Katarzyna Włodkowska made her debut in 2003 in Dziennik Bałtycki, a regional newspaper. Two years later she joined the team of Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland’s leading liberal broadsheet.
During this time, she worked as a news reporter, investigative journalist and court correspondent. She is the author of over three thousand publications, including news reports, interviews, feature stories.
She has been nominated for Poland’s most important journalism prizes and awarded the prestigious Grand Press in 2017 for her feature „Dom zły” [The House of Evil]. This reportage written in June 2017, revealed a dramatic story of domestic abuse in the Polish countryside, where a husband was imprisoning and systematically, brutally raping his wife. Receiving this award did not stop Włodkowska from continuing her investigative efforts to solve the case. Nine months later she revealed the identities of the other three rapists involved in this crime. Shortly afterwards, they were all arrested. Their trial ended in early July 2020 – they were sentenced to prison.
Włodkowska also wrote about the first Polish nun who brought legal proceedings against her congregation, which was printed in „Reportagen”, a magazine published and distributed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Only two other Polish authors have ever had their work printed in this publication.
In April 2018 she was awarded for her series of articles on violence against women. Eight months later, she was the only journalist who interviewed the mother of the assassin of Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdańsk.
Włodkowska is also the co-author (with Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska) of the reportage revealing the fraudulent behavior of Marek Lisiński, the head of “Nie Lękajcie Się” [Have No Fear] foundation, which helps victims of paedophile priests. Her investigation revealed that Lisiński extorted money from one of the victims and that he most likely lied about having been molested himself (they article was nominated for the Dariusz Fikus Award in the category “Journalism of the highest quality”).
In January 2020, she revealed manipulations of the prosecutor’s office in the investigation against the assassin of Paweł Adamowicz. As a result, the same prosecutor’s office initiated another investigation, only this time regarding Katarzyna Włodkowska’s reporting. This decision gathered the attention of international organizations monitoring press freedom, including Reporters Without Borders and Article 19.
The following year, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the court agreed to force Włodkowska to reveal her source. Though she was threatened with arrest, she refused to disclose the identity of the informant.
Włodkowska writes for Duży Format magazine of Gazeta Wyborcza. Her main focus is criminal and social injustice. In September 2022 was published her first book In the sight of everyone. The case study of Polish Fritzl. She has been teaching the art of reportage at SWPS University.