We asked Nordic journalists if they were interested in a Nordic network for investigative journalists. The answer was clear: Yes.

In summer 2024 we published a survey on our website and reached journalists from across the region thanks to our collaboration with the association of investigative journalists in Sweden (FGJ), Denmark (FUG), Finland (TJY) and Norway (SKUP).

We had the impression that there was an interest for strengthening journalistic collaborations across the region, especially within investigative journalism.

Before starting a new network, we needed to find out if investigative journalists felt the same way as we did. So we asked for their opinions and here are the results.

Would you be interested in joining a Nordic network of investigative journalists?

A total of 75 people responded to the survey.

The majority answered positively to the idea of a Nordic network, a few were hesitant and wanted to know more details of what the network would look like before expressing an opinion whilst one respondent was not interested.

It is no secret that we in the team strongly believe in Nordic collaboration. I work as Nordic correspondent for the Italian news agency ANSA and have travelled the region long and wide. Together with Janina Wildermuth and Eden Maclachlan we also previously worked on Nordljud, building a network of Nordic Studentradios.

Over 70 people took around 15 minutes of their life to fill-in a questionnaire which in itself shows interest in the topic and willingness to share ideas on how this idea can be developed (more details in a separate article coming soon). 74 respondents say that they are interested or potentially interested in being part of a Nordic network and we don’t need more than that to start working. Another factor to keep into consideration is that the survey was published and spread during summer so some people might have missed it.

Language

Bringing five different countries together in a regional network poses its challenges, one of them is the language chosen to communicate.

What languages do you understand?

Though many in the Nordic region are fluent in English, when we asked our survey respondents to select all the languages they understand, Swedish prevailed slightly over English. But our website is in English so this post will continue to be in English (förlåt för det).

However, the discussion internally if to have the information only in English or if to have also a version in a Scandinavian language (and which one) has been already discussed within the organising team.

A Nordic Investigative Conference?

We asked people about their interest in a Nordic conference for investigative journalism, there was an overwhelming majority..

Would you be interested in taking part in a Nordic conference of investigative journalism?

Would you like the conference to be a physical one (IRL) a digital one or both options work?

The amount of people who expressed interest for a digital conference is quite small.

Beyond the survey I spoke to several editors of investigative journalism outlets and seasoned journalists in the field from across the region. Concerns were raised on finding enough time to participate ‘to yet another conference’ as the yearly event calendar ‘is quite full’.

Some expressed concerns that a Nordic conference ‘could compete’ with other existing conferences that are ‘also open to a international audience’. The albeit legitimate concern for competition on number of participants, which ultimately boils down to financial resources, is in my opinion quite short-sighted considering the sense of urgency that many feel in strengthening cross-border connections.

There is, in my view, the space and necessity for both national and international conferences.

So what happens next? – Hello Nordig!

We as Gothenburg Media Hub are working on coordinating the further development of this network idea. The name we gave this project is NorDig.

Bringing journalists from different countries into the same room has been a challenge and finding a way to collaborate that everyone agrees with is not always easy, but step by step we are making a lot of progress.

Over the past months we have organised regular meetings with partners in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark, worked on establishing a basic work structure and discussing strategies to bring the project to light.

Though we are not currently planning a Nordig conference, our team will travel to Norway, Sweden and Finland to organise panels and mingles at the respective national conferences for investigative journalism during the month of April – more details coming soon!

Participating at the conferences will be a great chance for us to present the work done so far and this survey. It will be especially important for us to meet people and gather opinions on a Nordic network and find out how such a platform could help journalists in the work they do.

Where will this project go? Stay tuned to find out. Sign up to our mailing list by sending us an email with MAILINGLIST in the object. This way you make sure you don’t miss any updates – when they come. Don’t worry, we won’t spam – it’s not our style.

Read more about the Nordig project here.

Any questions? Get in touch with us coordinating Nordig: nordig@gothenburgmediahub.com

Alex Maxia / Responsible for the NORDIG survey and co-founder of the project.

Any questions? Get in touch with us: nordig@gothenburgmediahub.com