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

譯者: Yolanda Wei 審譯者: 易帆 余

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

如果你必須找出 1150 萬筆 文件背後的資訊，

behind 11.5 million documents,

verify it and make sense of it?

並去判定、理解這些資訊時 你會怎麼做？

That was a challenge

這是去年，

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

很多記者不得不面對的挑戰。

An anonymous person calling himself John Doe

一名自稱「張三」的匿名者

had somehow managed to copy nearly 40 years of records

設法成功拷貝了

巴拿馬律師事務所莫薩克・馮賽卡 將近 40 年的文件

of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

This is one of many firms around the world

這是世界上其中一間

that specialize in setting up accounts in offshore tax havens

專門在海外避稅天堂 比如，英屬維爾京群島這種地方

like the British Virgin Islands,

幫客戶建立銀行帳戶的公司之一，

for rich and powerful people who like to keep secrets.

他們為這些想要 隱藏秘密的權貴者提供了這樣的管道。

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

張三設法從這家公司拷貝了 每一張電子表格、

every client file,

每一份客戶檔案、

every email,

每一封電子郵件、

from 1977 to the present day.

時間從 1977 年至今

It represented the biggest cache

這是史上最大 避稅天堂系統的資訊洩密案。

of inside information into the tax haven system

that anyone had ever seen.

But it also presented a gigantic challenge to investigative journalism.

但它也為新聞調查帶來了巨大挑戰

Think about it: 11.5 million documents,

想像一下： 1150 萬文件

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

其中包含著來自 200 多個 不同國家的秘密

Where do you start with such a vast resource?

面對這麼大的資源要從何下手？

Where do you even begin to tell a story

你要從何開始進行新聞報導 並追根究底到世上的每個角落？

that can trail off into every corner of the globe,

and that can affect almost any person in any language,

進而影響世上每一個人 來關注這件事，

sometimes in ways they don't even know yet.

我們的方式可能是 他們從未見過的。

John Doe had given the information to two journalists

張三把信息給了

at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

德國《南德日報》的兩位記者，

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

他說他的動機是 ——我引用一下——

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

「這些文件能揭示這世上 不公正的規模有多大」

But one user alone can never make sense

但是一個機構不可能憑一己之力

of such a vast amount of information.

理解如此大量的信息，

So the Süddeutsche Zeitung reached out

所以《南德日報》聯繫了

to my organization in Washington, DC,

我位於美國華盛頓特區的機構

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

「國際調查記者同盟」，

We decided to do something that was the very opposite

我們決定要做一些不同於

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

以往記者被教導的辦事方法，

share.

「分享」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

By nature, investigative reporters are lone wolves.

記者的天性就像孤狼，

We fiercely guard our secrets,

我們兇猛地捍衛著我們的機密

at times even from our editors,

有時候甚至不讓編輯知道，

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

因為我們知道 一旦告訴他們我們手頭的報導

they'll want that story right away.

他們立刻就會想把報導佔為己有

And to be frank,

老實說，

when you get a good story,

當你有了一篇精彩的新聞報導

you like to keep the glory to yourself.

你會想獨享這份榮耀，

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

毫無疑問，我們正生活在 一個日漸緊密的世界，

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

但媒體業卻很晚 才體認到這一點。

The issues we report on are more and more transnational.

我們報導的事件越來越跨國界。

Giant corporations operate on a global level.

大型公司的跨國經營、

Environmental and health crises are global.

環境和健康問題 都是全球性的挑戰。

So, too, are financial flows and financial crises.

同理，資金流動和 經濟危機也是如此。

So it seems staggering that journalism has been so late

所以，新聞界這麼晚

to cover stories in a truly global way.

才進行全球化報導 的確令人驚訝，

And it also seems staggering that journalism has been so slow

同樣令人驚訝的是 新聞業竟這麼晚

to wake up to the possibilities that technology brings,

才體認到科技所帶來的可能性，

rather than being frightened of it.

而不是害怕科技。

The reason journalists are scared of technology is this:

記者這麼害怕科技的原因是：

the profession's largest institutions are going through tough times

這個最大的專業機構 正在經歷困難時期，

because of the changing way that people are consuming news.

因為人們閱讀新聞 的方式已經改變，

The advertising business models that have sustained reporting are broken.

支持新聞業的 廣告商業模式已經瓦解。

And this has plunged journalism into crisis,

這使新聞業陷入困境，

forcing those institutions to reexamine how they function.

迫使這些機構 反思他們如何運作，

But where there is crisis,

但有危必有機，

there is also opportunity.

The first challenge presented

第一個挑戰是

by what would eventually become known as the Panama Papers

最終要如何把 這份知名的巴拿馬文件

was to make the documents searchable and readable.

變得可被搜索和可被閱讀。

There were nearly five million emails,

這裡有將近五百萬封電子郵件，

two million PDFs that needed to be scanned and indexed,

兩百萬份需要 被掃描和索引的電子文件

and millions more files and other kinds of documents.

還有成百萬的文件夾 和其他類型的文件。

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

他們都需要被存放在

一個安全又保密的雲端。

in the cloud.

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

我們接下來，邀請 全球的記者來看這些文件，

In all, reporters from more than 100 media organizations

總共有 76 個國家，

in 76 countries --

超過 100 個媒體機構 的記者參與。

from the BBC in Britain

有來自英國廣播公司的、

to Le Monde newspaper in France

法國世界報的、

to the Asahi Shimbun in Japan.

日本朝日新聞。

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

我們把這方法稱為 《用本地人的眼睛來辨識本地人的名字》

who best to tell you who was important to Nigeria

誰能比奈吉利亞的記者

than a Nigerian journalist?

更能辨認出奈吉利亞的重要人物？

Who best in Canada than a Canadian?

誰能比加拿大記者 更能說明加拿大的情況呢？

There were only two rules for everyone who was invited:

被邀請來的記者只要遵守兩個規則：

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

一是我們都同意分享 我們和別人找到的任何信息，

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

二是我們都同意在同一天發表結果，

We chose our media partners based on trust

我們用信任基礎， 來篩選媒體夥伴，

that had been built up through previous smaller collaborations

這信任可能是來自於 之前的合作，

and also from leads that jumped out from the documents.

也來自於在文件中發現的線索。

Over the next few months,

後來的幾個月，

my small nonprofit organization of less than 20 people

我這邊不到 20 人的非營利組織

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

加入了來自 25 種語言區 超過 350 名的記者。

The biggest information leak in history

有史以來最大的信息洩漏

had now spawned the biggest journalism collaboration in history:

也催生了有史以來 最大的新聞業合作

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

376 名記者做著 他們平常不會做的事情，

working shoulder to shoulder,

並肩作戰

sharing information,

分享信息，

but telling no one.

但是不能對外公佈。

For it became clear at this point

因為這時我們都清楚

that in order to make the biggest kind of noise,

要造成最大程度的轟動

we first needed the biggest kind of silence.

我們必須先保持最大程度的肅靜。

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

這個項目預期要進行幾個月，

we built a secure virtual newsroom.

我們建造了安全的 虛擬新聞編輯室，

We used encrypted communication systems,

我們使用加密的溝通系統，

and we built a specially designed search engine.

我們特地設計了 一個專用的搜索引擎。

Inside the virtual newsroom,

在這虛擬新聞編輯室裏面，

the reporters could gather around the themes

記者可以根據主題

that were emerging from the documents.

搜集文件中出現的信息。

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

比如對血鑽石 或者東方古董感興趣的人，

could share information about how the offshore world was being used

可以分享這些人 是如何利用境外世界

to hide the trade in both of those commodities.

來暗中進行商品的交易。

Those interested in sport could share information

對體育感興趣的人，

about how famous sports stars were putting their image rights

可以分享體育明星們是如何

把自己的肖像權 讓海外公司使用，

into offshore companies,

thereby likely avoiding taxes

從而

在他們所在的國家中避稅。

in the countries where they plied their trade.

But perhaps most exciting of all

但也許其中最激動人心的

were the number of world leaders and elect politicians

是文件中出現的

世界領袖和民選政治人物。

that were emerging from the documents --

figures like Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine,

比如烏克蘭的波羅申科、

close associates of Vladimir Putin in Russia

俄羅斯的普京的親信、

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

和英國首相大衛 · 卡梅隆，

through his late father, Ian Cameron.

他已故的父親伊恩 · 卡梅隆 出現在文件中。

Buried in the documents were secret offshore entities,

文件裏還藏著秘密的 海外實體公司

such as Wintris Inc.,

比如 Wintris 公司，

a company in the British Virgin Islands

它在英屬維爾京群島建立，

that had actually belonged to the sitting Icelandic prime minister.

實際上這家公司是 當時冰島總理的公司。

I like to refer to Johannes Kristjansson,

其中功不可沒的是 約翰內斯 · 克里斯詹森，

the Icelandic reporter we invited to join the project,

他是受我們邀請 加入這項目的冰島記者，

as the loneliest man in the world.

可以被稱為這世界上最孤獨的人。

For nine months, he refused paid work

九個月以來，他拒接有酬勞的工作，

and lived off the earnings of his wife.

依靠妻子的收入生活。

He pasted tarps over the windows of his home

在冰島漫長的冬天

to prevent prying eyes during the long Icelandic winter.

他在自己家中的窗戶上 粘貼防水膠布，防止被窺探。

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

不久他就用完了所有 他長時間缺勤的藉口。

as he worked red-eyed,

他工作到眼睛充滿血絲， 日復一日，月復一月

night after night,

month after month.

In all that time, he sat on information

長久以來，他掌握著

that would eventually bring down the leader of his country.

足以使他的國家領導人 下台的資訊。

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

現在，想像你是一位記者 你正在進行驚人的調查，

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

比如發現了總理 和秘密海外公司有關係，

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

那間公司在冰島銀行 獲得了巨額的經濟利益，

the very issue he's been elected on --

而這正是他被選上的原因，

well, your instinct is to scream out very loud.

你肯定想大聲宣佈。

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

但是，作為能與他交談的 少數幾個人之一

Johannes and I shared a kind of gallows humor.

我和約翰內斯都有一種 共同的黑色幽默，

"Wintris is coming," he used to say.

他曾經說，「Wintris要來了」 （相關語:凜冬將至）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

We were big fans of "Game of Thrones."

我們都是《權力遊戲》 的 忠實粉絲。

When reporters like Johannes wanted to scream,

當像約翰內斯這樣的記者 想要大聲吶喊時，

they did so inside the virtual newsroom,

他們會在虛擬新聞 編輯室中這樣做，

and then they turned those screams into stories

接著他們把這些呐喊 轉變成新聞報導，

by going outside the documents to court records,

從文件的信息查到法庭記錄

official company registers,

查到官方的公司註冊信息

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

最後向我們的目標人物提出質問。

Panama Papers actually allowed the reporters to look at the world

巴拿馬文件實際上讓記者

用不同於一般人的角度去觀察世界。

through a different lens from everybody else.

As we were researching the story,

當我們在進行新聞調查的時候

unconnected to us,

有的新聞和我們無關，

a major political bribery scandal happened in Brazil.

巴西發生了重大的政治賄賂醜聞，

A new leader was elected in Argentina.

阿根廷投票產生了新的領導，

The FBI began to indict officials at FIFA,

美國聯邦調查局開始起訴 國際足球聯合會的官員，

the organization that controls the world of professional soccer.

FIFA是控制世界職業足球 比賽的組織。

The Panama Papers actually had unique insights

巴拿馬文件實際上

into each one of these unfolding events.

對每件揭露的事 都有著獨特的洞察力。

So you can imagine the pressure and the ego dramas

所以你可以想像我們承受著

足以摧毀我們事業的壓力和自負。

that could have ruined what we were trying to do.

Any of one of these journalists,

團隊中的每一個記者，

they could have broken the pact.

都有可能違反協議，

But they didn't.

但他們並沒有這樣做。

And on April 3 this year,

今年的 4 月 3 日

at exactly 8pm German time,

在德國時間的下午八點整

we published simultaneously in 76 countries.

我們在 76 個國家 同時發佈了新聞。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

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

巴拿馬文件很快成為了 今年最轟動的事件之一。

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

這是我們發表後 隔天在冰島的景象，

It was the first of many protests.

這是眾多抗議遊行的開端；

The Icelandic prime minister had to resign.

冰島的總理不得不辭職，

It was a first of many resignations.

這也是眾多領導下台的開端。

We spotlighted many famous people such as Lionel Messi,

我們關注許多名人 比如萊昂內爾·梅西，

the most famous soccer player in the world.

他是全世界最著名的足球運動員。

And there were some unintended consequences.

也有一些我們沒有預料到的後果：

These alleged members of a Mexican drug cartel were arrested

這些墨西哥販毒集團的成員被捕了

after we published details about their hideout.

因為我們公佈了他們巢穴的具體信息，

They'd been using the address

他們一直用同一個地址

to register their offshore company.

來註冊他們的海外公司。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

我們做的事情也有諷刺的一面

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

科技、網路這些曾經 破壞了新聞商業模式的東西

is allowing us to reinvent journalism itself.

正在幫助我們重塑新聞業。

And this dynamic is producing

這樣的改變已經正在進行

unprecedented levels of transparency and impact.

前所未有的透明度和影響力。

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

我們這一群記者向世人展示了 我們將如何影響並改變全世界，

by applying new methods and old-fashioned journalism techniques

藉由應用新方法 和傳統新聞技巧的結合

to vast amounts of leaked information.

來擴大資訊披露的數量。

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

我們把「匿名者」提供的 重要內容放在一起。

And by sharing resources,

透過資源共享，

we were able to dig deep --

我們能挖得更深——

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

比現在的大多數媒體機構 能挖得更深更久，

because of financial concerns.

因為他們有財務上的考量。

Now, it was a big risk,

現在，這是一個重大挑戰，

and it wouldn't work for every story,

它不一定在每一個新聞報導中 都起積極作用，

but we showed with the Panama Papers

但我們透過巴拿馬文件向世人展示

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

不論你在哪裡都能報導 任何國家的新聞，

and then choose your preferred battleground to defend your work.

還能選擇你最感興趣的領域進行報導，

Try obtaining a court injunction

嘗試去獲得法庭的禁令

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

這樣可以避免來自 76 國家 新聞報導的洩漏，

Try stopping the inevitable.

嘗試阻止不可避免的事。

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

在我們發佈後不久 我收到了約翰內斯的短信：

"Wintris has arrived."

「凜冬已至」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

也許新聞業的新時代 也已經來臨了。

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Bruno Giussani: Gerard, thank you.

布魯諾 · 朱薩尼： 傑拉德，謝謝你。

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

我想你會把這些掌聲

送給和你並肩作戰的 350 名記者，對吧。

who worked with you, right?

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

現在，我想問幾個問題：

The first one is,

第一個是

you'd been working in secrecy for over a year

你曾經和 350 多個 來自世界各地的同事

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

秘密工作超過了一年，

was there ever a moment when you thought

有沒有一個時刻你覺得

that the leak may be leaked,

巴拿馬文件的報導已經被洩漏了，

that the collaboration may just be broken

合作關係已經破壞了，

by somebody publishing a story?

因為有人擅自發佈了新聞，

Or somebody not in the group releasing some information

或者有不在組織內的某個人 泄露了消息

that they got to know?

因為他們早就知道了？

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

傑拉德 · 賴爾：我們一路以來 都有一系列的危機，

including when something major was happening in the world,

包括世界上某些重大事件發生時，

the journalists from that country wanted to publish right away.

這些國家的記者 都想要立刻披露新聞，

We had to calm them down.

但我們必須讓他們冷靜下來。

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

也許我們最重大的危機 是在發佈前的一週，

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

我們給普京的聯繫人 發出了一系列的質問，

but instead of responding,

他們沒有回覆，

the Kremlin actually held a press conference and denounced us,

克林姆林宮反而召開了 新聞發佈會並譴責我們，

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

譴責整個事件是西方的陰謀。

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

當時普京以為這只是針對他的。

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

當然了，全世界的編輯

were very nervous about this.

都十分緊張，

They thought the story was going to get out.

他們以為這個新聞就要被搶先公佈了。

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

你可以想想他們為此花費的時間、

the amount of resources, money spent on this.

精力和金錢。

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

所以我在最後一週 必須讓每個人冷靜下來。

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

這有點像將軍在帶兵作戰， 當你要全力攻擊時，

"Calm, remain calm."

你會向軍隊說 ，「冷靜，保持冷靜 」

And then eventually, of course, they all did.

當然，最後大家都做到了。

BG: And then a couple weeks ago or so,

布魯諾 · 朱薩尼：幾個星期前，

you released a lot of the documents as an open database

你把很多文件發表在公開數據庫，

for everybody to search via keyword, essentially.

所以任何人都可以 通過關鍵詞進行查找。

GR: We very much believe

傑拉德 · 賴爾：我們深信

that the basic information about the offshore world

這些離岸世界的基本信息

should be made public.

都應該公諸於世。

Now, we didn't publish the underlying documents

現在，我們並不是公佈那些

of the journalists we're working with.

與我們合作的記者找出的深層信息，

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

而只是公佈基本信息，比如人名、

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

他們的海外公司在做什麼 和公司名字，

is now all available online.

這些都應該能在網上找到。

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

事實上，這些大型資源 現在都公佈在網路上。

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

布魯諾 · 朱薩尼：傑拉德， 謝謝你所有的努力。

GR: Thank you.

傑拉德 · 賴爾：謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）