The Cross-Borders Data Project comprises the global arm of Columbia Journalism Investigations. This postgraduate fellowship offers recent graduates the opportunity to apply their data and investigative skills to produce global stories of public interest. Through a partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the program allows fellows to work with a network of more than 200 top investigative journalists across the world on projects similar to the Panama Papers. Funding is provided by the Investigative Reporting Resource and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Giannina Segnini, Project Advisor
Giannina Segnini, a data journalism professor at Columbia, is the project advisor. Prior to joining Columbia Journalism School, Segnini worked for Costa Rica’s La Nación newspaper, heading a team of journalists and computer engineers dedicated to investigating stories by gathering, analyzing and visualizing public databases. These investigations led to more than fifty criminal cases against politicians, businessmen and public officials, including two former presidents of Costa Rica. The team also processed the data and developed the interactive application for the OffshoreLeaks project that was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2013. Segnini also partakes actively in the ICIJ’s Panama Papers project.
Segnini was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University (2001-2002) and graduated as a Journalist at the University of Costa Rica. Her work has garnered the Maria Moors Cabot Award (2014), the Excellence Award from the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation (2013) and many other awards. Read her full faculty bio. »
Current Fellows
Mariana Castro, ‘22 M.S.
Mariana Castro is a Brazilian investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. She is a graduate of the 2022 MS program at Columbia Journalism School, which she attended as a Maria Moors Cabot Scholar and a Lemann fellow. She reports on Latin America and immigration, and has worked at VICE News, Vox, Voice of America and Jigsaw Productions. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism and political science from New York University.
Madeline Fixler, ‘22 M.S. Stabile
Madeline Fixler is an investigative reporter with an M.S. degree from the Stabile investigative-reporting program at Columbia Journalism School, where she covered labor violations in New York City and the Midwest. Prior to Columbia, she reported on politics in central Ohio as a student journalist at The Ohio State University and worked in communications for Reporters Without Borders. Madeline’s most recent reporting on global Jewish communities can be found at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Andrew Little, ‘22 M.S.
Andrew Little is an investigative reporter from Dallas. He reported on technology and youth culture in Beijing for RADII China before graduating from the M.S. program at Columbia Journalism School. Andrew’s most recent reporting can be found in The Dallas Morning News, where he covered local government and the North Texan labor movement.
Recent Stories
Applying to the Fellowship
The Cross Borders Data Project postgraduate fellowship is an exclusive opportunity open only to recent M.A. and M.S. graduates of the Columbia Journalism School. Those interested in applying should contact Career Services for application instructions and deadlines.