What is MIIR

The Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting (MIIR) is a non profit organization that was founded in January 2019 with the aim to enhance the genre of journalism that holds those in power accountable and defends public good.

Amidst an environment of crisis and a largely discredited journalistic profession, MIIR’s team aspires to foster the creation of an investigation ecosystem in Greece and the Mediterranean.

At the core of MIIR’s philosophy lie the principles and ethics of independent, speaking-truth-to-power journalism. Transparency, co-operation, interaction and an approach of constant education both of journalists and the public, are fundamental elements of our organization. MIIR’s investigations are provided free of charge. We do not accept any kind of advertisements whatsoever and we publish our funding sources on a regular basis.

Meet the team

 MIIR’s team aspires to be a change of paradigm, guided by solid, trustworthy and independent journalism, with a distinct focus of scrutinizing power in order to defend the public interest.

Kostas Zafeiropoulos

Kostas Zafeiropoulos

Kostas is an investigative journalist for one of Greece’s biggest newspapers, “Efimerida ton Sintakton” (Journalists’ Journal), where he writes feature stories, conducts interviews and investigative reporting. He was a core member of the documentary series “Erevna” (Mega TV). He recently attended Columbia Journalism School’s intensive “Summer Investigative Reporting Course” (SIRC) in New York through a fellowship offered by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. In 2017 he was the recipient of the esteemed “Eleni Vlachou” Greek-German Award for journalism. In 2019 he was the recipient of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (BFJE). Since 2020 he is a member of the International Advisory Board of Journalismfund Europe.

Janine Louloudi

Janine Louloudi

A journalist and producer, Janine has been a member of MIIR since 2019 focusing on data-driven investigations. She also collaborates with Reporters United since 2022 and before that worked for three years as editor-in-chief of “Special Report”, a highly-rated investigative tv programme (Antenna TV). She has worked as a producer for international news outlets (Channel 4 News, BBC Radio) and documentary productions (ARTE, National Geographic, SmallPlanet, Anemon). In the past she has held the positions of editor-in-chief for documentary programmes “Horizon” & “War Zone” (Mega TV), editor for FortuneGreece, and assistant producer at “Reportage Without Frontiers” (ERT), conducting filming assignments around the world. In 2023 she was the recipient of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (BFJE), while in 2018 she participated as an SNF Fellow at Columbia Journalism School’s intensive “Summer Investigative Reporting Course”. She holds a Bachelor and MA degree from the University of Athens.

Nikos Morfonios

Nikos Morfonios

With 18 years of experience working for the daily “AVGI”, a well-known and established Greek national newspaper, Nikos is specialised in covering the area of transportation and communications. He has extensively covered issues pertaining to immigration, human rights, nationalism and racism. In 2017 he attended the Summer Investigative Reporting course (SIRC) at Columbia Journalism School in New York, as a recipient of a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellowship. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media from the University of Athens.  

MIIR’s collaborating network

Elvira Krithari

Elvira Krithari

Elvira is a journalist and producer for Greek and foreign media. She held the position of chief editor of the online magazine Solomon MAG. Her work has been featured in “Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso”, “Athens Live” and “De Correspondent”, among others. In 2017 she was granted a full scholarship by the SNF to attend the “Summer Investigative Reporting Course”, at Columbia University. She holds an MA in Digital Media and Interaction Environments from the University of Athens, and an MA in Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development from Panteion University.

Ilias Stathatos

Ilias Stathatos

Ilias is a data journalism specialist. He has worked in numerous independent print and online media, as a roaming reporter, an international news journalist, and as a labor editor. He was London correspondent for the Greek newspaper “To Vima”, and also a contributor to investigative journalism outlets based in New York City and Washington DC. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Panteion University and a Master of Arts in Investigative Reporting from Birkbeck, University of London. Ilias is also recipient of the “Google Investigative Fellowship” awarded by the University of London in partnership with Google. In 2018, he was awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellowship, upon selection by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He completed the intensive, four month-long “Lede” program for data journalism, offered by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, in which he trained in coding, visualisations, algorithms, statistics and machine learning.

Elli Zotou

Elli Zotou

She is currently employed as a television reporter, covering the courts and justice beat. For 14 years, she worked in the Greek daily national newspaper Avgi, reporting on human rights, immigration policy, the refugee crisis, police brutality, crime, the far right and racist violence in Greece. She is fluent in English and Spanish, has a good knowledge of French and is conversant in Russian and Persian (Farsi). She holds a Master’s degree in Crime, Law and Society from the Law School of the University of Manchester and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Mass Media from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
In 2018, she attended the Summer Investigative Reporting course (SIRC) at Columbia Journalism School in New York, as a recipient of a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellowship. In 2019, she participated in the training workshop “Covering Children & the Syrian Refugee Crisis,” of the Dart Center of Columbia University. In 2020, she joined the investigative cross-border journalism project “Lost in Europe”.

Konstantina Maltepioti

Konstantina Maltepioti

Konstantina Maltepioti was born in 1996 in Athens. She studied Communication and Media at the University of Athens and then Investigative Journalism at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She has worked as a reporter in digital and print media from 2018 to 2020 and from 2021 she has been involved in cross-border and domestic research. She is a member of the Watchdog for the Lignadi trial. She is interested in data journalism and stories of economic and environmental crime, political corruption and social justice. She likes illustrations.

Lina Kapetaniou

Lina Kapetaniou

Journalist and tv producer, Lina has been working at the Hellenic Brodcasting Corporation (ERT) since 2022 as a reporter and assistant editor-in-chief of news and investigative programmes (“Epilogos” & “Fasma”). At the same time she collaborates with the newspaper “Kathimerini”. In the previous years she worked as a journalist and producer in the investigative tv programme “Special Report” (Antenna TV), while she has also worked as a producer with international media (Channel 4 News). In 2023 she received the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (BFJE), in 2018 she participated in the intensive “Summer Investigative Reporting Course” (SIRC) at Columbia University, New York. She is a graduate of the Department of Journalism & Mass Media Communication of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Dimitris Papaevagelou

Dimitris Papaevagelou

Dimitris is a software engineer and data enthusiast, co-founder of the non-profit organization Civic Information Office, based in Athens / Greece, focusing on public opinion manipulation and information networks.

 

 

 

 

 

Louiza Karageorgiou

Louiza Karageorgiou

She has been working at the «Efimerida ton Syntakton» daily newspaper since 2012, the last few years as Art Director. She worked for «Galera» magazine and «HotDoc» magazine (Art director), and collaborated with various media as an editorial illustrator and graphics designer. She has designed posters for movies, CDs and book covers, infographics, websites and graphics for educational multimedia applications, and has also illustrated children’s books for «Pataki» and «Michal Sideri» publications.

 
 

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