We will wade right into the task of international journalism with lead and news summary writing exercises.

1) Deadline Lead Writing Exercises from Breaking International News 2) Composing a Daily International News Summary 3) Case Study: Murdered Slovak Journalist Jan Kuciak and his colleagues, working with the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and The New York Times, uncovered European corruption at the highest and most dangerous levels. Reading (in Resources, to be done before class) 1) Jan Kuciak, “Italian Farms, Slovak Soil.” OCCRP, Feb. 27, 2018. 2) Jan Kuciak et al., “The Model, The Mafia, and the Murderers.” OCCRP Feb. 28, 2018.

1) Deadline Lead Writing Exercises from Breaking International News 2) Composing a Daily International News Summary 3) Case Study: The International Cocaine Trail. OCCR reporters following the late Jan Kuciak’s lead further investigate how cocaine travels via organized crime. Reading (in Resources, to be done before class): 1) Cecilia Anesi, Giulio Rubino, Pavla Holcova, and Jan Kuciak. “Going Bananas: Flanders Transformed into Hub for International Cocaine Trafficking.” OCCRP, July 20, 2018. 2) Cecilia Anesi, Luca Rinaldi, Giulio Rubino, and Lorenzo Bagnoli. “Unfinished Lives, Unfinished Justice: The Cocaine Cowboys.” OCCRP, Feb. 22, 2019.

1) Composing a Daily Regional News Summary: Central Europe 2) Case Study: Covering central-eastern Europe’s populist leaders and oligarch politicians. Slovakia and Hungary. The Czech Republic’s nearest neighbors to the east have become flashpoints in debates over EU support for Ukraine and government control of news media. 3) Guest: Jurak Kríž, Slovak media commentator and historian, journalist for conservative Dennik.sk. 4) Introducing major writing assignment 1, an 800-word international news story update with some original reporting. Required Reading (in Resources, to be done before class): 1) Selam Gebredikan, Matt Apuzzo, and Benjamin Novak. “The Money Farmers: How Oligarchs and Populists Milk the EU for Millions. The New York Times, Nov. 3, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/world/europe/eu-farm-subsidy-hungary.html 2) Andrew Higgins, “After Being Shot, Slovakia’s Leader Targets His Enemies.” The New York Times, Sept. 14, 2024. 3) Tim Gosling, “Slovakia’s Government is Fighting On All Fronts.” DW, Sept. 25, 2025. 4) Tim Gosling, “Civil Society in the Crosshairs in Central Eastern Europe.” DW, March 12, 2025.

1) Composing a Daily Regional News Summary: Caucasus Required Readings (in NEO resources) 1) “Georgian Authorities To Prosecute Eight Opposition Leaders for ‘Crimes Against State’”. Civil Georgia, Nov. 6, 2025. 2) Lucy Papachristou, “‘Five Minutes Away from One-Party Dictatorship’: Georgia’s U-Turn from Western Path.” Reuters, Nov. 18, 2025. 3) Sophiko Megrelidze, “Georgia Marks a Year of Protests Since EU Talks Stalled and Crackdown Intensified.” AP, Nov. 28, 2025.

1) Composing a Daily Topical News Summary: Environmental News 2) Case Study: Investigative Reporting on World Deforestation Required Readings (in NEO Resources, to be done before class): 1) Johannes Kaiser, Christope Lehermayr, Sebastian Reinhart, Addendum (republished in voxeurop). “How Timber Smugglers Are Destroying Europe’s Last Primeval Forests. Part I: the Romanian Eldorado.” Sept. 3, 2020. 2) “How Timber Smugglers Are Destroying Europe’s Last Primeval Forests. Part II: The Timber Mafia,” Aug. 27, 2020. 3) Ciurcanu, Andrei, “The Simple Fraud Undermining Europe’s Timber Tracing System.” OCCRP, April 8, 2024. 4) Maddie Stone, “The World’s Largest Tropical Wetland Is On Fire.” Vice, July 30, 2020. 5) Maddie Stone, “An Enormous Wetland in Argentina is Burning Out of Control.” Vice, Aug. 12, 2020 6) Eli Moskowitz, “Ten years On, New Data Shows Fossil Fuel Expansion Is Torching the Paris Agreement.” OCCRP, Oct. 27, 2025.

1) Composing a Daily War News Summary: Russia's Ukraine Invasion 2) Case Study: Covering the Ukraine War 3) Guest: TBA. Required Reading (in NEO resources): 1) Ksenia Churmanova, “From Starbucks to Steelworks: How a Businessman Linked to Ramzan Kadryov Benefitted from the War in Ukraine.” BBC News Russian, Feb. 17, 2023. 2) Olga Ivshina, " Russia's Losses in Ukraine Rise Faster Than Ever as US Pushes for Peace Deal." BBC News Russian, Dec. 30, 2025.

1) Composing a Daily War News Summary: Russia's Ukraine Invasion 2) Case Study: Repercussions of the Ukraine War 3) Guest: TBA Required Readings (in NEO Resources): 1) 1) Christopher Giles, “A New Tool Shows What War Has Done to Ukraine’s Forests.” Bellingcat, Aug. 18, 2023. 2) “Ukraine’s Contaminated Land: Clearing Landmies with Rakes, Tractors and Drones.” Bellingcat, July 2, 2025. 3) Andrew Giarelli, “This Ticking Time Bomb On Our Border.” Medium, Sept. 1, 2024.

How do investigative journalism consortia like ICIJ and OCCRP obtain and use public and leaked private financial data like that in the Panama, Paradise and Pandora Papers? Required Reading (in Resources, to be done before class): 1) ICIJ, "Offshore Leaks Database", 2) "Data Sources" 3) ICIJ, “ICIJ Releases Paradise Papers Data from Appleby” 4) "Pandora Papers Global View"

Required Reading (In NEO Resources): 1) Christo Grozev, “The Remote Control Killers Behind Russia’s Cruise Missile Strikes on Ukraine.” Bellingcat, Oct. 24, 2022 2) “Bridging the Gap: Using OSINT to Report on Women and Girls in Afghanistan”. CIR Afghan Witness, March 7, 2025. 3) “Restrictions on Women’s Rights in Afghanistan: Reported Measures and Timeline (2021-2025)”. CIR Afghan Witness, Dec. 2, 2025. 4) “Displacement, Detentions and Killings Following the RSF Takeover of El Fasher.” CIR Sudan Witness, Nov. 7, 2025

Required Reading (In NEO resources): 1) “Gen Z Protests Around the World.” Global Voices. Selected articles TBA.

Required Reading (in NEO Resources): 1) ICIJ, “Deforestation Inc.” (Read lead article by Scilla Alecci, “Environmental auditors approve green labels for products linked to deforestation and authoritarian regimes”) 2) ICIJ Investigations: “Caspian Cabals.” Read lead article by Sydney P. Freedberg et al., “Putin’s Pipeline”. 3) Majdoleen Hasan and Feras Dalatey, “Top Investigative Stories from the Middle East and North Africa.” Global Investigative Journalism Network, Jan. 6, 2026. 4) OCCRP “Aleph” database (specific datasets TBA based on student interests). Click and read “About” and then read Global Investigative Journalism Network (GICN) “Tipsheep for Reporters: How to Get the Best from OCCRP’s ‘Aleph’”

Required Reading: 1) Selected Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty articles, TBA.

Students will give 10-minute progress reports on their final stories for class feedback. Reading: Student work in progress.