[Ideas] Bastian Obermayer: On Secrets, Leaks and Scandals

Prize-winning investigative reporter Bastian Obermayer brings inconvenient secrets and hidden truths to the surface. He has uncovered some of the biggest leaks in the history of investigative journalism, from the Panama Papers, to Offshore Leaks and Nazi war crimes. How does he do it? Join him on a trip through the hidden meanderings of scandals.

ABOUT

Bastian Obermayer is a Pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter and deputy head of the investigative unit of the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung. He was the first person contacted by the Panama Papers whistleblower “John Doe”. Together with his colleague Frederik Obermaier he broke the story about the leak. He has previously investigated Nazi war criminals, serial killers and sexual abuse in Catholic boarding schools, and has later coordinated the investigative work of the Offshore Leaks and Panama Papers teams. He is the author and editor of several books, including the bestseller about the Panama Papers, which has been translated in 14 languages. He has received numerous honors for his work, including the Theodor-Wolff-Preis in 2009, the Henri-Nannen-Preis in 2010 and 2017, the Helmut-Schmidt-Preis in 2013, 2014 and 2016, the Deutscher Reporterpreis in 2016, the George Polk award, the Barlett & Steele award, the Perfil award and, also as part of ICIJ’s Panama-Papers-team, the Pulitzer Prize 2017 in the category “Explanatory Reporting”. He was also voted, together with his colleagues Frederik Obermaier and Vanessa Wormer, “German Journalist of the Year 2016” as well as “German Business Journalist of the Year” 2014. In 2016 Bastian Obermayer was awarded the prestigious Knight Wallace Fellowship of the University of Michigan.

GOOD READS

The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money (2016)

Letters From the Front – German Soldiers Tell About the War in Afghanistan (2016)

God is Yellow (2014)

Brother, What Have You Done (2011)