary topic viability discussion
- OSINT (open-source intelligence): intelligence based on open data
- Cross-border investigations and work with foreign registries
- Domestic investigations in contexts without open databases and limited access to information
- Data journalism: analysis and processing
- Factchecking: how to check facts and sources
- Producing, publishing, and promoting the investigation
- Security for investigative journalists
- Sanctions legislation in the EU countries as a tool to contain Russian and Belarusian dirty money: the example of Czechia
- With the grant competition we are ready to support complex investigations that will take longer to complete, as well as projects that can bring quick results.
How to apply: Fill out the application form by 5 September 2022. We will notify you of the selection results by 16 September 2022.
The Prague Civil Society Centre will take all possible measures to ensure the cybersecurity of programme participants.
If you have any questions, please email harachajakapa@gmail.com