IJ4EU Confidential
IJ4EU Confidential is the podcast of the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) fund, which backs watchdog reporting on cross-border issues across the continent. Each episode features conversations with the journalists behind transnational investigations that have made headlines in Europe. The show explores how these collaborative projects came together, the obstacles reporters faced, and why their findings matter. It also highlights the role of cross-border funding and cooperation in sustaining independent investigative work.
Afleveringen
Yes, AI is judging you
Secret algorithms are secretly judging us. Governments across Europe are using flawed AI for law enforcement and predictive policing, quietly shaping justice and playing with people’s lives.
Join us as we go behind the scenes of a year-long investigation across the Netherlands, Italy and Spain that reveals the shocking truth behind these “decision machines”.
This episode features investigative jou
How EU migration policy fails the dead and the living
This episode takes us behind the scenes of the Border Graves Investigation, an award-winning journalistic collaboration that documented more than 1,000 unmarked graves of people who died on European migration routes.
With insights from investigative journalists Gabriela Ramirez and Daphne Tolis, the episode uncovers systemic failures in identifying the deceased, touching on personal stories, the p
Europe’s bear crisis exposed
This episode goes behind the scenes of Bears Uncovered, a cross-border investigation exposing the surging brown bear populations in Europe and their complex relationship with humans.
With insights from investigative journalists Michael Bird and Ovidiu Stancu, learn about shifting bear management practices across 26 European countries, the ethical quandaries of culling versus conservation, and the
Can journalists stop a ticking climate bomb?
European firms continued supplying a mega Russian gas project after the invasion of Ukraine — until they were busted.
Hear from journalists behind Defusing a Russian ‘Carbon Bomb’, a cross-border investigation into how European companies continued to supply high-tech equipment and engineering services to a mega Russian gas project in the Arctic despite sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukra
The making of The Gaza Project
Fifty journalists. Thirteen organisations. Damning findings. Behind the scenes of a groundbreaking investigation.
This special episode of the IJ4EU Confidential podcast features leading contributors to The Gaza Project on their groundbreaking investigation that exposed “unprecedented” Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists.
At least 110 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the sta
Investigating Russia’s drone war in Ukraine
We uncover the chilling realities of drone warfare in Ukraine with one of the journalists behind a groundbreaking investigation into Russia’s drone supply chain, Russia’s War, Europe’s Burden.
Discover how Iranian-made kamikaze drones and European components are fueling Russia’s war efforts despite sanctions. Learn about the devastating impact of Shahed suicide drones on Ukrainian cities and the c
When journalists become gold diggers
Freelance investigative journalists Ludovica Jona Lasinio (Italy) and Quentin Noirfalisse (Belgium) reveal how the gold in your wedding ring or hard drive may have been illegally mined in the Amazon, “laundered” in the Middle East and refined in Europe.
Learn about the intricate “gold chain” that connects Amazonian gold to European markets via Dubai, and how a lack of regulation has allowed the un
Digging dirt from Brussels to Yangon
From the Bialowieza Forest on the Polish-Belarus border to the depths of the Brazilian Amazon, reporters supported by the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund have left no stone unturned in pursuit of their stories.
In this year-end edition of the IJ4EU Podcast, our hosts reflect on an exceptional 12 months for watchdog journalism, recapping just a few of the stories that have made a splash in
Does the EU have blood on its hands in Sudan?
Sudan is in the grip of an underreported catastrophe. Fighting between the national army and Janjaweed paramilitaries known for war crimes has devastated Khartoum and razed to the ground cities in the western Darfur region.
Against this backdrop, we speak with two investigative journalists who have exposed the European Union’s role in legitimising Sudan’s “militia state” and sowing the seeds of a
Inside Europe’s illegal puppy trade
Thinking of buying a puppy in Europe? A quick Google search will bring up countless ads promising the fluffball of your dreams. You can even have a dog delivered straight to your door.
But a cross-border investigation into Europe’s booming puppy business reveals a stark reality: up to 80 percent of dogs advertised online are part of an underground trade run by highly organised criminals.
This is a
World Press Freedom Day Special Episode
Due to the nature of their work exposing wrongdoing and holding power to account, investigative journalists are vulnerable to attack: smears, intimidation, legal perils and outright violence.
Such threats multiply in countries where media freedom is under assault. In war zones, the dangers increase exponentially.
Yet the work continues — despite bombs, death threats, harassment and countless other
Chinese mafia groups flex their muscles in Europe
Think organised crime in Italy, and chances are you think of the Cosa Nostra, Camorra or Ndrangheta. But the newest kids on the mafia block come from China — and they’re expanding their influence across Europe.
Host Timothy Large interviews Italian journalist Davide Del Monte, who leads a cross-border investigation into the criminal activities of the main Chinese criminal group in Europe. It’s a t
Investigating Frontex: Scandal, scrutiny and satire
Frontex, the EU’s fastest-growing agency, is responsible for policing the EU’s external borders. In recent years, it has been hit by allegations of complicity in human rights abuses and revelations of secret meetings with arms lobbyists, which it then lied about.
Host Timothy Large takes you behind the scenes of two cross-border investigations from the 2020/21 Investigative Journalism for Europe p
Pandora Papers: Dodgy dealings in Slovenia and Croatia
Journalists from Oštro, a centre for investigative reporting in the Adriatic region, discuss the challenges of exposing white-collar crime in Slovenia and Croatia — two countries on the EU’s southeast flank where the space for independent media is shrinking.
Host Timothy Large from the International Press Institute speaks with leading journalists behind A Small Haven for White-Collar Crime, an in
The Vapour Trail: Big Tobacco’s libertarian smokescreen
The latest episode of the IJ4EU Podcast takes a behind-the-scenes look at The Vapour Trail, a cross-border investigation into secret lobbying by the tobacco industry.
This cross-border collaboration between French daily Le Monde and Dutch reporters collective The Investigative Desk exposes a secret alliance between Big Tobacco and networks of U.S. oil tycoons to thwart regulations on e-cigarettes
Shipping and climate: The making of ‘Black Trail’
The IJ4EU fund has launched a podcast dedicated to cross-border investigative journalism.
Listen to the stories behind IJ4EU-funded investigations, from the journalists who worked on them: how they built cross-border teams to pursue their topics, carried out investigations, overcame obstacles and created impact.
In our first episode, we look back at Black Trail, an agenda-setting investigation in
