Follow the Money: Journalism, Data and Accountability

In today’s media landscape, journalists are expected to investigate complex financial issues and expose hidden power structures using digital tools. This course teaches students how to conduct investigative journalism on economic and financial topics, combining classic watchdog traditions with modern data-driven methods.

Students will gain insight into economic systems and financial documents and learn to 'follow the money' using digital methods including scraping, databases, and data analysis. The course includes ethical reflections, real-world case studies, and hands-on assignments using both open-source data and official company records.

This course is taught in English.

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After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• understands basic structures of the economy, public budgets, and financial accountability.

• can identify different sources of financial and economic data in public and private sectors.

• can explain the role of journalism in exposing financial misconduct and informing the public.

• knows key digital tools and techniques for investigative journalism (e.g., scraping, basic coding, databases, AI).

Skills

The student can

• find, clean, and analyze structured financial and economic data.

• detect patterns of irregularities or misconduct through investigative methods.

• use digital tools to support investigative findings (e.g., Excel, data visualizations, Python or SQL basics).

• present journalistic findings clearly through writing, data storytelling, and visualization.

General competence

The student can

• critically reflect on transparency, power, and the role of journalism in economic systems.

• collaborate in teams on research-based investigations.

• communicate complex issues to the public in a clear, ethical and engaging manner

Lectures

Workshops

Group work

Feedback sessions

The teaching takes place in person, on campus.

The following assignments must be completed and approved to qualify for the final exam:

1. Group Investigation: Digital Follow-the-Money Project Students (2–4 per group) will identify a financial topic or case, develop a hypothesis, collect and analyze relevant data, and present findings. Group presentation (10–15 minutes) and written summary (3–5 pages).

2. Thematic Reading Presentation Groups will present core concepts or tools from the reading list, focusing on financial journalism and investigative methods. Group presentation (10–15 minutes) and written summary (3–4 pages).

3. Individual Opinion Piece A one to two-page op-ed written for a general audience, applying journalistic insights to a recent financial controversy, case, or policy issue.

Purpose of the assignments: To give students practical experience with financial journalism and investigative methods, including data analysis, hypothesis development, and public communication.

All assignments must be submitted by deadline. One re-submission opportunity is granted if needed.

Individual take-home exam (6–8 pages), written over three days. The paper should reflect critically on a selected case or theme covered in the course, linking practical and theoretical perspectives. May include references to group work.

Requirements: Arial/Calibri 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing.

The paper may be submitted in English or Norwegian.

All support materials are permitted during the examination, provided that the rules for proper source referencing are strictly observed.

Use of AI in academic work is only allowed as a supportive tool (e.g., for research overview, language improvement, or data analysis), never as a substitute for your own thinking and writing, and any use of AI must be clearly acknowledged and referenced according to academic standards.

Grade scale A-F

All exam papers are assessed by two examiners.