Fewer than a thousand journalists are meant to keep watch over decisions that shape the lives of 450 million Europeans. So what happens to democracy when trust collapses, disinformation outruns fact, and AI can manufacture a convincing lie in seconds?

In this episode of Off Script, Elizabeth Kuiper and Naina Madan sit down with Lise Witteman — investigative journalist, head of Follow the Money's EU desk, and author of Who's Watching Brussels? Lise has spent years following the money trails most people never see: suitcases of alleged cash, conveniently deleted messages, and the watchdogs who, at the crucial moments, could only watch from inside their cage.

Together they get into the questions that matter right now — why it was small investigative newsrooms, not big tech or legacy media, that held leaders like Orbán to account; how you tell what's true when trust has eroded; whether social media is journalism's greatest tool or its biggest enemy; what the rest of the world does better; and what Europe actually needs to build to own its information landscape, not just its infrastructure.

A sharp, honest conversation about truth, trust, and why independent journalism is the content that gives Europe's democracy its meaning.

📕 Who's Watching Brussels? by Lise Witteman

English → https://shop.ftm.eu/products/whos-watching-brussels-lise-witteman

Nederlands → https://winkel.ftm.nl/products/wie-let-er-op-brussel-lise-witteman

New episodes of Off Script regularly. Keep listening, keep questioning.