The Gothenburg Media Hub investigates the need for ‘Nordig’, a Nordic network of investigative journalists. Here is what we think, written by our project manager Alex Maxia.

Oh no, not yet another network…

The world of investigative journalism strongly relies on networks and conferences that are often thematic, which connect journalists with similar interests in the hope that sharing methods and ideas can lead to more collaborative stories and better use of resources.

In the Nordic countries, each country has its own national network that organises a conference. There is also the Global Investigative Journalism Network that organises a massive conference every two years, which is like the Euros football final equivalent for investigative journalists – you can’t miss it.

The scene of investigative journalism in Europe has also been developing at a rapid speed thanks to the hard work of colleagues who set up Dataharvest, the European Investigative Journalism Conference and Climate Arena, the European Climate Journalism conference but also within other forums such as the Perugia International Journalism Festival, which have given a good spotlight on investigations and methods used to strengthen security and accuracy in the work done.

We have all this – so why would we need yet another forum at a Nordic level?

Good question.

We think the Nordic countries have A LOT in common. Here is a list to highlight just a few:

• Extend over a vast territory with a small population
• Full of natural resources (money, money, money)
• Geopolitically strategic position
• Territories in the Arctic
• Part of the Nordic Council of Ministers (Who? What? Is that a thing?)
• Part of NATO and strong supporters of Ukraine
• A problematic history with Indigenous rights
• Recently transitioning from a fairly homogenous society to a multicultural one
• High taxes, strong welfare State
• Similar political and institutional structures
• Broad sharing of values (equality, environment, workers rights…)
• Common history and religious beliefs
• Three out of 5 speak a similar language to the extent that it’s possible to communicate in it without needing English (this is slightly debated for Denmark, but let’s pretend)
• Amongst the “happiest countries in the world”
• Criminal gangs operate cross-border in the sale of drugs and more
• Seasonal changes and Winter depression are real (unless you’re over 60 in which case you most likely live on the same street in Marbella)

Basically, a lot is going on in the Nordics.

Historically there has been a lot of competition between journalists and from news team to news team, but now there is an ongoing culture change where individualism and editorial ego give way to more open and collaborative approaches, often also strengthened by cross-border collaborations.

We believe that a specific forum to facilitate these collaborations and dig into Nordic issues, that go beyond the national ones and at the same time feel closer and are of course related to the European and global ones – is really needed.

But, what do you think? Do we actually need a network?

The Gothenburg Media Hub took upon the initiative of investigating if a Nordic investigative network is needed and has reached out to the national associations in the different countries to help spread the form.

Our goal is to meet the national organisations one by one and evaluate the answers of the survey in August. At that point we will decide if and which future steps to take, to build a Nordic Investigative Journalism Network.

Watch this space! More updates coming soon.