Direkt36 is a Hungarian center for investigative journalism. Being independent from publishing houses – Direkt36 is financed by crowdfunding and sponsors – they have the unique selling point of having the time and the means for lengthy and time consuming investigative researches other publishing houses do not have.

Gergő Sáling, founder of Direkt 36: “Direkt36 is a new investigative journalism center in Hungary with the mission to expose wrongdoings and abuse of power, by producing stories based on tough questions and hard facts. We provide the Hungarian and international audience with in-depth - often data-driven - accountability reporting that most of the Hungarian media outlets cannot afford. Direkt36 is not part of the competition of news organizations covering daily events, which allows us to use our resources to focus exclusively on conducting systematic investigations. With this unique approach, which proved to be successful in Western countries but has not taken roots in Hungary, we can highlight previously hidden problems of the society. This is indispensable for making Hungary a stronger and healthier democracy.“

Diane Kemp is a Professor of Broadcast Journalism at the Birmingham School of Media. She teaches radio and television skills and newsroom/production practice on the MA in International Broadcast Journalism and the professionally accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism courses. She joined the University in 1992.

Prior to that Diane worked for the BBC in local radio and regional television. She also freelanced for BBC network radio, although she initially started out in commercial radio.

Diane has been a member of the Broadcast Journalism Training Council representing other Universities on the Board for some years. She’s also an external examiner at two other ‘BJTC’ accredited institutions.

Through her work with the BJTC she has contributed to and run workshops for the Council of Europe in their anti-discrimination campaign. Diane also collaborates with colleagues from the University’s Centre for Criminal Justice, writing articles investigating media coverage of serious crime.

Francesco Conte is the founder of Termini TV : “Real life stories from a place of transit: migrations, travels, memories, experiences of those who work, live, pass by train stations, especially in Termini.” Francesco launched his project in 2014 and is still building up its financial background. Currently he sells one video per week to an Italian media, Internazionale. In Italy Crowdfunding and sponsoring are arduous. He works with a group of volunteers, ten in total. Termini TV is a good example for work in progress: realistically showing the obstacles one faces when launching such a unique idea, the perseverance one needs to make a successful enterprise out of it and the steps that lead forward.

Athens Live is an English speaking Greek multimedia platform which is just now in the process of crowdfunding. Its members include video- and photojournalists of FOSPHOTOS who have been working together for years in various forms of collaboration, e.g. the magazine called Popaganda or the web documentary on the Syriza party by former Channel 4 and The Guardian author Paul Mason "This Is A Coup".

Tassos Morfis, Editor-in-Chief: “AthensLive will provide English-language reporting, analysis, and commentary on the situation in Athens and throughout Greece. AthensLive is a collaboration between Greek and international journalists and photographers, who are building an alternative to the corporate-owned Greek press which is often ruled by established political interests. Totally detached from any mainstream media organization, we don’t expect any traditional advertising revenue.”

The German Krautreporter is an online platform of independent journalists focusing on politics, economy and society. They have been on the market since 2014, financed by crowdfunding and thus not relying on advertisements. They are Germany’s first crowdfunded journalism project, having experienced a great hype around their creation and some challenges regarding how to continue and keep their numerous members after the first crowdfunded year was over. They also have their own crowdfunding platform for journalists.

Sebastian Esser, Editor:  “Krautreporter is a community for long-form journalism based in Berlin, Germany. Our ten-person editorial team publishes original background pieces every day on topics ranging from politics and economics to social life. We focus on connections behind the news and try to give a wider view on current affairs by telling long-format stories with the help of multimedia elements. Our focus is collaborative journalism: we work in close contact with our members, asking them for input, expertise and contacts in the reporting process. Krautreporter was funded by more than 17.000 backers in a crowdfunding campaign during the summer of 2014. The digital magazine is completely independent from advertising.”