Guest visit to the University of Cologne
On 5 November I was invited to the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cologne to participate in the political science seminar on “Spin Control as a Profession” held by the Cologne-based publicist Werner Rügemer. Read more…
Seminar “Research at public authorities“
On 11 and 12 October 2014, I held my first seminar at Medienbüro Hamburg dealing with “Research at public authorities”. The seminar covered topics such as research at public authorities and city-owned companies via requests according to the German legal provisions on the freedom of information and trade register research. Another issue was the use of the new Hamburg transparency register. The seminar also dealt with research on local and regional topics using Open Data sites and social media tools.
Lecture on Internet research tools and computer-assisted reporting
On 17 September 2014, I was one of the instructors at the workshop on “Big data – investigative research and data journalism” organised by Verein für Medieninformation und Mediendokumentation, holding a lecture on Internet research tools and computer-assisted reporting. I explained the functionalities of tools such as the electronic Federal Gazette, the European Business Register or Research Toolbox Deluxe. Furthermore I introduced participants into computer-assisted reporting and demonstrated how to search large data sets with Excel and Google Fusion.
Interview in “DIE WELT Kompakt”
The daily newspaper “DIE WELT Kompakt” of 1 September 2014 published an interview with me on my research work regarding Wikipedia. It dealt with topics such as false information contained in the online encyclopedia, manipulations discovered and the transparency of the Wikimedia association. I also provided information on one of my current research projects revealing that Wikipedia administrators added marketing content to the encyclopedia’s articles.
Research workshop at RTL School of Journalism for TV and Multimedia
From 9-11 July 2014 I held a 3-day research workshop at RTL School of Journalism for TV and Multimedia in Cologne. Read more…
Company shareholdings of federal-state banks in tax havens
The first results of my research project “Company shareholdings of the Federal Republic of Germany in foreign entities“ are now available in the latest edition of “Capital” (18 June). Read more…
Special Distinction of the Alternative Media Award 2014
For my WDR blog I was awarded the Special Distinction “Critical Media Analysis” of the Alternative Media Award 2014. In her laudatory address historian Annette Floren, representing the association “Die Zweite Aufklärung” as sponsor of the Special Distinction, expands: „We honour Marvin Oppong for his exemplary and unique commitment to the freedom of information”. Read more…
Data journalism workshop at FEJS Annual Congress
On the weekend of 3-4 May I conducted a data journalism workshop at the Annual Congress 2014 of the Forum for European Journalism Students. The international workshop participants got to know the basics of data journalism and developed own small data stories. These were implemented with visualization tools like Datawrapper, resulting in output such as this infographic on military expenditures made by Andreas Kiener.
Company shareholdings of the Federal Republic of Germany in foreign entities
Rudolf Augstein Stiftung announced today (5 March) that my research project “Company shareholdings of the Federal Republic of Germany in foreign entities” was selected as one of the award winners in the “Sagen, was ist” competition. Read more…
Covert PR in Wikipedia
On 13 January 2014, the German foundation Otto Brenner Stiftung published my study on covert PR editing in Wikipedia. Read more…
Research workshop at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences
On 20 January 2014, I held a research workshop at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Technical Journalism of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, targeting future technical journalists. It covered topics such as professional internet research, Twitter and Wikipedia tools as well as research techniques making use of the existing legal provisions on the freedom of information.
TV workshop “Investigative Research”
On 15 January 2014, I conducted a workshop on investigative research at the Institute of Journalism at the Technical University of Dortmund. The event was addressed to students of the institute and dealt with techniques and methods of investigative research, open data and social media tools.