Programmes

Media as a means to improve the transparency of the justice system and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism

Kosovo
December 2022 – November 2023
BIRN Kosovo

The project aim is to contribute to making justice institutions in Kosovo more transparent and accountable, thereby increasing public demand for the enhancement of their performance.

Supporting CSOs and/or media to advance investigative journalism and increase high-quality media content on procurement and public finance irregularities

Kosovo
December 2022 – September 2023
BIRN Kosovo

This project aims to increase transparency and accountability from local governance institutions by producing and publishing stories on public spending abuses, institutional wrongdoings and corrupt affairs. It aims to help build the capacity of journalists and journalism students to monitor and report about corruption, public procurement and public expenditure.

Supporting CSOs to monitor procurement activities in the USAID KMI Phase 1 municipalities and Ministry of Health

Kosovo
February 2023 – November 2023
BIRN Kosovo

This project aims to contribute to an increase in transparency and accountability in local government institutions by monitoring procurement activities at local and central levels and publishing a report on public spending abuses, institutional wrongdoings and corrupt affairs.

Addressing Misinformation through Fact-checking Journalism

Kosovo
September 2022 – June 2023
BIRN Kosovo

This project aims to contribute to combating the spread of fake news and disinformation in Kosovo by raising awareness and promoting fact-checking reporting among the people of Kosovo and supporting fact-checking journalism. The project aims to increase public awareness on fake news and disinformation, especially among marginalized groups such as women, the young and members of non-majority communities.

Strengthening Civil Society Anti-Corruption Capacity in Energy and Environment Issues in Kosovo

Kosovo
November 2022 – August 2023
BIRN Kosovo

The project aims to strengthen the legal basis for proper environmental protection for national parks and increase the efficiency of this mechanism through good management. BIRN Kosova, as leader of the civil society coalition, will implement various activities including analysis and research, aiming to identify and expose corruption related to protected areas/national parks, focused on the Drini and Mirusha rivers, including the Ibar.

Spheres of Influence Uncovered

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
October 2022 – December 2025
BIRN Hub

This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the roles that three key international players – the EU, Russia and China – have on the seven project countries’ economies. In the course of this, journalists from the seven countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – will map Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), coming from these three players and identify the main challenges and consequences for their countries. They will also produce investigative country-based and cross-border reports while their skills will be upgraded with a series of capacity-building activities.

Society against Corruption in Montenegro

Montenegro
October 2022 – March 2025
BIRN Hub

The aim of this project is to increase the accountability to citizens of Montenegro’s national and local governments, as well as public institutions, and empower the justice system and the rule of law.

Enhancing accountability and memorialization processes in the Balkans by exploring war crimes archives and promoting fact-based narrative

Enhancing accountability and memorialization processes in the Balkans by exploring war crimes archives and promoting fact-based narrative

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia
September 2021 – February 2023
BIRN Hub

The project aims to strengthen transitional justice mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo through enhanced usage of courts’ archives and professional reporting on war crimes. Specifically, the project is intended to reinforce the role of local artists, journalists, researchers, and historians in becoming drivers of change in reconciliation processes in the Balkan region; also, to improve intercultural dialogue and guarantees of non-recurrence through enhanced usage of court archives for the creation of multimedia fact-based content, combating the disinformation and denial that are encouraged by mainstream nationalistic narratives.

Spheres of Influence Uncovered

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
October 2022 – December 2025
BIRN Hub

This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the roles that three key international players – the EU, Russia and China – have on the seven project countries’ economies. In the course of this, journalists from the seven countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – will map Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, coming from these three players and identify the main challenges and consequences for their countries. They will also produce investigative country-based and cross-border reports while their skills will be upgraded with a series of capacity-building activities.

Greater Internet Freedom

Greater Internet Freedom

Balkan region
August 2020 – August 2024
BIRN Hub

The project aims to contribute to the overall exposure and mainstreaming of issues of Internet freedom and digital rights through partnering with local organizations from the Balkans and Moldova in monitoring and analyzing trends pertaining to freedom of expression, privacy and freedoms online. It involves organizing regional events/workshops for key stakeholders and supporting region-wide capacity to address and respond to technical and policy-level attacks on Internet freedom.

Going Environmental: Strengthening Local and Regional Media in the Western Balkans Through Reporting on Climate Change

Balkan region
June 2022 – February 2023
BIRN Hub

This project aims to contribute to improving the public debate on climate change and environmental protection in the Balkans through strengthening journalists and media to produce high-quality, independent and systematic climate reporting. Journalists and media will work together so that, instead of isolated reports on environmental problems, systematic and cross-border reporting is done that can convey the national and global character of this phenomenon to the public in an understandable way.

European Focus

European Focus

Balkan Insight
March 2022 – February 2024
BIRN Hub

The project “European Focus” promotes a diverse, independent and pluralistic media environment and fosters intercultural dialogue. The “European Focus” newsletter will strengthen European reporting (its quality and quantity) and journalistic partnerships by establishing regular and long-term cross-border collaborative practices between European newsrooms, media and journalists.

Supporting Greater Media Independence in the Western Balkans

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia
Aug 2022 – Feb 2023
BIRN Hub

The aim of this project is to strengthen the editorial independence of the media, enabling them to provide audiences with a more diverse range of content, so encouraging open, informed and active discussion amongst audiences in the six Balkans countries.

Reporting Democracy

Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, from the Baltic Sea to the Aegean
March 2020 – March 2023
BIRN Hub

Reporting Democracy is a cross-border journalistic platform dedicated to exploring where democracy is headed across large parts of Europe. Besides generating a steady stream of features, interviews and analytical pieces done by our own correspondents, we support local journalists by commissioning stories and providing grants for in-depth features and investigations. We translate many of our articles into local languages and make them available for republication through a growing network of local media partners. We also provide a forum for a broad range of expert commentary from leaders in policy, civil society and academia.

Media Innovation Europe: Energizing the European Media Ecosystem

Media Innovation Europe: Energizing the European Media Ecosystem

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia.
June 2022 – May 2024
BIRN Hub

The aim of this project is to strengthen the capacities and independence of media outlets across the Visegrád and Balkan regions. The project will focus on diversifying skills of journalists to build more competitive and independent media and create opportunities to establish collaborative networks across borders. This will be achieved by using tools and techniques which will connect newsrooms with audiences, developing new business models and encouraging collaboration and innovation.