Europe: Wob-conference in Brussels gets cooperations off the ground

BRUSSELS - NOVEMBER 25TH 2008 - New journalistic stories using freedom of information acts as an integral and important part of the research are well on the way after conference in Brussels this weekend.

Wobbing Europe this past weekend gathered 17 highly experienced journalists from 13 European countries, another colleague joined online for a shorter part of the conference.

The aim was to share notes, experiences, tactics and not least ideas among the most active users of the wob-legislations.

The programme (doc, 406 KB)contained examples of best practice and how tough obstacles were surmounted. However there also were quite a few examples, where the needed information was not obtained easily. In this context, the cross-border cooperation between numerous colleagues evolved - with small teams gathering in between sessions, already making plans and sharing ideas.

German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an article about the conference explicitely mentions wobbing among efficient research methods:

"Three journalists from smaller countries told about their successes with cross-border cooperation when researching difficult obtainable information about side-effects of medicines aswell as the financing of European patient organisations by pharmaproducers. The German journalist Brigitte Alfter reported about the researchmethod of 'wobbing'. This is the Dutch term for the citizen's right through national or European regulations to get access to information from public bodies. Alfters committment amongst other things contributed to the public access to know, where European subventions are channeled."

Read more about the conference by FAZ journalist Hajo Friedrich on his blog.

Also Dutch magazine De Nieuwe Reporter mentioned Wobbing, as did the website of the Finnish Association for Investigative Journalism.

You can also read the VVOJ-reports interviewing wob-editor Brigitte Alfter and reporting about the conference session on wobbing in Europe.

The wob-conference was an integrated part of the European Investigative Journalism Conference. It was co-funded by the Open Society Institute, the Dutch-Flemish association for investigative journalism VVOJ and the Fonds Pascal Decroos, that runs Wobbing.eu.