Fellowship Cohort #5

Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Fellows of AlgorithmWatch’s reporting program will research surveillance and discrimination

As we approach the end of the third year of the Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellowship, we are delighted to welcome a new cohort of eight journalists and researchers. This round will focus on two key clusters: digital surveillance and AI-driven intimate image abuse.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Marta specializes in environmental crimes, migration, gender rights, and indigenous rights. She produces interdisciplinary and cross-media reports with an intersectional and decolonized perspective, and her work has been published in media outlets such as Wired, Voxeurop, Lavialibera, Lifegate, OBCT, Unbias the News, Altreconomia, QCode, and In Genere. She is a member of the journalism collectives Info.Nodes, DatiBenecomune and Clean Energy Wire (CLEW), and has received scholarships from the JournalismFund, the Earth Journalism Network, and the International Journalists Programmes. She has also been part of investigative journalism workshops by Display Europe and WepodAcademy, and of science journalism by the European Research Centre (Frontiers) program and the European Geosciences Union (EGU). 

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Laura is an investigative journalist based in Italy. She mainly writes about state and corporate surveillance for the Italian investigative newspaper IrpiMedia. She has published independent investigations and research on the use of biometric technologies at borders, communities and gender issues. She works as a freelancer for national and international newspapers.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Mayya is a freelance journalist based in Germany. She reports locally from Frankfurt/Hesse, as well as contributing to cross-border investigations. After studying history, she undertook professional training in economic reporting. Her work focuses on gender-related social and political issues, particularly anti-feminist movements and their impact. She often covers digital cultures and their societal effects, including how online groups organize, mobilize, and influence the offline world. As an AlgorithmWatch fellow, she will explore how reactionary actors leverage AI-enabled platforms and data infrastructures and its impact on fundamental rights.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Cécile is a freelance journalist with more than 10 years of experience in international broadcast media and newspapers. Since 2014 she extensively covered migration, human and women rights throughout Europe, Africa and Central America. Over the years, her journalistic approach slowly moved from a long-form and long-term approach to an investigative documentary work. Her work has appeared in Mediapart, RFI, ARTE and others. As an AlgorithmWatch fellow, she will investigate how the rise of AI-generated child sexual abuse images is broadening the range of children exposure to sexual violence.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Lotte is an investigative journalist from Belgium, currently based in Sweden. She reports on environmental and social issues, with work published in outlets such as De Morgen, Knack, and Eos. She was a 2025 fellow of the European Collaborative Journalism Program by Arena for Journalism. Her investigations have been supported by JournalismFund Europe and IJ4EU.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Carlotta is an award-winning investigative journalist and editor. She covers topics such as gender inequality, digital violence, migration, human trafficking, and mental health. She is passionate about using data, digital tools, and evidence-based methods to create impactful, human-centered stories in innovative ways. Over the last four years, she has worked as a senior visual editor at CNN along with the Data and Graphics, Special Projects and As Equals teams, based between London and Hong Kong. Additionally, she is a trainer and public speaker in data journalism, information design and OSINT tools.

Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2025-2026)

Photo: Gabriel Ruffato

Ana is the Advocacy Officer at the Digital Intimacy Coalition and Policy Officer for Digital Rights at the European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance. Her work focuses on platform governance, sexuality, digital rights, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. She is also a sex educator, writer, and content creator working at the intersection of digital intimacy and feminist politics. With over seven years of experience in the pleasure and education sectors, she has collaborated with platforms such as Cheex, Lustery, and The Porn Conversation.

Fellowship Cohort #4

Clarote & AI4Media / Better Images of AI / Labour/Resources / CC-BY 4.0

New Cohort of Fellows to Research the Political Economy Behind AI

Two years after launching our Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellowship, we are excited to introduce a new cohort of journalists and data scientists who will work on stories about the foundations of Artificial Intelligence and its supply chain.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Raluca Besliu is an independent Romanian journalist who lived and worked in West Africa, Germany, and the United States. She has published more than 600 articles on topics ranging from environmental and political affairs in Eastern Europe to human rights abuses in African countries, and has been featured in esteemed publications, such as The New York Times and Euronews. In 2024, she worked on an investigation into the use of synthetic media ahead of the European Parliament elections. Published in a two-part series in Il Manifesto, the research revealed the psychological and social effects of deepfakes, particularly on female politicians. She also contributed to fostering AI-related knowledge exchange and skills development within the journalistic community of the Bosch Alumni Network (BAN), a community of social changemakers supported by the Bosch Foundation.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

private

Michael Bird is an award-winning investigative journalist and writer, most recently of Bears Uncovered, a project showing bear-human conflict in five countries, and fraud in the AI supply chain for AlgorithmWatch's fellowship alongside Nathan Schepers. His work has appeared in publications such as The Independent on Sunday, Vice, Mediapart, taz, Tagesspiegel, EU Observer and Business Insider, and he has contributed to BBC Radio and Deutsche Welle.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Adrienne is a investigative tech reporter for the Swiss magazin Republik.ch and the technology journalism blog dnip.ch that she co-founded and runs as editor in chief. She covers the topics digital ethics, privacy, big tech, cybersecurity, and AI, with focus on the intersection between democracy and technology. She completed a master's degree in political science, economic and social history, and constitutional law at the University of Zurich in 2009. From 2012 to 2014, she worked as a social media editor at the credit agency Orell Füssli Wirtschaftsinformationen (now CRIF AG), and from 2014 to 2016 as a social media editorial manager at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). She also is the author of “Smartphone-Demokratie” (“Smartphone Democracy”).

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Laura Galaup is a reporter with experience in investigative, political, and social journalism. Articles of hers were awarded with the Madrid Press Association Award and nominated for the Gabriel García Márquez Award. As a fellow in the 2024 Disarming Disinformation program at the International Center for Journalists, she investigated a prominent far-right disinformation agitator in Spain. After a year in New York, she currently lives in Madrid and works as a staff member at elDiario.es. She also contributes to outlets such as Univision, Cadena Ser, and La Marea. During her fellowship, Laura will examine how far-right organizations use AI to disseminate conspiracy theories and hate speech.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Daniel Rihs / 13 Photo

Marguerite Meyer is a freelance investigative journalist based in Switzerland. She has a background in history and political science, and works for international outlets on topics at the intersection of politics, finance, security, and defense, such as human rights and migration. She has investigated the military affiliations of the Swiss drone industry, human trafficking, and financial loopholes. Marguerite is a board member at the Swiss social enterprise and street paper Surprise, a member of the media diversity organisation NCHM*, and a FOIA association team member. She also is a 2024 European Collaborative Journalism Programme Fellow. Her motto is: people matter. During her AlgorithmWatch Fellowship, Marguerite will investigate the Swiss military-industrial AI complex.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Aniket Narawad is an independent (data) journalist based in Berlin and Brussels, specializing in the intersection of technology regulation and the environmental impact of emerging technologies. He holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and a Master of Public Policy degree from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Aniket has contributed to leading newsrooms such as Politico Europe, MLex Market Insight, and the German newswire DPA. His work was published in Al Jazeera, Thomson Reuters Context, and Clean Energy Wire, among others. Prior to his career in journalism, he worked as a data analyst in India's public policy sector. During his fellowship, Aniket will investigate on sustainability issues related to data centers in Germany and Europe.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Balz Oertli is a journalist with WAV Recherchekollektiv in Zurich, Switzerland. Formerly, he worked for the Swiss public broadcaster SRF. He focuses on the regulation of Big Tech in Switzerland. He frequently files Freedom of Information requests at all government levels and leads the multi-year project "das Geld+die Politik" (moneyinpolitics.ch) on financial transparency in Swiss politics.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

private

Nathan Schepers is a software engineer with 20 years of experience in organizations of various types and sizes. During his time as an Algorithmic Accountability Reporting fellow, he has worked together with Michael Bird as a researcher, reporter and technical consultant on the working conditions and other work-related issues identified in the supply chain of AI-training companies.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024-2025)

Anna Toniolo is an Italian freelance journalist and member of FADA Collective. Her work focuses on inequalities, gender issues, and climate conflicts. She analyzes how the online sphere impacts individuals and communities. Her articles were published in Italian and international media outlets, such as L'Espresso, LifeGate, Green European Journal, The Daily Dot, EUobserver, The New Arab, and others. She writes and hosts "Veramente," a weekly podcast that explores the connection between current events and disinformation, and has been the voice of several episodes of "News from Planet Earth," a current affairs podcast produced by LifeGate. Her work has been supported by Journalismfund Europe.

Fellowship Cohort #3

Foto von Erol Ahmed auf Unsplash

Third cohort of AlgorithmWatch fellows will investigate discrimination in the financial sector

As part of AlgorithmWatch's algorithmic accountability reporting fellowship, seven journalists and researchers will work together to unveil discriminating outcomes and practices arising from the use of automated decision making systems in Europe's financial sector.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024)

Pablo is a freelance journalist specialized in the social and political impact of technology. He's the head behind several investigations on the use of AI and algorithms in the public and private sector, in which he worked with Lighthouse Reports, the American author Virginia Eubanks, and the government of Catalonia. He has also produced two documentary podcasts on the topic and has worked for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). He is a regular contributor to Spanish outlets like El Confidencial and El Salto Diario and has also published previous research with AlgorithmWatch. During his fellowship, he will focus on discriminatory insurance practices in Spain.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024)

Dr Yasir Gökce is the director of the Institute for Diplomacy and Economy (instituDE), an independent, research-driven NGO headquartered in Brussels. He received a PhD from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany. In his thesis, he inverstigated the intricate nexus of law, cyberspace, and information security. He also holds an MPA degree from Harvard University, an LL.M. degree from Ankara University, and an LL.B. degree from Bilkent University. Gökce was an in-house legal counsel in the International Law Department of the Turkish foreign service and has extensive diplomatic experience in various countries. Before and after his tenure in diplomatic service, he worked as an attorney and expert in information security. Currently residing in Germany, he is actively engaging in research, delving into subjects such as international human rights law.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024)

Sara is a freelance researcher and a communications expert. Currently, she's pursuing her postgraduate degree at Tampere University. For her PhD, she investigates digital borders and everyday surveillance in the South West Asia and North Africa region. Previously, Sara has worked as a communications consultant, leading different research projects and the communications planning. She has engaged in diverse European and Middle Eastern research projects related to migration, human rights, technology, and media. As a Fellow at AlgorithmWatch, Sara will investigate what impact electronic IDs and the access to banking services have on human rights for foreigners and people with precarious legal status.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024)

Maja-Lee is a urban researcher, PhD student at the Leuphana University Lüneburg, and co-founder of the interdisciplinary city research collective Akteurinnen für urbanen Ungehorsam in Hamburg, Germany. Assisted by a methodological toolbox of ethnographic and critical feminist thinking, she is currently researching Amazon’s monopoly on bits, bytes, and boxes. Overall, Maja-Lee’s work focuses on the automation of logistics in cities, tackling questions about (resisting) algorithmic architectures of oppression and hacking patriarchy towards more just urban futures.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2024)

Mathana is a Berlin-based ethicist, philosopher, activist, and storyteller. Their work examines the socio-cultural impact of AI and automated bias, ethics-based approaches to responsible AR/VR design and development, and the nascent proliferation of weaponized robotics in society. Mathana is the co-founder of the AI transparency project xplainr and has chaired the IEEE Standard Association's Global Initiative on the ethics of Extended Reality, where they brought together researchers and experts across industrial applications to facilitate the publication of cohesive best-practice recommendations for more socially responsible AR/VR/metaverse technologies. They also worked on creating harm-reduction frameworks within technical standards development around algorithmic bias and emotion recognition algorithms. During the fellowship, they will investigate applications of emotion recognition and detection algorithms in the European finance sector.

Fellowship Cohort #2

Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash

The second group of AlgorithmWatch fellows is ready to go

We’re very happy to announce that another group of five fellows will work with us until December 2023 to research and publish stories about algorithmic accountability.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Samuel works as journalist for Bajour, an online media startup in Basel. He studied journalism in Hamburg and Luzern and worked for different newspapers. His fields of expertise are data journalism and crowd journalism. He was the project lead for the “Who Owns Basel” research which was published at Bajour in 2021. For his data story about cheating in the Swiss national sport "Schwingen" (a version of wrestling), he was awarded the third place in the Swiss press award competition in 2023.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Stavros is a reporter and editor for Solomon, a Greek investigative outlet. He has worked for Agence France-Presse, has participated in cross-border investigations with Lighthouse Reports and Investigate Europe, and his work was published in major media in several European countries. He was shortlisted for the European Press Prize 2021 and won the IJ4EU Impact Award 2022. In 2019, he was selected as a fellow for BIRN's Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (BFJE). He also was a fellow in data journalism at Columbia University in New York.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Mathilde is a French journalist specialized in digital issues. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, she has worked for The Guardian, RFI, 20 Minutes, Les Inrocks, Next INpact, and others. In 2023, she published the book Technoféminisme, comment le numérique aggrave les inégalités ("Technofeminism, how digital technology is exacerbating inequalities") with the French publishing house Grasset.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Alina has specialized in data and investigative journalism. She has bylines with Euronews, EUobserver, and AlgorithmWatch. With a team of colleagues from Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, she investigated the lobbying on the landmark EU proposal to regulate Artificial Intelligence, and found that it was designed to promote a widespread use of the technology in the public sector. As an AlgorithmWatch fellow, she will focus on researching the use of algorithms in courts and the mental health sector.

Fellowship Cohort #1

Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash

AlgorithmWatch welcomes first fellows in algorithmic accountability reporting

After the announcement that we offer a fellowship in algorithmic accountability reporting, we received over 100 applications and were overwhelmed by the quality and diversity of them. After a careful examination, we’re very happy to introduce our first six fellows, an outstanding group of journalists, academics, and a civil society activist.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Pierluigi is a freelance journalist and editor. He covers social issues in Mediterranean countries. He’s one of the co-authors of Bagliore (Il Saggiatore, 2020) and editor at The Syllabus, a knowledge curation platform, and Alea, an independent anthropology magazine. With a background in computer science, he has always been interested in the social implications of automated systems, especially those that impact and harm the rights of migrants, minorities, and the poorest.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Nathalie is a PhD student with an academic interest in chatbots. She holds a research master’s degree in Communication Science from the University of Amsterdam. Her current research revolves around users’ responses to different framings of disclosure of customer care chatbots’ identity. During her fellowship at AlgorithmWatch, she looked into the use of chatbots in mental health, automatic fact-checking, and the digitization of the agricultural sector.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

https://mastodon.social/@JKrueckeberg

Jennifer has recently completed an EU-funded PhD in anthropology in which she explored how digital media affect young people’s personal memory practices. Before embarking on her PhD, she worked as Lead Researcher at a London-based non-profit organization researching facial recognition, data exploitation, and surveillance in schools. As part of her fellowship, Jennifer investigated the impacts of algorithms on education, surveillance, and people’s everyday lives.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

Kave is a human rights lawyer, loves ethical technology, and knows a lot about data protection law. He works with organizations for people with disabilities and writes articles for the Swedish Data Protection Forum. His fellowship project was to study deaf and hard-of-hearing people's views on “robot interpreters” and the ethical concerns that come with using them. He also wrote about why social sciences should be part of technical education.

Former Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Fellow (2023)

https://chaos.social/@glocalreporting

Sonja is a journalist and the founder of BuzzingCities Lab, a think tank focusing on urban violence and technology. She was an editor for DER SPIEGEL and WIRED Germany and a freelance foreign correspondent. During her fellowship, she investigated algorithmic systems in policing/security, the impact of AI on the visibility of marginalized communities, and the role of automated systems in the context of gender-based violence.