Expanding public interest journalism through citizen-powered investigations
Sat 18 April 2026
15:00
Free
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How can journalists work with citizens to carry out joint investigations? From The Washington Post’s report into TikTok’s addictive power using data donated by more than 1,100 volunteer users, to On Our Radar’s co-created documentaries with citizens on housing precarity, citizen-powered investigations are opening a new frontier for public-interest journalism. How can reporters build these partnerships and expand their impact?
The Washington Post’s recent investigation offers a compelling example. By analysing 15 million videos from volunteer users, reporters showed how TikTok’s hyper-personalised feed significantly increased the amount of time people spent each day watching videos on the app. This investigation is just one of several examples that will be shared during the panel to show how citizens can become active partners in public-interest investigations and to discuss how more journalists can incorporate these collaborations. What does the future look like? Can we harness the potential of new technologies to ignite a new era of citizen investigations in which people can work in their own interest? Can they perform investigative tasks inspired by investigative journalists and powered by an independent investigative infrastructure?
This panel brings together OCCRP, the Washington Post, On Our Radar, and the Seek Initiative to examine how journalists and citizen collaborators can jointly uncover stories, broaden the scope of investigative reporting, and build trust where traditional journalism alone often struggles to reach.
Panelists will share unique examples and methods of investigating with communities. On Our Radar will discuss their work creating audiovisual documentaries with citizen journalists on critical issues such as the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, OCCRP will focus on how citizen collaboration can strengthen impactful cross-border investigations, and how technology and infrastructure based on the “anonymous but verified” principle will usher in the future of transnational collaborations. The Seek Initiative will outline its framework for training and supporting citizens as co-investigators including recent environmental projects, and the Washington Post will reflect on how involving users in its recent TikTok project revealed the real-world impact of algorithmic systems.
Moderated by Neus Vidal.
Organised in association with the Seek Initiative and OCCRP.
Modified more than a month ago
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Caitlin Gilbert
Caitlin Gilbert is a data reporter at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she worked as a U.S.-based data journalist at the Financial Times, where she covered many topics, including the economy, politics and abortion access across the country. She earlier worked as a visual journalist at Reuters. She received her PhD in neuroscience and genomics from Rockefeller University.
Paul Myles
Paul Myles is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and director of On Our Radar. Having previously worked as an investigative reporter for Channel 4, he joined On Our Radar to lead on their editorial projects, working with traditionally marginalised groups to find ways of amplifying their stories. He has a particular interest in participatory journalism and has published toolkits outlining On Our Radar's approach to co-production.
Paul Radu
Paul Radu is co-founder and head of innovation at OCCRP. He founded the organization in 2007 with Drew Sullivan. He leads OCCRP’s major investigative projects, scopes regional expansion, and develops new strategies and technology to expose organized crime and corruption across borders. Paul initiated and led the award-winning Russian, Azerbaijani, and Troika Laundromat investigations, and coined the term “laundromat” to define large scale, all-purpose financial fraud vehicles that are used to launder billions of dollars. He is a co-creator of Investigative Dashboard — a research desk that sifts through datasets to help journalists trace people, companies, and assets — and the Visual Investigative Scenarios software, a tool that lets reporters sketch out the people, institutions, and connections in criminal networks so people can easily follow complex investigations. He is also a co-founder of RISE Project, a platform for investigative reporters in Romania. Paul is an Ashoka Global...
Neus Vidal
Neus Vidal is the Executive Director of the Seek Initiative, a non-profit organisation that trains and supports citizens and journalists to carry out investigations in the public interest. She is a journalist and political scientist who specialises in access to information laws and media policies. She has worked as an investigative reporter in several countries, including Spain, UK and Germany. Before joining the Seek Initiative, she was in charge of monitoring violations of media freedom at ECPMF. Neus is an experienced conference host and panellist, and she is usually invited to speak on access to information, media freedom, rule of law and journalism. She has taught journalism at several universities and is currently on the Advisory Board of the rule of law programme Re:constitution.
Festival Internazionale del Giornalismo
Il Festival Internazionale del Giornalismo di Perugia è un evento annuale che riunisce professionisti dei media, esperti di comunicazione e appassionati di informazione da tutto il mondo. Si svolge nel centro storico di Perugia e offre conferenze, dibattiti, workshop e opportunità di networking sui temi più rilevanti del giornalismo contemporaneo.