Dafni Karavola

Data Journalism • Visual Investigations

Dafni is a freelance data journalist and visual investigator based in Athens, with a background in architectural engineering. She is a member of Reporters United independent investigative network reporting on Romani rights, state and corporate accountability and environmental issues using data analysis, cartography and OSINT techniques. She has participated in cross-border investigations and worked with Magma Magazine, Forensic Architecture/Forensis, Arena for Journalism in Europe and others. She was trained in data journalism at Columbia University in New York, Reasearch Architecture at Goldsmiths University, in London and architecture at the National Technical University in Athens. Her interests lie at the intersection of journalism and spatial practices and she loves maps.

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Portfolio

Roma Settlement Investigation

Forced mobility & infrastructural deprivation: Mapping the Romani settlement of Sofo

Multi-year investigation into the displacement and living conditions of Roma communities in Aspropyrgos, combining field research with geospatial analysis.

Minotaur Investigation

Minotaur captured: How a Greek bank and international funds seized people's homes

Investigation into Eurobank's non-performing loans portfolio revealing how property ownership was transferred from indebted Greek households to tax havens through a complex corporate structure.

Informal Recycling

Recycling in Athens’ backyard, or: the racialized violence of urban metabolisms

As urban decomposers, informal recyclers transform the discarded and unwanted into raw materials that fuel industrial development. The article examines the case of ‘Athens’ backyard’ to show how such an urban metabolism is based on a brutal system of environmental racism.

Costa Navarino-1

Το αμίλητο νερό του Costa Navarino

Το Costa Navarino, «μια από τις μεγαλύτερες τουριστικές επενδύσεις στη Μεσόγειο», σύμφωνα με τον όμιλο ΤΕΜΕΣ στον οποίο ανήκει, χτίζει εδώ και 24 χρόνια τον μύθο του μέσα από ένα κρεσέντο αγιογραφιών από τα ΜΜΕ και διαρκείς επαίνους τριών πρωθυπουργών. ο Reporters United με επιτόπια έρευνα, με ανάλυση των ποσοτικών δεδομένων της διαχείρισης του νερού, με χαρτογράφηση των υποδομών εντός και εκτός Costa Navarino, απομυθοποιεί την «αειφορία» του φαραωνικού συγκροτήματος.

Pillar Imvestigation Part 2

Πλειστηριασμοί: H Pillar κερνάει, η Eurobank πίνει

Σκαλίσαμε μέσω του Κτηματολογίου τους τίτλους ιδιοκτησίας των ακινήτων του χαρτοφυλακίου κόκκινων δανείων Pillar που εκποιήθηκαν την τελευταία πενταετία σε πλειστηριασμούς και ανακαλύψαμε ποιος τελικά παίρνει τα σπίτια του κόσμου.

Pillar Imvestigation Part 1

Κόκκινα δάνεια: Ο μίτος των funds οδηγεί πίσω στη Eurobank

Με βάση το χαρτοφυλάκιο κόκκινων δανείων Pillar της Eurobank, αποκωδικοποιήσαμε πώς μέσω πλειστηριασμών, ένα πολυπλόκαμο σχήμα εταιρειών συγκαλύπτει, διανέμει και φυγαδεύει σε φορολογικούς παραδείσους μεγάλες υπεραξίες, με την επιδότηση του ελληνικού κράτους.

Auctions Mapping

Inside Eurobank's Pillar Portfolio: Are auctions disproportionately affecting Athens' poorer?

An investigation into the auctions' system through RU's published database, alongside an analysis of Athens' historical class distribution questions who are those most affected by the bank speculation scheme.

Consumer's Basket

Consumer's basket: aid for consumers or gift for the supermarkets?

Consumer's basket was advertised as a government initiative to help combat soaring prices in basic groceries necessities. But does it really work as a consumers' relief or is it designed to benefit large supermarket industries?

Burning an Illustion

Burning an Illusion: an investigation of the investigation into the 1981 New Cross Fire

An open-source reconstruction of the events that led, happened and followed the January 18th, 1981 New Cross Fire in London, UK. The investigation exposes how racism within different institutions such as media, the police, and the coroner’s office contributed to the inconclusive results of the original inquiry that left the deaths of fourteen young black people unpunished.

Digital Evidence Lab

'When was this photo really taken?' 'Does this location match the official story?' 'How has this landscape changed over time?' As journalists, we face these questions daily. But in today's digital world, answers often lie hidden in plain sight - in social media footage, satellite imagery, and countless other visual and spatial traces. While these materials traditionally served as illustrations for stories, they're now powerful sources of evidence themselves. Through mapping, OSINT techniques, and data analysis, digital breadcrumbs can be turned into investigative breakthroughs, transforming questions into revelations.

Data-driven Journalism

Collect and analyse large datasets using Python, Pandas, and web scrapping to create data-driven stories.

OSINT
Investigations

Use open-source intelligence gathering, geolocation, chronolocation, social media platforms' data and visual verification for investigative projects.

Mapping & Spatial Analysis

Analyse spatial data through satellite imagery and mapping services like QGIS, Mapbox GL JS to create a comprehensive visual and spatial investigation.

Visual
Storytelling

Visualise your findings to help audiences with advanced visualization tools, static and interactive maps, charts, and dashboards that tell compelling stories.

Resume

Recent Participations

November 2024, Berlin
Tactical Tech
Exposing the Invisible: Digital Investigation Residency
October 2024 - February 2025
Magma Magazine
Magmatic School of Environmental Journalism
October 2024, Berlin
Berliner Gazette
Kin City: Festival on Urban Ecologies
2024, Mechelen
Arena for Journalism in Europe
Dataharvest - European Investigative Journalism Conference

Education

2024
Columbia University, New York
Lede Program for Data Journalism
iMEdD - SNF Data Journalism Fellowship
2024
Athens University of Economics and Business
Web Application Development
2022 - 2023
Goldsmiths University of London
MA Research - Forensic Architecture
Eugenides Foundation National Architecture Scholarship
2014 - 2020
National Technical University of Athens
MArch Architectural Engineering
2014
LFHED | Lycée Franco-Hellénique Eugène Delacroix

Contact

Direct Contact

dafni.karavola@gmail.com

Secure Communication

dafni.karavola@proton.me

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