Bastian Obermayer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bastian Obermayer
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Obermayer in 2024
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| Born | 10 December 1977 Rosenheim, West Germany
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| Alma mater | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Deutsche Journalistenschule |
| Occupation | Investigative journalist, Süddeutsche Zeitung |
| Known for | Panama Papers Paradise Papers The Daphne Project |
Bastian Obermayer (born December 10, 1977) is a German journalist. He is known for his special kind of reporting called investigative journalism. He works for a newspaper in Munich called Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Bastian Obermayer won a very important award, the Pulitzer Prize. He is famous for receiving the secret documents for the Panama Papers and later the Paradise Papers. He worked on these big projects with his colleague Frederik Obermaier. He has also written several books. One of his best-selling books is about the Panama Papers. It explains how rich and powerful people sometimes hide their money.
In 2017, Bastian Obermayer helped start a non-profit news group called Forbidden Stories. He also helped begin their first project, The Daphne Project. This project was created to continue the work of a Maltese journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed. Obermayer is currently a Vice President at Forbidden Stories.
He studied politics, history, and American studies at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. He also studied journalism at the Deutsche Journalistenschule in Munich.
Contents
What Bastian Obermayer Does
Bastian Obermayer works on many different topics. He is part of a group called the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). With this group, he helped investigate big stories like Offshore Leaks, Luxembourg Leaks, and Swiss Leaks.
He also worked with other journalists to show Germany's role in the US drone war. They especially looked at the airbase in Ramstein.
The Panama Papers Story
Bastian Obermayer was contacted by a secret person. This person called themselves John Doe. John Doe shared over 11.5 million secret documents. These documents came from a law firm in Panama called Mossack Fonseca. John Doe told Obermayer that their life was in danger.
On May 6, 2016, John Doe said they leaked the documents because they saw how unfair things were. They wanted to show the world the scale of these injustices. John Doe also said they never worked for any government or spy agency. They offered to help people who investigate crimes.
Obermayer shared these documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Journalists from 107 news groups in 80 countries studied the documents. After more than a year of work, the first news stories came out on April 3, 2016.
A few days later, Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier published their book. It was called Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money. It was first in German, then in over 15 other languages. A famous journalist, Bob Woodward, called the Panama Papers investigation a "triumph of journalism." Edward Snowden, who also leaked secret information, called it "the biggest leak in the history of journalism." Later, Netflix announced they would make a movie based on Obermayer and Obermaier's book.
Bahamas-Leaks Investigation
After the Panama Papers, another secret source gave Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier new information. This data came from the company registry of the Bahamas.
The information showed that several important people had roles in Bahamian companies. These included leaders and politicians. For example, a former EU Commissioner and a former prime minister of Qatar were named.
The Paradise Papers
Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier also started the Paradise Papers investigation. This story was published on November 5, 2017.
This huge collection of 13.5 million records showed many hidden connections. It revealed ties between Russia and a US President's commerce secretary. It also showed the hidden money of a Canadian prime minister's chief fundraiser. And it showed some offshore dealings of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Daphne Project
In 2016, Bastian Obermayer met Laurent Richard, a French investigative reporter. They were both in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a special fellowship. Richard had an idea to start a non-profit news group. This group would fight against censorship using collaborative journalism. Obermayer had a lot of knowledge about this, especially after the Panama Papers.
When Richard started his organization in 2017, he asked Obermayer to be Vice President. In October 2017, a Maltese journalist named Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed. On that very day, Richard and Obermayer decided to try and continue her work together. That is how the Daphne Project began.
Awards and Honours
Bastian Obermayer has won many German journalism awards. These include the Theodor Wolff Prize in 2009 and the Henri Nannen Prize in 2010 and 2017. He also received the Helmut Schmidt Prize several times. In 2016, he was voted "German Journalist of the Year" with his colleagues. He was also named "German Business Journalist of the Year" in 2014.
He has also won international awards. These include the George Polk award and the Barlett & Steele award. As part of the ICIJ's Panama Papers team, he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017. This was for "Explanatory Reporting," which means explaining complex topics clearly.
In 2016, Obermayer received the important Knight Wallace Fellowship from the University of Michigan.
