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Friday, May 29
 

11:30am CEST

Networking session: Reporting on animal rights and welfare
Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:45pm CEST
TBC
Speakers
avatar for Tracy Keeling

Tracy Keeling

Freelance Environmental Journalist
I am a UK-based journalist who writes about a variety of environmental subjects but specialises in biodiversity reporting, particularly in relation to the wildlife trade. My work has been published in Bloomberg Businessweek, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, The Revelator, Yahoo... Read More →
avatar for Annick Hus

Annick Hus

Journalist and Researcher, Freelance
I’m a journalist and researcher specialising in biodiversity, wildlife, ecosystem health, livestock farming, and animal welfare. My work has been published in outlets including Apache, De Groene Amsterdammer, The Green European Journal, Falter, Follow the Money, and EOS. I’m available... Read More →
Friday May 29, 2026 11:30am - 12:45pm CEST
Z2.01 - Mediadrôme

2:00pm CEST

Unmasking Palantir's Business activities with 59 FOIA requests: A Deep Dive into Corporate Influence and National Risk
Friday May 29, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm CEST
In this hands-on workshop, we will unpack our year-long collaborative investigation into the US data-analytics company Palantir Technologies in Switzerland. We uncovered how the tech giant tried over multiple years to sell its products to various Swiss government institutions and how it failed nearly a dozen times.

At first, our written requests to the authorities all received the same answer: "We have no contracts with Palantir." We went on to extensively FOIA the authorities and found traces of just how hard the company had tried to wriggle its way into Swiss administration, including the Armed Forces. Documents from 59 FOIA requests across 41 federal offices, combined with additional research, exposed the corporate sales playbook of one of the most controversial companies in the world.

The workshop is built around three things we want to share: First, the specifics of the methodology: how we ran a cascading FOIA strategy keyed to the name "Palantir" rather than to specific documents, letting one office's release point us to the next. And how that approach finally surfaced our crucial piece of proof: a classified Swiss army assessment warning against the procurement of Palantir's products on data-sovereignty and reputational grounds. Second, what a year of reading Palantir's correspondence with authorities taught us about how the company actually sells: high-stakes meetings between Palantir executives and senior officials at international security forums and the World Economic Forum, pro-bono pitches that arrive in moments of public crisis, and the persistence with which the company cycles between federal offices after each rejection. Third - in hindsight, which aspects of our research and reporting proved most important once Palantir sued Republik before the Zurich Commercial Court. The interview in Zurich, the extensive right-of-reply process before publication, and the documentation of every exchange. We will share what the litigation has looked like from the inside, and what we would do differently in hindsight.

Links to the investigation:
• Part 1: https://www.republik.ch/2026/02/18/how-tenaciously-palantir-courted-switzerland
• Part 2: https://www.republik.ch/2025/12/09/warum-palantir-zum-risiko-fuer-die-schweiz-wird
• English adaptation on swissinfo.ch: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/war-peace/why-palantir-is-becoming-a-risky-bet-for-switzerland/9066633518:25

Speakers
avatar for Balz Oertli

Balz Oertli

WAV Recherchekollektiv
Balz Oertli ist Mitgründer und Journalist beim WAV Recherchekollektiv (wav.info) in Zürich. Das journalistische Handwerk gelernt hat er beim Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF. Balz stellte gerne kritische Fragen und schürft tief, er hat aber auch gelernt, genau zuzuhören als Rechtsberater... Read More →
avatar for Lorenz Naegeli

Lorenz Naegeli

WAV research collective
Investigative Journalist, Zurich, Switzerland. With the WAV research collective (www.wav.info).

Previously involved in large-scale collaborative research projects, such as the «Rüstungsreport» and the «Predator Files» or the recently published investigation on Palantir in Swi... Read More →
avatar for Marguerite Meyer

Marguerite Meyer

Journalist, Freelance
I‘m an experienced investigative journalist from Switzerland, currently based in Zurich & Barcelona. Got a murky letterbox address in Switzerland? Happy to help! —
Things I do: International stories with a Swiss twist or vice versa // AI & tech, defense & security, organised crime, migration // moderate panels & host events // journalist by day, slam poet by night// background in History, Political Science and Media Studies // Balkans & Mena... Read More →
Friday May 29, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm CEST
Z2.01 - Mediadrôme

3:45pm CEST

Investigating arms and defence industry - Networking roundtable
Friday May 29, 2026 3:45pm - 5:00pm CEST
This roundtable is for everyone who has investigated - or would like to - weapons trade, defense budgets, and military. What should we investigate next, and how can we join forces?  Join this roundtable to discuss ideas and network with reporters working on the subject across Europe and beyond.
Speakers
avatar for Hans-Martin Tillack

Hans-Martin Tillack

Investigative Reporter
Hans-Martin Tillack is an investigative reporter based in Berlin. Until 2025, he was a senior reporter on the investigative team at Welt and Welt am Sonntag. Prior to this, he led investigations at the Berlin office of Stern magazine. From 1999 to 2004, he was Stern's EU correspondent... Read More →
avatar for Lorenz Naegeli

Lorenz Naegeli

WAV research collective
Investigative Journalist, Zurich, Switzerland. With the WAV research collective (www.wav.info).

Previously involved in large-scale collaborative research projects, such as the «Rüstungsreport» and the «Predator Files» or the recently published investigation on Palantir in Swi... Read More →
Friday May 29, 2026 3:45pm - 5:00pm CEST
Z2.01 - Mediadrôme

5:30pm CEST

Meet up with Everlaw - learn more about our document review and discovery platform
Friday May 29, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm CEST
Everlaw's document review and discovery platform — free for journalists — helps reporters dig deeper into large document sets, understand data, surface insights, and streamline their investigations to chart a straighter path to the truth. Join this 30-minute session to get more information about the functionalities of our platform and how to use it! You can learn more at: https://www.everlaw.com/forgood/
Speakers
avatar for Chris Miles

Chris Miles

Media Partnerships Lead, Everlaw
Chris is the senior lead for media partnerships at Everlaw, an ediscovery tool free and heavily discounted for journalists working in the investigative space. Chris works at the intersection of technology and journalism, and he is an expert at helping bridge the gap between cutting-edge... Read More →
Friday May 29, 2026 5:30pm - 6:00pm CEST
Z2.01 - Mediadrôme
 
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