On Difference Day – Friday 2 May – the VUB traditionally debates the state of journalism and freedom of speech around the world. Investigative journalist Cecilia Anesi has been awarded the Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression this year. She is the co-founder of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), a collective that began in 2011 and has grown to become a respected thorn in the side of organised crime.
How – and why – did you set up IRPI?
“I studied journalism and social science in London, with criminology as an option. That’s what sparked my journalistic interest in organised crime. When I came back to Italy, I began working with another freelance journalist, Giulio Rubino. The two of us and Belgian journalist Delphine Reuter made the documentary Toxic Europe in 2011. It explored the illegal trade and smuggling of toxic waste within Europe. Thanks to this documentary, we were invited to the Global Investigative Journalism Network conference in Kyiv. Outlets like The Guardian and Al Jazeera, as well as non-profit organisations working on investigative journalism, inspired us to set up our own non-profit, the first in Italy. We wanted to carry out in-depth journalism on subjects such as organised crime, human trafficking and environmental corruption in our own country and abroad. That’s how IRPI came about, more than 10 years ago.”
Has your field of operations grown since then?
“It has. Since March 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, we launched our online publication platform, IrpiMedia. It means we can publish our own investigations, and we’ve become the most important online investigative medium in Italy.”
How many journalists work for IRPI?
“We’re a team of about 20 – not only journalists but also social media experts, administrative support, an impact manager and two lawyers.”
Are there similar agencies elsewhere in Europe?
“I’d say first of all there is Paper Trail Media in Germany, and there’s also Context in Romania. There are some. We’re the only ones in Italy publishing investigative journalism online.”
How are you financed?
“We don’t receive any government subsidies. We’re supported by a mix of funds, project subsidies, donations and collaborations. As of a year ago, readers of IrpiMedia can support our work with a monthly or one-off donation. But that’s optional; the articles and cases are free to read.”
"It was an important signal that we will not allow ourselves to be silenced by the murder of a colleague. "
What are the most important cases you’ve worked on?
“That’s not an easy question to answer. Since we launched IrpiMedia, we publish two to four investigations a week. It’s not only the work of our own journalists: we also work with 40-odd freelancers around the world. There’s usually a link to Italy in their contributions. But to answer your question: we worked a few years ago on the Daphne Project, an international collaboration of investigative journalists that was set up in 2018 to continue the work of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. She was killed in 2017 by a car bomb outside her home. The project was coordinated by Forbidden Stories in Paris, with about 45 journalists from 18 news organisations in various countries working on it. The aim was to continue Galizia’s work, which looked at money laundering and organised crime in Malta and abroad. It emerged that Maltese officials were involved in smuggling oil from Libya. The Daphne Project was an important signal that we, as investigative journalists, will not allow ourselves to be silenced by the murder of a colleague.
“A similar project was A Murdered Journalist’s Last Investigation, in memory of the Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak, who was killed with his partner in 2018. Before his death, he was investigating with us the infiltration of the Italian ‘Ndragheta mafia in Slovakia and their ties with local politicians. His death was a huge shock for us. Continuing his work was not only a message to the murderers – we will not give up – it was also a tribute to Jan.
“A more recent investigation is Suisse Secrets, which we published in 2022, following a data breach at the Swiss bank Credit Suisse by an anonymous whistleblower. This revealed that Credit Suisse had accounts for clients involved in serious crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption. Then last year we published Desert Dumps. This revealed how European countries were dumping migrants in remote desert areas in North Africa, particularly in Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia, to prevent them continuing their journey to Europe.
“These are just some of the examples of international and relevant projects we’ve been involved in, but our field is broad. We also investigate women’s rights, climate issues, mafia practices and so on.”
Presumably this sort of work isn’t without danger?
“Some areas are more dangerous than others, like Sicily, for example. When we do fieldwork, our security desk is always informed. They know what time the journalist has meetings, and with whom, and they’re available 24/7. We’ve not been threatened personally yet, but we have been put under serious legal pressure. There have been and continue to be several lawsuits against us, which costs us not only money but also valuable time, during which we can’t carry out our investigations. It also creates huge psychological pressure on the journalist in question. I’ve been summoned several times, but fortunately never convicted. We also have a strict policy for our journalism: things like fact-checking and no offensive language.”
"‘Meloni also wants to increase penalties against investigative journalists, including jail terms"
Do these lawsuits demotivate you?
“Personally, and I think I can speak for our senior journalists on this: we will never give up. We didn’t give up when Jan was killed. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m responsible for a group of young journalists. I have to protect their physical and mental safety, as well as ensuring there’s enough money to enable them to work. As director, I’m also sometimes a manager, and that requires extra skills. But I remain passionate about my job. And honestly, apart from cooking, there’s not much else I know how to do!”
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is a journalist herself, but she’s not a fan of a critical press. How difficult is it for journalists under the current regime in Italy to do their work?
“Things haven’t improved. It was already difficult for us, as journalists, to obtain information from the government and the police. New measures have recently been introduced that limit journalistic freedom. For example, a law was passed this year that introduces dozens of new criminal offences, aimed primarily at restricting peaceful protests. Meloni also wants to increase the punishment for investigative journalists, including prison sentences. But we don’t receive government support, so in principle we’re still free to do our work as we see fit. Nevertheless, investigative journalists aren’t popular in Italy.”
How important is investigative journalism today?
“Very important. Even more so in these times of fake news. Fortunately, we have a wide range of resources – our platform, social media, books, live events, podcasts – that let us reach a broad audience of all ages. Two months ago one of our reporters was invited to speak to a local NGO of young people in Abruzzo who wanted to learn how to use research funds. That makes me hopeful.”
Bio Cecilia Anesi
Cecilia Anesi, 38, is an investigative journalist and co-founder/director of Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI).