How the Panama Papers journalists broke the biggest leak in history | Gerard Ryle

Translator: 潘 可儿 Reviewer: Alan Watson

What do you do if you had to figure out the information

如果要你喺 1,150 萬份 文件裏面搵出資料

behind 11.5 million documents,

verify it and make sense of it?

然後核實真確同埋理解佢，你會點做？

呢個係舊年好多記者要面對嘅挑戰

That was a challenge

that a group of journalists had to face late last year.

An anonymous person calling himself John Doe

一個自稱 John Doe 嘅人

had somehow managed to copy nearly 40 years of records

攞到巴拿馬莫薩克．馮賽卡律師事務所 近 40 年嘅紀錄

of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

This is one of many firms around the world

呢間事務所係世界上其中一間專門

that specialize in setting up accounts in offshore tax havens

幫人喺海外避稅天堂

譬如英屬維爾京群島

like the British Virgin Islands,

設立銀行帳戶嘅公司

for rich and powerful people who like to keep secrets.

為有好多秘密要收埋嘅達官貴人服務

John Doe had managed to copy every spreadsheet from this firm,

John Doe 喺呢間公司複製咗 由 1977 年到今日嘅每一張表格

every client file,

每一份客戶檔案、每一封電子郵件

every email,

from 1977 to the present day.

It represented the biggest cache

呢份係目前為止有著最多 避稅天堂內幕資料嘅紀錄

of inside information into the tax haven system

that anyone had ever seen.

But it also presented a gigantic challenge to investigative journalism.

仲為調查新聞界帶嚟巨大嘅挑戰

Think about it: 11.5 million documents,

諗一下：1,150 萬份文件

containing the secrets of people from more than 200 different countries.

包含來自超過 200 個國家嘅人嘅秘密

Where do you start with such a vast resource?

咁大個紀錄，你要從邊度入手？

Where do you even begin to tell a story

你要由邊度開始報導

that can trail off into every corner of the globe,

先至可以觸及到世界每一個角落

and that can affect almost any person in any language,

影響到幾乎所有語言嘅人？

sometimes in ways they don't even know yet.

John Doe had given the information to two journalists

John Doe 將信息畀咗

at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

德國報社 Süddeutsche Zeitung 嘅兩個記者

He said he was motivated by -- and I quote --

佢話佢出於以下動機︰

"The scale of the injustice that the documents would reveal."

「文件將會揭露不公義嘅規模」

But one user alone can never make sense

但單憑一個記者 唔足以處理咁大量嘅訊息

of such a vast amount of information.

So the Süddeutsche Zeitung reached out

所以 Süddeutsche Zeitung 報社聯繫咗

我喺華盛頓嘅組織，國際調查記者聯盟

to my organization in Washington, DC,

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

We decided to do something that was the very opposite

我哋決定要做一件違反記者操守嘅事︰

of everything we'd been taught to do as journalists:

share.

分享呢份紀錄

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

By nature, investigative reporters are lone wolves.

就本性而言，調查記者等同孤狼

We fiercely guard our secrets,

我哋死守自己嘅秘密

at times even from our editors,

甚至連我哋嘅編輯都唔講得

because we know that the moment we tell them what we have,

因為我哋知道，只要透露少少風聲

they'll want that story right away.

佢哋就會即刻想要嗰篇新聞

And to be frank,

老實講，當你有一篇好新聞

when you get a good story,

you like to keep the glory to yourself.

你會想獨自領受呢份新聞嘅榮譽

But there's no doubt that we live in a shrinking world,

毫無疑問，我哋生活喺 一個萎縮緊嘅世界

and that the media has largely been slow to wake up to this.

但好多媒體都冇意識到呢一點

The issues we report on are more and more transnational.

新聞嘅內容越嚟越國際化

大型公司喺全世界運作

Giant corporations operate on a global level.

Environmental and health crises are global.

環境、健康問題變成全球性

So, too, are financial flows and financial crises.

同樣，資金流動同金融危機都係咁

So it seems staggering that journalism has been so late

驚人嘅係，新聞界咁遲先 以全球嘅目光報導新聞

to cover stories in a truly global way.

And it also seems staggering that journalism has been so slow

同樣驚人嘅係

新聞界咁遲先意識到科技帶來嘅機遇

to wake up to the possibilities that technology brings,

rather than being frightened of it.

而唔係再怕科技

The reason journalists are scared of technology is this:

記者怕科技嘅原因係：

the profession's largest institutions are going through tough times

呢個行業嘅大型機構正經歷緊艱難時期

because of the changing way that people are consuming news.

讀者閱讀新聞嘅方式正係改變緊

The advertising business models that have sustained reporting are broken.

以往靠廣告賺錢嘅經營模式成為絕響

And this has plunged journalism into crisis,

令到新聞界陷入危機

forcing those institutions to reexamine how they function.

迫使新聞機構去審視佢哋嘅運行模式

But where there is crisis,

但有危就有機

there is also opportunity.

巴拿馬文件帶嚟嘅第一個挑戰

The first challenge presented

by what would eventually become known as the Panama Papers

就係要將文件變成搜尋得到同埋讀得到

was to make the documents searchable and readable.

There were nearly five million emails,

呢件事涉及大概五百萬封電子郵件

two million PDFs that needed to be scanned and indexed,

兩百萬份需要掃描同埋編寫索引嘅 PDF

and millions more files and other kinds of documents.

幾百萬份檔案同埋其他類型嘅文件

They all needed to be housed in a safe and secure location

呢啲嘢都需要存放喺 雲端一個安全嘅位置

in the cloud.

We next invited reporters to have a look at the documents.

跟住我哋邀請記者去睇下啲文件

In all, reporters from more than 100 media organizations

嚟自超過 100 個媒體組織 76 個國家嘅記者

in 76 countries --

from the BBC in Britain

包括英國廣播公司 法國世界報、日本朝日新聞

to Le Monde newspaper in France

to the Asahi Shimbun in Japan.

"Native eyes on native names," we called it, the idea being,

我哋將呢個做法叫做 「記者睇返各自國家」

who best to tell you who was important to Nigeria

邊個會比尼日利亞記者 更熟悉尼日利亞嘅重要人物？

than a Nigerian journalist?

Who best in Canada than a Canadian?

邊個會比加拿大人更了解加拿大？

There were only two rules for everyone who was invited:

我哋對所有加入嘅記者只有兩個規則：

we all agreed to share everything that we found with everybody else,

我哋同意同我哋之間 分享我哋搵到嘅所有信息

and we all agreed to publish together on the same day.

我哋同意同一日公開所有資料

We chose our media partners based on trust

我哋同其他媒體合作係建基於 之前小型合作所建立起嚟嘅信任

that had been built up through previous smaller collaborations

and also from leads that jumped out from the documents.

同埋因為文件線索而合作

Over the next few months,

喺跟住嘅幾個月

my small nonprofit organization of less than 20 people

我嗰個原本少過 20 個人 嘅小型非營利組織

was joined by more than 350 other reporters from 25 language groups.

有超過 350 名 25 種唔同語言嘅記者加入

The biggest information leak in history

史上最大泄密促使 新聞界史上最大嘅合作

had now spawned the biggest journalism collaboration in history:

376 sets of native eyes doing what journalists normally never do,

376 位唔同國家嘅記者 並肩工作，分享信息

working shoulder to shoulder,

sharing information,

但係保密

but telling no one.

For it became clear at this point

我哋知道要營造最大嘅轟動

that in order to make the biggest kind of noise,

we first needed the biggest kind of silence.

我哋首先要絕對嘅沉寂

To manage the project over the many months it would take,

為咗完成呢個可能耗時幾個月嘅任務

我哋建立咗一間虛擬 但安全嘅新聞編輯部

we built a secure virtual newsroom.

We used encrypted communication systems,

我哋使用加密嘅溝通系統

and we built a specially designed search engine.

我哋用特別嘅搜索引擎

Inside the virtual newsroom,

喺虛擬新聞編輯部裏面

the reporters could gather around the themes

記者可以按主題閱讀文件

that were emerging from the documents.

Those interested in blood diamonds or exotic art, for instance,

譬如，從事血鑽 或者外地藝術品題材嘅記者

could share information about how the offshore world was being used

可以分享海外世界點樣被用嚟 隱暪呢兩種商品嘅交易情況

to hide the trade in both of those commodities.

Those interested in sport could share information

從事體育新聞嘅記者可以分享

about how famous sports stars were putting their image rights

體育明星係點樣將肖像權歸入海外公司

into offshore companies,

thereby likely avoiding taxes

以避過喺佢哋有做開貿易嘅 國家嗰度交稅

in the countries where they plied their trade.

But perhaps most exciting of all

但最令人興奮嘅係

were the number of world leaders and elect politicians

文件提到嘅各國領導人、政治家

that were emerging from the documents --

figures like Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine,

譬如烏克蘭嘅波羅申科

close associates of Vladimir Putin in Russia

俄羅斯總統普京嘅密友

and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who is linked

仲有英國前首相卡梅倫

因為牽涉到佢過咗身嘅老豆 Ian Cameron

through his late father, Ian Cameron.

Buried in the documents were secret offshore entities,

文件裏邊仲有秘密嘅海外公司

such as Wintris Inc.,

譬如 Wintris Inc. 一間喺英屬維爾京群島嘅公司

a company in the British Virgin Islands

that had actually belonged to the sitting Icelandic prime minister.

實際上屬於現任冰島總理

I like to refer to Johannes Kristjansson,

我想講一下 Johannes Kristjansson

the Icelandic reporter we invited to join the project,

佢係我哋項目邀請嘅冰島記者

as the loneliest man in the world.

亦係世界上最孤獨嘅男人

For nine months, he refused paid work

九個月嚟，佢拒絕有薪工作

and lived off the earnings of his wife.

佢用太太嘅工資生活

He pasted tarps over the windows of his home

佢將油布黏喺屋企嘅窗度

to prevent prying eyes during the long Icelandic winter.

恐防漫長冬天有人監視

And he soon ran out of excuses to explain his many absences,

後來佢好快就用曬缺席嘅理由

as he worked red-eyed,

佢工作到眼睛疲勞

night after night,

日復一日，一個月又一個月

month after month.

In all that time, he sat on information

喺嗰段時間

佢埋首於嗰啲最终可以 令國家領導人下台嘅信息

that would eventually bring down the leader of his country.

Now, when you're an investigative reporter and you make an amazing discovery,

依家，你係調查記者，你驚奇咁發現

such as your prime minster can be linked to a secret offshore company,

你嘅首相可能同一間秘密海外公司有關

that that company has a financial interest in Icelandic banks --

而嗰間公司喺冰島銀行有財務權益

the very issue he's been elected on --

首相嘅當選多得當中利益輸送

well, your instinct is to scream out very loud.

咁，你嘅直覺就係大聲咁廣而告之

Instead, as one of the few people that he could speak to,

作為佢可以傾訴嘅幾個人之一

Johannes and I shared a kind of gallows humor.

我同 Johannes Kristjansson 都係黑色幽默嘅人

"Wintris is coming," he used to say.

「Wintris 嚟啦」，佢曾經咁講

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

We were big fans of "Game of Thrones."

我哋係《權力的遊戲》嘅忠實粉絲

When reporters like Johannes wanted to scream,

當有記者好似 Johannes Kristjansson 咁想分享材料

they did so inside the virtual newsroom,

佢哋會喺虛擬新聞編輯部分享

and then they turned those screams into stories

再會將分享嘅材料寫成故事

by going outside the documents to court records,

參考文件、法庭紀錄，同埋公司登記

official company registers,

and by eventually putting questions to those that we intended to name.

最後向我哋嘅對象提問

Panama Papers actually allowed the reporters to look at the world

其實巴拿馬文件令記者 用一個與眾不同嘅角度嚟睇世界

through a different lens from everybody else.

As we were researching the story,

當我哋喺度調查緊同我哋無關嘅事件

unconnected to us,

a major political bribery scandal happened in Brazil.

例如巴西政壇重大嘅賄賂醜聞

A new leader was elected in Argentina.

阿根廷選舉選出新任領導人

The FBI began to indict officials at FIFA,

美國聯邦調查局起訴國際足協嘅官員

the organization that controls the world of professional soccer.

The Panama Papers actually had unique insights

巴拿馬文件都會 對呢啲事件有獨特嘅洞察

into each one of these unfolding events.

So you can imagine the pressure and the ego dramas

所以你可以想像調查時候 嘅壓力同內心掙扎

that could have ruined what we were trying to do.

其實係可以令任何一個記者 唔守約定提早公佈呢份紀錄

Any of one of these journalists,

they could have broken the pact.

But they didn't.

但係佢哋冇

And on April 3 this year,

喺今年嘅 4 月 3 號德國時間晚上 8 點

at exactly 8pm German time,

we published simultaneously in 76 countries.

我哋同時喺 76 個國家公開呢份紀錄

(Applause)

（掌聲）

The Panama Papers quickly became one of the biggest stories of the year.

巴拿馬文件成為咗今年嘅一件大事

This is the scene in Iceland the day after we published.

呢個係公開咗之後冰島嘅街頭

It was the first of many protests.

呢個係第一場抗議

The Icelandic prime minister had to resign.

冰島總理被迫辭職

It was a first of many resignations.

佢係第一個辭職嘅人

We spotlighted many famous people such as Lionel Messi,

我哋將目光聚焦喺名人身上

譬如美斯 世界上最出名嘅足球運動員

the most famous soccer player in the world.

And there were some unintended consequences.

文件公開之後仲有一啲意想不到嘅後果

These alleged members of a Mexican drug cartel were arrested

喺我哋將佢哋藏身地點曝光之後

after we published details about their hideout.

一批聲稱係墨西哥 販毒集團成員嘅人被捕

They'd been using the address

因為佢哋曾經利用文件中嘅地址 註冊海外公司

to register their offshore company.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

There's a kind of irony in what we've been able to do.

得意嘅係，我哋比以前可以做更多嘅嘢

The technology -- the Internet -- that has broken the business model

科技同互聯網打破咗傳統商業模式

is allowing us to reinvent journalism itself.

令我哋能夠改造新聞界本身

And this dynamic is producing

而呢個改變令一切更加透明同有影響力

unprecedented levels of transparency and impact.

We showed how a group of journalists can effect change across the world

我哋證明咗記者可以 將新方法同舊新聞行業嘅技巧

by applying new methods and old-fashioned journalism techniques

應用到處理大量洩漏信息

to vast amounts of leaked information.

從而影響全世界

We put all-important context around what was given to us by John Doe.

我哋根據 John Doe 嘅文件 將重要資料擺埋一齊

And by sharing resources,

因為資源共享令到成本下降

we were able to dig deep --

我哋可以比依家大部份嘅傳媒 更深入更長時間咁調查

much deeper and longer than most media organizations allow these days,

because of financial concerns.

Now, it was a big risk,

但係巴拿馬文件證明咗

and it wouldn't work for every story,

你可以喺任何地方報導任何國家嘅新聞

but we showed with the Panama Papers

雖然咁樣做有好大風險

that you can write about any country from just about anywhere,

而且唔會適合每則新聞

and then choose your preferred battleground to defend your work.

但係你要搵一個地方去捍衛你嘅工作

Try obtaining a court injunction

你要盡力攞到法院指令

that would prevent the telling of a story in 76 different countries.

避免一單新聞喺 76 個國家報導

Try stopping the inevitable.

同埋盡力阻止你唔想見到嘅事發生

Shortly after we published, I got a three-word text from Johannes:

發佈新聞後冇幾耐

Johannes Kristjansson 發咗條短信畀我

"Wintris has arrived."

「Wintris 已經到咗」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It had arrived and so, too, perhaps has a new era for journalism.

或者，新聞界嘅新時代亦都嚟咗

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Bruno Giussani: Gerard, thank you.

主持︰多謝你，Gerard

我諗你打算將呢啲掌聲獻畀 350 位同你工作嘅記者，係嗎？

I guess you're going to send that applause to the 350 journalists

who worked with you, right?

Now, a couple of questions I would like to ask.

依家，我有幾個問題要問你

The first one is,

第一個係

you'd been working in secrecy for over a year

你秘密工作咗一年

with 350-something colleagues from all over the world --

同大約 350 位來自全世界嘅同仁共事

was there ever a moment when you thought

你有冇諗過

一旦有人將新聞發佈，秘密將會洩露

that the leak may be leaked,

that the collaboration may just be broken

所有做嘅嘢就會白費

by somebody publishing a story?

Or somebody not in the group releasing some information

又或者組織之外有人 洩露咗佢哋都知道嘅消息？

that they got to know?

Gerard Ryle: We had a series of crises along the way,

講者：一路上我哋遇到咗好多危險

including when something major was happening in the world,

每當世界上發生咗重大事件

the journalists from that country wanted to publish right away.

嗰個國家嘅記者就會想即刻公開紀錄

We had to calm them down.

我哋必須令佢哋冷靜

Probably the biggest crisis we had was a week before publication.

我哋遇到嘅最大危險 發生喺新聞發佈前嘅一個禮拜

We'd sent a series of questions to the associates of Vladimir Putin,

我哋向普京嘅密友提咗一咋問題

but instead of responding,

但克裡姆林宮冇回答到

the Kremlin actually held a press conference and denounced us,

反而克裡姆林宮搞咗記幾招指責我哋

and denounced the whole thing as being, I guess, a plot from the West.

話成件事係西方嘅陰謀

At that point, Putin thought it was just about him.

嗰時，普京認為呢件事凈係同佢有關

And, of course, a lot of editors around the world

當然，世界各地嘅編輯 都非常緊張克裡姆林宮呢件事

were very nervous about this.

They thought the story was going to get out.

佢哋覺得成件事就快要爆

You can imagine the amount of time they'd spent,

你可以想像佢哋投入咗幾多時間 幾多資源、幾多金錢

the amount of resources, money spent on this.

So I had to basically spend the last week calming everyone down,

最後個星期我基本上都喺度叫大家冷靜

a bit like a general, where you're holding your troops back:

就好似一個將軍咁穩定軍心

"Calm, remain calm."

「淡定，保持淡定」

And then eventually, of course, they all did.

最終，當然，佢哋都係淡定返

BG: And then a couple weeks ago or so,

主持：大概喺幾個星期之前

you released a lot of the documents as an open database

你發佈咗好多文件

並用佢嚟做公開數據庫

for everybody to search via keyword, essentially.

畀大家通過關鍵字嚟搜索

GR: We very much believe

講者：我哋堅信公眾應該 對於海外世界有基本嘅知情權

that the basic information about the offshore world

should be made public.

Now, we didn't publish the underlying documents

我哋冇公開同我哋一齊工作 嘅記者嘅身份檔案

of the journalists we're working with.

But the basic information such as the name of a person,

但係，文件裏面嘅基本資料

好似啲人嘅名、佢哋海外公司嘅名

what their offshore company was and the name of that company,

is now all available online.

依家全部可以喺網上搵到

In fact, the biggest resource of its kind basically is out there now

BG: Gerard, thank you for the work you do.

主持：Gerard，多謝你所做嘅一切

GR: Thank you.

講者：多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）