K2.0 brings Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and software engineer Matthew Caruana Galizia to Prishtina to talk about the legal and physical threats journalists face when covering corruption.
Caruana Galizia worked at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for five years, where he was a lead engineer on six major investigations, including: Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, Luxembourg Leaks, Panama Papers, and Paradise Papers. His unit’s core work on the Panama Papers, which aided the investigations of hundreds of journalists worldwide, led to ICIJ and Süddeutsche Zeitung winning the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2017.
However, Caruana Galizia left ICIJ in 2018 to devote himself to the case involving the assassination of his mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a car bomb attack in October 2017, after 30 years of reporting on corruption, abuses of power and politics in Malta. The case made headlines and raised debates over journalist safety across the world.
Prior to the attack that ended her life, Daphne Caruana Galizia had faced other forms of retaliation for covering corruption, including an illegal arrest, being sued by politicians, multiple threats and having her bank accounts frozen. While each of these incidents made it evident that Daphne Caruana Galizia was being targeted for her work, no protective measures were taken to prevent her harm.
Journalists in Kosovo are also no strangers to threats, intimidation and even violent incidents. A case involving shots being fired at the offices of the KoSSev news portal in Mitrovica in 2015 remains unresolved, while last year saw a spike in the number of journalists being attacked or threatened compared to recent years.
In his talk on Nov. 29 at K2.0’s new space, Matthew Caruana Galizia will talk about how we can do a better job recognizing the threats journalists face, and how we can best respond to them. Translation in English/Albanian will be provided.
National and international standards on defamation and practical advice for journalists
The following day, Friday Nov. 30, Matthew Caruana Galizia will lead a training session alongside media rights lawyer Flutura Kusari. The training will primarily focus on defamation case law in regard to Article 10 of the European Convention Human Rights, which covers freedom of expression. Topics that will be covered during the training are:
- What are Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation?
- Balancing the right to freedom of expression and the right to protect reputation
- Value judgments vs. facts
- Parliamentary privilege
- Right of reply/correction
- Protection of sources in defamation cases
- Ethical requirements in defamation (self-regulation & state-regulation)
The training will run from 10:00 to 16:00 and will be held at the K2.0 Office.
Due to a limited number of places for the training, we kindly ask you to send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Volume UP” to register (for free) as a participant. The deadline for registration is 11:00 on Thursday, Nov. 29.
As the training places are limited and will be given to the first 20 persons who register via email, please, make sure you join us if you register for this unique opportunity!K
*Translation in English/Albanian will be provided.
Volume UP is a K2.0 program focused on exploring journalism models and communication approaches that change our perceptions of reality and collectivity in our daily life, beyond the everyday 24/7 news cycle.
This Volume UP talk is supported by the Council of Europe Office in Prishtina.
