Nima Elbagir

New ways to learn your craft

Nima Elbagir gives a masterclass in journalism

Four of the industry’s leading practitioners talked about their careers and offered first-hand advice on how to make a start in television at the RTS Student Masterclasses in January.

Drama Masterclass with Lewis Arnold

Lewis Arnold addressed the first session, devoted to drama. The director-­producer told the students that, despite the restricted state-funding of education in today’s harsh economic climate, they had one advantage that he had lacked during his formative years – tech.

Open-source material is transforming the world of investigative journalism

The work that we do… is really expensive, resource-heavy and time-heavy. Maybe we can pull together a really big investigation every two months, but we see the impact and the audiences – that’s what keeps CNN and other [news] organisations… investing in investigative work.”

Nima Elbagir, CNN’s chief international investigative correspondent, was extolling the virtue of combining old-fashioned journalism with forensic open-source investigative techniques to compile reports from the world’s trouble spots.

Nima Elbagir: Winning access to the frontline

Nima Elbagir, reporting for Channel 4’s Sudan: Meet the Janjaweed in 2008 (Credit: Channel 4)

The stained linen suit, the self-draining tumbler of Scotch, the well-turned tale about cheating death on the road – my every preconception about war correspondents has just been shattered by meeting Nima Elbagir.

Although she shares all their best qualities, she is not as other foreign hacks. She doesn’t drink. She doesn’t brag. And when she flies into a war zone she packs her prayer mat.

Really? “Actually, I tend to use whatever I can find. My camping towel will generally do.”

Big Data: What's the big deal?

At Covent Garden's The Hospital Club, former BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas moderated the discussion about big data asking how is it used to make broadcasting better?

He was joined by panellists Laura Chittick (Accenture), Jamie West (Sky Media), Mark Connolly (Havas Media Group), and Pedro Cosa Fernandez (Channel 4) in crunching the numbers around television.