Story-Based

Inquiry

We've done and do the job.

Luuk Sengers

Luuk is an independent investigative journalist, advisor, lecturer and media trainer. For the leading Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer he writes about the impact of corporate power on our environment and climate. He also teaches research skills, data journalism and interview techniques to professionals and students and helps media and NGOs organise and carry out investigative projects.

Luuk started his journalistic career as a business reporter at Quote, Intermediair, Associated Press Services (GPD) and NRC Handelsblad. In 2009 he co-authored “Story-Based Inquiry. A Manual for Investigative Journalists” which since its first publication by Unesco in 2009 has been successfully applied by thousands of journalists and researchers from ngo's and is called by colleagues a "benchmark" for education in the field.

Since then, he has trained thousands of professionals and students on five continents in investigative skills and data journalism and (co-) written several manuals and curricula on investigative journalism. His most recent works are “Handboek voor onderzoeksjournalisten. Van vermoeden tot verhaal”, the official handbook of the VVOJ (2022) and a curriculum for Unesco (2021). He teaches at the Thomas More Hogeschool in Mechelen (Belgium), the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels and the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, among others.

Luuk also consulted for NGOs including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International and Oxfam and is a regular speaker at IRE, GIJC, CIJ and Data Harvest conferences, the world's leading forums for best practice in investigative journalism. He sat on the board of the VVOJ, the Dutch-Flemish association of investigative journalists, for ten years. Luuk holds a Master's degree in Social and Economic History from Radboud University Nijmegen.

Languages: Luuk speaks Dutch, English and German.

Previous employers:
· De Groene Amsterdammer
· Intermediair
· Quote
· NRC Handelsblad
· Geassocieerde Pers Diensten
· Haarlems Dagblad

Academic clients:
· Thomas More University of Applied Sciences in Mechelen (Belgium)
· Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg (Netherlands)
· Institut des Hautes Etudes des Communications Sociales (IHECS) in Brussels
· Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
· Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
· University of Amsterdam (UvA)
· Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG)
· Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR)
· Internationale Research Journalistiek (Fonds Pascal Decroos/Fontys Hogeschool)
· De Redactie in Amsterdam/Monnickendam
· PGO Academy in Utrecht
· Centrum voor Communicatie en Journalistiek in Utrecht (CCJ)
· Persacademie (Fontys Hogeschool voor Journalistiek)
· Academie voor de Periodieke Pers (Vlaanderen)
· Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC)
· OpenEyes/VersPers
· The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) in London

Media clients:
· De Volkskrant (Dutch national newspaper)
· NRC Handelsblad (Dutch national newspaper)
· De Standaard (Belgian national newspaper)
· Noord-Hollandse Dagbladcombinatie (newspapers)
· PZC en BN/De Stem (Dutch local newspapers)
· Dagblad van het Noorden (Dutch regional newspaper)
· NOS (Dutch public broadcasting)
· VARA/VPRO
· Uppdrag granskning (Mission investigate), Swedish Television
· MTNL (multicultural broadcasting organisation)
· Evangelische Omroep (Evangelic Broadcasting Corporation)
· Budhist Broadcast Organization
· Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
· Telefakts (Belgium television)
· SCOOP Macedonia
· The Centre for Investigative Journalism (London)
· Correctiv! (Berlin)
· Frontline Club (London)
· Független Médiaközpont Center for Independent Journalism (Budapest)
· Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
· ITV/ITN
· European Journalism Centre
· Vice
· Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)

Corporate clients:
· TU Delft (technical university)
· FNV Bondgenoten (federal workers union)
· AbvaKabo
· CBS (Dutch Statistical Office)
· Rekenkamer Z-O Nederland
· Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Department)
· Kamers van Koophandel
· KIWA
· TenneT
· Nederlandse Zorg Autoriteit
· Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau
· Royal Academy of Art (The Hague)

NGO clients:
· Greenpeace
· Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie)
· Prakarsa (Jakata)
· Amnesty International
· Environmental Justice Foundation

Conferences where he spoke or taught:
· Center for Independent Journalism in Budapest (training to Hungarian investigative reporters in October 2008)
· SCOOP (training to reporters in the Ukrain, in Kiev, in 2008)
· OSCE (training to reporters in Serbia, in Belgrade, in June 2009)
· BIRN (Summer School for investigative reporters on the Balkan, in Novi Sad, August 2010)
· Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism – ARIJ (teaching reporters in the Arab world)
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2007 in Toronto
· International Conference on Investigative Reporting in East and South East Europe in Budapest 2007
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2008 in Lillehammer
· European Investigative Journalism Conference in Brussels in 2008
· Conference on Investigative Reporting in Kiev (Ukraïn) in 2008
· SKUP Conference 2010 in Tønsberg, Norway
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva in 2010
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Kiev in 2011
· London Summer School for Investigative Journalism 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 at Goldsmiths University in London
· African Power Reporting Conference in Johannesburg in 2010, 2011 and 2012
· Netzwerk Recherche Conference, Hamburg, Germany 2012 en 2013
· Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Tunis, Tunisia
· Gräv13 conference, Göteborg, Sweden in 2013
· World Journalism Education Congress 2013, Mechelen
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2015 in Lillehammer
· Data Harvest Conference in Brussels, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019
· IRE Conference 2014 (San Francisco), 2015 (Philadelphia)
· NICAR Conference 2018 in Chicago
· Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2019 in Hamburg
· Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium (online), October 2020

Books:

· Luuk Sengers and Mark Lee Hunter, Het verborgen scenario. Een handboek voor onderzoeksjournalisten, Utrecht 2021.

· Luuk Sengers (ed.), Onderzoeksjournalistiek. Researchproces van idee tot verhaal, Lannoo Campus 2009

· Mark Lee Hunter, Luuk Sengers and others, Story-Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists, Unesco 2009

· Luuk Sengers and Mark Lee Hunter, The Hidden Scenario: Plotting and Outlining Investigative Stories, The Centre for Investigative Journalism, London 2012

· Mark Lee Hunter and Luuk Sengers, The Story Tells the Facts: Structuring and Composing Investigative Narratives, The Centre for Investigative Journalism, London 2013

· Mark Lee Hunter and Luuk Sengers, with Marcus Lindemann, Modern Investigative Journalism. A Comprehensive Curriculum Based on the ARIJ Method, ARIJ 2019

· Luuk Sengers en Mark Lee Hunter, Drehbuch der Recherche. Das verborgene Szenario, Netzwerk Recherche


“Luuk is een van de weinige mensen die ik ken die storytelling techniek op brede basis en vermakelijk kan onderwijzen”
- Hans Scholten, Stichting Democratie en Media