Lockdown: the disappearing face mask
Closed borders and citizens who face tightened supervision over their daily lives. Fast-paced, wide-sweeping and often chaotic actions of governments, which are usually scrutinised by journalists and public opinion but which now, during the COVID-19 epidemic, have become a state secret.
The Nuclear Influence. How Russia acts on the Central European energy market
30 years later after the fall of communism, Central Europe’s industries are connected to the West in innumerable ways. But signs that its nuclear industry continues to be heavily influenced by Russian interests are everywhere. Authors: András Szabó (Direkt36), Matej Gašparovič (ICJK), Hana Čápová, Eva Kubániová (investigace.cz), Graphics author: Lenka Matoušková In the Czech Republic, […]
Pole and Hungarian brothers be. How Warsaw and Budapest use taxpayers’ money to build pro-government propaganda
Graphics by Lenka MatouškováWith almost five hundred media outlets owned by a single pro-government foundation and hundreds of millions of euros of state advertising transferred annually to fund it, Hungary’s right-wing government has built Europe’s largest propaganda machine since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Warsaw follows in Budapest’s footsteps with a growing stream of taxpayers’ money funnelled […]
Attila Bátorfy
VSquare
Konrad Szczygieł
The operation ‘Lame Rebellion’
False Twitter and Facebook accounts improve the way the public sees the chairman of the Polish national state broadcaster TVP, help politicians in their election campaigns, act as lobbyists for armaments companies and carry out attacks directed at journalists. These accounts reach millions of recipients. A large-scale disinformation campaign is organized by a Warsaw-based PR company and an ex-politician, while the whole thing is co-founded by the National Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Fund. The clues from the troll farm lead us to Bartłomiej Misiewicz, who is currently suspected of corruption.
NOTES FROM THE REGION
U.S. fears “malign influence over the region” of a Russian bank in Hungary
Hungary’s government agreed to limit the number of people who could receive diplomatic immunity in Hungary as staff or guests of the International Investment Bank (IIB). Only one or two dozen of them would receive immunity, Direkt36 has learned. The bank relocated its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest this summer. This story was first published […]
ABOUT US
VSquare is an independent, cross-border journalism initiative dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting and independent press in the Visegrad Region.
-
fundacjareporterow.org
Reporters Foundation (Fundacja Reporterów) was established in 2010 by a group of leading Polish reporters. For many years its main mission was to train and support journalists from Eastern Europe, especially from Ukraine – through workshops, conferences and journalism awards. Support to strengthen cooperation between reporters and the skills of investigative journalists in Central Europe is an important part of Foundation’s philosophy.
-
investigace.cz
The Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism (České centrum pro investigativní žurnalistiku) was founded in 2013 by Czech journalists to promote cross-border investigative projects, train journalists and address the need of local journalism to follow new media trends. Center was part of global investigative journalism projects such as Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Swissleaks or Global Laundromat.
-
atlatszo.hu
“Atlatszo” means transparent in Hungarian. Established in 2011, atlatszo.hu produces investigative reports, files freedom of information requests and commences freedom of information lawsuits in cases where its requests are refused. Atlatszo is Hungary’s first investigative non-profit journalistic organisation financed by nonpartisan and non-governmental sources.
-
Aktuality.sk
Aktuality.sk is an online news outlet owned by
Ringier Axel Springer, in the last few years have devoted a lot of
energy to building strong investigative team.
LEAK TO US
Have you seen something that you think should be a story? Do you have documents we should see? We want to hear from you. We encourage whistleblowers to securely submit all forms of content that might be of public concern. We take source protection very seriously. There are a safe ways to share documents and messages with us.
STAY IN TOUCH
We love to hear about what our readers are up to — both professionally and personally. If you are interested in hearing more about what is going on throughout the Visegrad countries, if you have feedback or questions about VSQUARE.ORG, please send to us your question/comment.
MEET OUR TEAM
-
Wojciech Cieśla
Polish journalist, since 2016 working with Investigate Europe. Co-founder of Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation), working with OCCRP and Newsweek Poland. Based in Warsaw.
-
Paweł Reszka
Polish journalist of Polityka weekly, co- founder of Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation). Worked as a foreign correspondent covering Russia; former head of investigative desk at Dziennik daily. Based in Warsaw.
-
Pavla Holcová
Czech journalist, founder of the Czech Center for Investigative Journalism. Closely working with OCCRP. A co-recipient of the Global Shining Light Award. Based in Prague.
-
Konrad Szczygieł
Polish journalist, former reporter at Superwizjer TVN and Oko.Press, since 2016 working with Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation), in 2016 shortlisted for Grand Press award. Based in Warsaw.
-
Anita Komuves
Hungarian journalist, former reporter of the investigative outlet Atlatszo. She won the Junior Prima Prize in 2012. Former Fulbright/Humphrey Fellow. Based in Budapest.
-
Szabolcs Panyi
Hungarian journalist at direkt36.hu. Covers foreign policy, national security, Russian influence. Former Hubert H. Humphrey/Fulbright fellow at Arizona State University.
-
Anna Gielewska
Polish journalist, since 2012 in Wprost weekly. Covers politics, coordinator at Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation). Shortlisted for Grand Press and Mediatory awards. Based in Warsaw.
-
Edyta Żemła
Polish journalist, since 2016 working for onet.pl. Former journalist at Rzeczpospolita daily and editor-in-chief of Polska Zbrojna, war correspondent in Afghanistan. Based in Warsaw.
-
Peter Sabo
Peter Sabo is investigative reporter of Aktuality.sk. He is uncovering corruption using mostly data-driven approach. He was wroking in IT sector as analyst before joining Aktuality.
-
Martin Turcek
Reporter of Aktuality.sk focused on corruption and data-based analytical journalism. Worked as an investigative data analyst for the TI Slovakia and Stop Corruption Foundation.
-
Eva Kubániová
Eva is a journalist working for investigace.cz based in Prague. Investigace.cz is NGO covering organized crime topics and the only Czech partner of OCCRP. She works on projects connected to Slovakia.
