Session 1: Ethics and Strategies of Investigative Journalism Covering Cases from Undemocratic Regimes

Journalism under Siege: Tarik Toros on the Ethics of Exile and Digital Reconstruction

The first speaker, Tarik Toros who is the Co-Founder of MoonStar TV based in UK, brought the gravitas of experience and the analytical precision of a journalist who has witnessed the dismantling of democratic institutions firsthand. Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Bugün TV, one of Turkey’s leading independent broadcasters, Toros was ousted from his position in the aftermath of the 2016 failed coup in Turkey and the sweeping media purge that followed. His subsequent forced migration to the United Kingdom marked not the end of his journalistic career but the beginning of its most radical transformation. 

Toros detailed the technical and emotional challenges of reconstructing a journalistic practice outside the boundaries of institutional infrastructure. Deprived of studios, staff, and formal protection, he began with “an iPhone, a clip-on mic, and a tripod,” reinventing his craft from scratch. The transition was emblematic of a broader phenomenon: the migration of journalism from institutional spaces to digital, often solitary, production. What Tarik Toros lost in terms of scale and reach, he gained in editorial autonomy and audience proximity. He underscored how open-source intelligence and publicly available data now allow investigative journalists to unearth connections once accessible only through leaked documents or confidential informants. Yet he also warned that the same digital tools that empower dissent can be turned into instruments of erasure through algorithmic suppression and coordinated misinformation.

Importantly, Tarik Toros framed journalism as a moral endeavor. Drawing from the legal oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” he argued that ethical journalism cannot rely solely on factual accuracy, it must strive for contextual completeness. Reporting only selective truths, he explained, becomes complicit in narrative distortion. The anecdote he shared about an astrologer arrested for a vague social media post allegedly insulting the Turkish president illustrated the absurdity of legal weaponization in authoritarian settings. Even ambiguity, he noted, becomes a prosecutable offense when power feels threatened.

In his concluding thoughts, Tarik Toros challenged the audience to reject the false binary between journalism and activism. In environments where even neutrality is criminalized, he suggested, truth-telling itself becomes an act of resistance. The task for journalists, then, is not to perform detachment but to uphold epistemic integrity, to ensure that the public is not just informed, but equipped to discern justice from its simulation.

Arbana Xharra: Feminist Ethics, Transnational Threats, and the Price of Truth

Arbana Xharra’s presentation foregrounded the embodied costs of journalistic courage, particularly for women operating within patriarchal and authoritarian contexts. Arbana Xharra, an investigative journalist from Kosovo and recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s International Woman of Courage Award, delivered a testimony that was equal parts analytical and effective. Her career, which began at the age of 18 following her experience as a war refugee and translator during the Kosovo War, evolved into a decades-long pursuit of accountability in the face of political corruption and religious extremism.

Xharra’s decision to investigate the financial and ideological ties between local actors in the Balkans and foreign authoritarian regimes, most notably the ideological influence of Turkey’s government, provoked a violent backlash. In 2017, Arbana Xharra was physically assaulted in a parking lot shortly after publishing a critical report. A red cross painted on her home foreshadowed the attack, sending a clear message: the price of exposure would be personal. Her subsequent decision to flee into exile was not simply about personal safety; it was about ensuring her children could live free of fear.

She mapped out the multiple modalities of repression that define authoritarian ecosystems: from strategic defamation to Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuits, from state-sanctioned media attacks to the quiet coercion of financial starvation. Arbana Xharra’s remarks were especially illuminating in their treatment of gender. She insisted that women journalists face qualitatively different threats, not only in terms of content, but in tone and implication. While male journalists may be silenced through professional discrediting, women are often subjected to sexualized harassment, threats to their families, and public shaming that targets their identities as mothers and daughters. These forms of gendered repression are not incidental, they are strategic.

Rather than retreat into despair, however, Arbana Xharra advocated for a diversification of journalistic models. She encouraged attendees to explore hybrid career paths, combining investigative journalism with podcasting, newsletters, and NGO-based research. What matters, she stressed, is not format but fidelity to truth and public interest. Her final call was not only for protection but for solidarity. “If someone gives you information,” she said, “protect them with your life. Otherwise, you’re not just losing the story, you’re putting someone at risk.”

Dialogue and Debate: AI, Ethics, and Journalism in Exile

The interactive portion of the session proved as rich as the keynote addresses, offering a space for young journalists and media practitioners to interrogate the complexities of survival, credibility, and digital adaptation. Questions emerged from a wide range of locales, including Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bhutan, and the United States, and explored topics such as the strategic use of AI in news production, protocols for journalist safety, and the psychological burden of covering violent regimes.

One of the most pressing themes was the use, and misuse, of artificial intelligence. Tarik Toros acknowledged that while AI can support data verification and enhance investigative efficiency, it also facilitates the creation of deepfakes, false narratives, and impersonated voices. Arbana Xharra expanded on this, describing how synthetic media had been used to disseminate fake interviews bearing her name and image. These instances not only undermined her credibility but also endangered her sources and collaborators. AI, they concluded, is not an inherently democratizing tool; its ethical utility depends on human governance, transparency, and accountability.

Another major topic was the impact and legitimacy of journalism produced in exile. Can it be meaningful if divorced from local immediacy? Both Toros and Xharra offered nuanced affirmations. Toros emphasized that while he could no longer walk the streets of capital Ankara, his reports reached Turkish citizens daily. Xharra added that exile had expanded her analytical horizon, enabling her to forge transnational coalitions and spotlight underreported dimensions of Balkan geopolitics.

Importantly, both speakers resisted any romanticization of danger. They reminded aspiring journalists that courage should not eclipse caution. “Start small,” they advised. “Build your credibility. Protect your sources. And always calculate risk, because without safety, there is no story worth telling.”

Concluding Reflections: Journalism as Democratic Praxis

Cemre Ulker closed the session by situating the day’s discussions within a broader arc of democratic backsliding and digital authoritarianism. She reminded participants that journalism’s function is not merely to report facts, but to create conditions for democratic deliberation, memory, and justice. In this view, journalism is not just a profession, it is an ethical infrastructure. Across borders, generations, and digital divides, the session had constructed a shared archive of resistance. The speakers’ testimonies were not just accounts of survival; they were roadmaps for how journalism might yet survive and evolve in the face of systemic hostility.

As the global media landscape continues to be reshaped by political polarization, algorithmic manipulation, and surveillance technologies, this session provided a crucial reminder: journalism may be under siege, but its ethical imperatives remain undiminished. And as long as there are individuals willing to speak, document, and resist, its future remains worth fighting for.