NR26

Last December, the international investigative project “Damascus Dossier” was published. The investigation is based, among other materials, on several tens of thousands of photographs showing people who were tortured to death or died of starvation. The work posed numerous challenges for NDR and ICIJ, the organizations behind the project.

Among the questions the team faced were: How can an international investigation involving tens of thousands of images be organized when the content is so disturbing that it may traumatize staff? What is the best way for reporters to approach surviving relatives who may have been searching for their loved ones for many years and may not yet have been informed of their death? How can reporting on such a sensitive topic be conducted in a way that balances the interests of the public with those of the bereaved?

Amir Musawy, Jelena Cosic, and Lena Kampf played key roles in the Damascus Dossier project. The panel offers insights into their working methods and explains the techniques they used to handle this sensitive investigation.