First Fellowship Seminar Concluded in Vienna

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The first seminar for ten journalists selected for 2007’s Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence was held from 27-31 May in Vienna.

The seminar was organised by the Erste Foundation and hosted by the Fellowship’s Austrian Media Partner, the Vienna-based Der Standard newspaper.

Over these four days, the fellows from Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, attended group and individual sessions where they discussed the reporting they are to undertake as part of the programme. Training also helped journalists to sharpen their professional approach to research and writing and to improve their understanding of European affairs.

In addition, the fellows were given the opportunity to meet journalists and editors from Der Standard newspaper and Der Standard online, while presentations related to the topics of their research were given by experts and politicians from The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Institute for Human Sciences, Erste Bank, European Stability Initiative and Citizens’ Pact for Southeast Europe.

Over the next few months, the fellows will hold individual research trips to other countries in the region and to the EU, followed by a seminar and award ceremony in Berlin in November.

More information on the Fellowship programme can be found on its website.

The Fellowship is an initiative of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Erste Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN.