The Resilience of News Media:
Data, Storytelling & Democracy
27-28 November 2023 SWPS University, Chodakowska 19/31, Warsaw
The two-day, international event will create a space for exchange on how to wade through and use (big) data, tell enriched (multimedia) stories, and contribute to democracy by supporting a news media ecosystem that is more resilient to misinformation.
Digitisation has changed all aspects of the news media landscape, from the way content is created, to how it is distributed and interacted with. European citizens and journalists are now connected to the largest intelligence network that has ever existed. On one hand, this rich data provides an opportunity for data-driven journalism to explore new stories and to delve into large (historical) datasets. On the other hand, the advent of these technological developments generates new challenges for journalists and citizens, such as the easy, prolific spread of inaccurate and misleading information. These issues have shaken the foundations of the journalism profession.
Conference day 1
In-person and online
Conference Day 1 will include a keynote presentation followed by sessions offering presentations and discussion around three themes: Search & Exploration of Data, Telling Stories with Data, and Tracking & Debunking Misinformation.
This session will explore the daily practices of working with data in journalistic and creative contexts. Speakers will address different stages of a data project, from data collection to data preparation and analysis, as well as various data collection techniques, tools and databases that can be used for journalistic purposes. This session will also discuss potential biases that can occur in the process.
This session will showcase examples of multimedia and data-driven journalistic storytelling projects and approaches. Speakers will discuss the value and challenges of data visualisation for data-driven journalism.
This session will explore the ethical implications of digital media and data manipulation and will discuss how to identify and debunk misinformation through various techniques. Speakers will share their practical experience in the field of tracking and dealing with misinformation.
Conference day 2
In-person only
Conference Day 2 will be dedicated to hands-on workshops on data-driven journalism, fact-checking and exploitation of the MediaNumeric Academy in an academic setting.
Natalia Żaba | 28/11/2023 | 09:00-10:30 | in person
- Number of participants: 40
- Profile of the participants: everyone interested in Pinpoint
A practical, must – attend session about the most popular and liked Google tool created for journalists and researchers which allows them to analyse large collections of diverse data in a short time. This workshop will walk you through the latest capabilities of Pinpoint, a tool that helps scientists and investigative journalists around the world to break the news, dig deeper into their stories, fact check and parse large collections of data at a rate of knots.
28/11/2023 | 09:00-11:00 | in person
- Number of participants: max 25
Data is reshaping the narrative landscape. Join us at the MediaNumeric Academy HEI Bootcamp, where we’ll prepare you to navigate this shift in your classroom. Together with other educators and HEI professionals, you’ll strategize and envision how to seamlessly integrate data-driven storytelling into your curriculum through a variety of didactical approaches.
Who Should Attend?
The “Resilience of News Media: Data, Storytelling & Democracy” event is open to a diverse audience, from content creators, journalists, and students to researchers and other professionals in the creative industry. However, the MediaNumeric Academy HEI Bootcamp is specifically crafted for higher education teachers and staff who are enthusiastic about incorporating data-driven storytelling into their classrooms.
Hands-On Collaborative Experience
Step into an immersive brainstorming space! We’re offering a refreshing mix of knowledge sharing and hands-on activities tailored to help you:
- Determine the most effective learning strategy—be it online, offline, or blended—for your specific class setup.
- Connect with like-minded educators and institutions passionate about the future of journalism and data-driven storytelling.
This workshop is more than just an educational experience. It’s a platform to foster international collaborations, COIL/BIP initiatives, and partnerships that could redefine the way journalism and storytelling is taught and understood globally.
Natalia Sawka and Maja Czarnecka | 28/11/2023 | 11:00-14:00 | in person
- Number of participants: max 15
- Profile of the participants: media students or professional journalists without previous experience in fact-checking. Knowledge of English and bringing a laptop will be required.
The 3-hour workshop will provide an overview of techniques and tools to detect and tackle disinformation shared online. Maja Czarnecka and Natalia Sawka, both experienced fact-checkers for AFP in Poland, will explain current trends in disinformation and teach the basics of digital investigation, such as reverse image search, archiving and geolocation.
Practical information
Entirely free of charge and open to anyone interested in data-driven journalism and storytelling.
Attendees can join Day 1 in-person or online. The workshops on Day 2 will not be streamed.
Held in English.
Coffee breaks & lunch provided.
Conference partners
Conference programme
Day 1 Monday 27 November | In-person and online
Time
Activity
Speakers
08:30 – 09:30
Coffee and registration
09:30 – 09:45
Opening & welcome
- Johan Oomen, Sound & Vision
- Mirosław FIliciak, SWPS University
09:45 – 10:30
Keynote
- Beata Biel, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery
10:30 – 12:00
Session 1: Search & Exploration of Multimedia Data
Moderator
- Johan Oomen, Sound & Vision
Speakers
- Alexandre Rouxel, EBU
- Willemien Sanders, Utrecht University / Sound & Vision
- Kuba Piwowar, SWPS University
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch break
13:00 – 14:30
Session 2: Telling Stories with Data
Moderator
- Natalia Żaba, Google News Initiative
Speakers
- Yasmina Al-Gannabi, Deutsche Welle
- Jakub Górnicki, Outriders
- Danuta Pawłowska, BIQdata.pl
14:30 – 15:00
Coffee break
15:00 – 16:30
Session 3: Tracking & Debunking Misinformation
Moderator
- Kuba Piwowar, SWPS University
Speakers
- Paweł Terpiłowski, Demagog
- Marie Bohner, AFP
- Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska, CEDMO, SWPS University
16:30
Closing
- Johan Oomen, Sound & Vision
Day 2 Tuesday 28 November | In-person only
Time
Activity
Speakers
09:00 – 10:30
Workshop 1a: Pinpoint Advanced by Google News Lab
room S310
- Natalia Żaba, Google News Initiative
09:00 – 11:00
Workshop 1b: MediaNumeric Academy HEI Bootcamp
room S312
- Susannah Montgomery, Inholland University
11:00 – 14:00
Workshop 2: Tackling disinformation shared on social media: examples and basic tools by AFP
room S310
- Maja Czarnecka, AFP
- Natalia Sawka, AFP
Conference speakers
Alexandre Rouxel
EBU
Alexandre is a Senior Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in the Technology and Innovation (T&I) department. He coordinates the data activities and collaborative developments on AI, metadata modelling and serverless cloud computing for media applications. Prior to joining the EBU, Alexandre had 23 years of experience in algorithm and communication system design, transforming research results into established products and standards.
Johan Oomen
Sound & Vision
The Head of Research and Heritage Services at the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision and a researcher at VU University Amsterdam's User-Centric Data Science group. His work focuses on providing access to digital heritage, both nationally and through international collaborations. With a background in information science, media studies, and computer science, Johan explores the relationship between participatory culture and institutional policy in his current research. He is actively involved in various organisations, serving as a board member for the Europeana Foundation, the EUscreen Foundation, and the PublicSpaces Foundation. In 2021, Johan Oomen was recognized for his remarkable contributions and dedication with the Ray Edmondson Advocacy Award, reaffirming his status as a leading expert and advocate for preserving and sharing our digital cultural heritage.
Marie Bohner
AFP
Marie Bohner is Head of Development and Partnerships, Digital Investigations, AFP. Marie works on the development of the global digital investigation team. She manages partnerships with peer digital investigation organisations. She coordinated the CrossCheck France project in 2017 on behalf of First Draft, and was their global head of partnerships until 2021.
Paweł Terpiłowsk
Demagogue Association
Editor-in-chief and vice-president of the Demagogue Association. Doctor of social sciences in the discipline of politics and administration, expert on eastern affairs of the Ambitna Polska Foundation. Member of the management board of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) and the Permanent Working Group monitoring the implementation of the Code of Conduct on Disinformation. In 2022, he was a member of the Working Group on disinformation about the war in Ukraine, established at the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications. His research interests include foreign and security policy in Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine's internal policy, Polish-Ukrainian relations, nationalism and radical movements, as well as disinformation and disinformation campaigns.
Beata Biel
TVN24/TVN WBD
Associated with the media since 2001, as a journalist and manager. She cooperated with, among others, "Superwizjer" TVN. Since 2017, she has co-created and managed the Konkret24 fact-checking project on TVN24. Since 2020, director of the Development and Premium News Digital Department at TVN. She also conducts educational activities in the field of journalism and digital skills. Winner of the Grand Press award in 2008 for the best reportage. With the Konkret24 team, she received the Grand Press Digital award in 2019.
Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska
SWPS University / CEDMO
PhD in social communication sciences and media, Professor at SWPS University. Author of approximately one hundred scientific publications. Her research interests include counteracting disinformation, professional ethics and axiology of communication, and discourse analysis and theory. She directs the work of the Central European Digital Media Observatory in Poland (CEDMO). Expert of the International Fact-Checking Network and EDMO's Group of Experts on Structural Indicators for the Code of Practice on Disinformation. Coordinator of the PR for Science - Science for PR club in the Polish Public Relations Association.
Miroslaw Filiciak
SWPS University
Mirosław Fliciak is a cultural and media researcher, director of the Institute of Humanities at SWPS University. He is interested in media practices, media archeology, and theory of cultural studies. He was the principal investigator on numerous research projects.
Susannah Montgomery
Inholland University
Deputy Director and Researcher at the Sustainable Media Lab, Inholland University of Applied Sciences. Over the past few years, Susannah has focused on developing strategic international partnerships, programming, and research opportunities across the Creative Business domain at Inholland University of Applied Sciences. Most recently, she helped to launch Inholland’s newest living lab, the Sustainable Media Lab, which is dedicated to making technology safe, helpful, and sustainable for society, ensuring that everyone’s rights are protected – even in the digital world.
Danuta Pawłowska
BIQdata.pl
Danuta has been a data journalist in "Gazeta Wyborcza" for seven years. Previously, she spent several months in the European Parliament, and before she started working in the media, she was an auditor and checked companies' financial reports.
Kuba Piwowar
SWPS University
Kuba Piwowar is a sociologist and cultural researcher. He holds a degree in Sociology from SWPS University and completed post-graduate Gender Studies at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Art History at the Collegium Civitas, and the Marketing Academy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Natalia Sawka
AFP
Natalia is a journalist covering Poland and has been working with AFP since 2019. She is regularly involved in training for AFP. Previously, she worked at the Polish daily newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza”, covering national news.
Willemien Sanders
Sound & Vision
Willemien Sanders is an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry at Utrecht University. She also conducts research at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. Her research interests include but are not limited to documentary film and non-fiction, film and television production, and digital humanities / data studies with a focus on questions of ethics, production cultures, and gender. At Sound and Vision she develops Media Suite Data Stories: narratives based on data research with the data and metadata of the collections in the Media Suite, a platform providing access to multi-modal collections, including, amongst others, the television and radio archive of the Dutch public broadcaster, digitized newspapers up to 1995, oral history interviews, and other audio and visual material.
Jakub Górnicki
Outriders
Reporter, co-founder of Outriders, an award winning media publication focusing on covering global issues. Jakub also co-founded Mixer - a knowledge sharing platform for journalists and reporters.
Previously, as a COO and board member of ePaństwo Foundation he developed it into a leading open
data/transparency NGO globally. During six years he established Code for Poland and took it into
Code for All together with Code for America. Open Cities - program helping European cities adopt
open data policies as well as Personal Democracy Forum in CEE and TransparenCEE. He remains a
strong ambassador of Central Eastern Europe.
Maja Czarnecka
AFP
Maja reports on disinformation in Poland. Before joining the digital verification team in 2019, she worked as a text and video journalist for AFP in Warsaw, covering political, social, economic and cultural news.
Natalia Żaba
Google News Initiative
Before joining Google Teaching Fellow Team, Natalia had tried it all in journalism: print, TV, online, radio in Polish, English, Serbian and Albanian languages for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Al Jazeera, Times Radio, Sky News and many more. She spent ten years in the Balkan region having fun and doing some journalism either as a media manager, investigative reporter or foreign correspondent. A 'techie' in-the-making, she enjoys Warsaw vibes, woods and discos.
Yasmina Al-Gannabi
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
About MediaNumeric
The MediaNumeric project stands behind the creation of the MEDIANUMERIC ACADEMY – an online academy for data-driven storytelling for media professionals.
The project is funded under the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, carried out from 1 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2023. The consortium is integrated by leading actors in academia, industry and audiovisual archives from four EU Member States: The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision (NL), Inholland University of Applied Sciences (NL), Centrum Cyfrowe (PL), SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities (PL), AFP Agence France Presse (FR), INA Institut national de l’audiovisuel (FR), Storytek (EE), and EUscreen Foundation (NL).
The MediaNumeric project has been co-funded by the European Commission under grant agreement No. 621610-EPP-1-2020-1-NL-EPPKA2-