Ides MF Debruyne ©Franky Verdickt
Managing Director

Ides Debruyne is co-founder and managing-director (since 11 September 2001) of Journalismfund Europe, an independent non‐profit intermediary established in 1998 with the purpose of stimulating independent investigative journalism in Europe.
Ides is the co-founder of the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists (VVOJ) and the non-profit organisation SciMingo vzw.
He is board member of the Flat Earth Society Orchestra.

Journalismfund Europe
He has set up various grant programmes such as the awarded European cross-border grants, the Pascal Decroos Fund, The Earth Investigations Programme, Journalismfund Local, the European Cross-border Local Investigative journalism programme, Science Journalism, Modern Slavery Unveiled, Money Trail Grants, Flemish Emergency Fund, the Flemish Journalism Fund, Flanders Connects Continents, Connecting Continents and Fox Grants.

He was responsible for the organisation of the European Investigative Journalism Conference / Dataharvest from 2009 until 2018.

In 2012 he was responsible for a study commissioned by the European Parliament: "Deterrence of fraud with EU funds through investigative journalism in EU-27".

With the support of the Flemish Government, he started the Wobbing project in 2007. The main goal was to make journalists, who use the various freedom of information acts, meet and to prepare future networking.

Since 2001, Debruyne has travelled and spoken publicly in 25 countries in four continents.

VVOJ
Ides was the co-founder (2002) and for eight years a member of the board of the Vereniging van Onderzoeksjournalisten (VVOJ), the Dutch-Flemish association of investigative reporters. As a board member of VVOJ he co-organised the 3rd Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Amsterdam (2005) and the first European Investigative Journalism Conference in Brussels (2008). He coordinated the VVOJ-cafés in Belgium and was co-editor of the VVOJ-yearbook that gave an overview of interesting investigative projects. Ides Debruyne was between 2017 and 2022 a member of De Loep jury.

SciMingo vzw
He is the founder and since 2005 the chair of SciMingo vzw (formerly know as Scriptie vzw), a non-profit organisation that promotes science communication in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium.

Post-graduate Investigative Journalism
Together with Mr. Herman Duponcheel (Director of studies / Journalism Department at Thomas More), he started in 2004 the post-graduate degree in investigative journalism (International Research Journalism) at Thomas More, the largest university of applied sciences in Flanders (in Mechelen, Belgium).

Ghent University
For a decade (2007-2017) Ides was affiliated with Ghent University (Faculty of Political and Social Science) as a lector teaching basic social media skills and data journalism. (10% FTE)

Thomas More Mechelen
For two years (2006-2008) Ides was a teacher Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) at the Lessius Hogeschool (now Thomas More), campus Mechelen (Bachelor Journalism). (10% FTE)

Memberships

Publications / Articles / Quotes / Interviews

Awards
In 2013 he and his former colleague Brigitte Alfter won the ‘Prize for the Freedom and Future of Media'. (Germany - Leipzig)

Studies
Ides Debruyne studied visual arts (painting) at Luca, School of Art in Ghent (Belgium).

Contact: ides.debruyne@journalismfund.eu or +32 2 705 59 19

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