Author: Aleksandra Vrbica

BIRN Kosovo Holds Investigative Journalism and Fact-Checking Training

BIRN Kosovo held a three-day training course on investigative journalism and fact-checking with regional and international experts in Prishtina, Kosovo from October 11 to 13.

A total of 18 journalists from Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, and Bosnia, 14 of whom were women, attended.

Over three days, the participants became familiar with fact-checking and verification tools and studied in-depth investigations from the region.

The first day started with an introduction to the training and project given by Arita Suhodolli, Program Manager at BIRN Kosovo.

The first session was held by Visar Prebreza, managing editor of investigations and fact-checking at KALLXO.com, who spoke about the critical role of investigative journalism in holding powerful individuals and institutions accountable.

Participants learned more how impactful reporting can expose corruption and influence tangible change, with a special focus on case studies of high-profile investigations made by KALLXO.com that led to arrests and legal action.

The second and third sessions were held by Ximena Villagrán, Chief Operating Officer at Maldita.es.

She addressed the global challenges posed by disinformation, where sensationalism and clickbait often dominate the media landscape, undermining the credibility of fact-based journalism. This session explored the crucial role that fact-checking and investigative journalism play in countering false narratives and fostering resilience against malign influences.

Ximena Villagrán spoke also about the innovative tools for engaging younger audiences together with her colleague, Alba Moreno, who spoke about the Factous page launched by Maldita.es itself, a social media page mainly on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube Shorts.

This initiative aims to guarantee access to information for all people, and awaken the interest of young people in issues that affect them most: politics, economy, culture.

According to them, the page was launched to provide citizens with reliable content based on evidence, facts and data that refutes misinformation and addresses citizens’ information queries with varied and accessible formats, creating a more resilient, accessible and reliable information and media ecosystem.

Moreno explained that the objective is to bring current events closer to younger people using friendly and informal language but without neglecting rigour.

The second day continued with Ylli Buleshkaj, Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, who spoke about the role of whistleblowers and how to protect them.

Buleshkaj gave best practices of protecting whistleblowers based on legal principles and models from regulatory bodies.

The second session was held by Faik Ispahiu, Executive Director of Internews Kosova and TV Producer, who spoke about the art of visual storytelling in TV investigations, showing how to combine compelling narratives with engaging visuals.

Ispahiu spoke also about the creation of a media platform using information technology where citizens can report on corruption and organised crime and the protection of whistleblowers within organised crime groups and cross-border crime.

The fourth session was held by Xhorxhina Bami, editor and journalist at BIRN, who spoke about her investigations on cyberbullying networks within the Balkans including the protection and security of journalists while reporting on the topic and the case of weapons confiscated during the Banjska attack in Kosovo in 2023.

The third day started with a session on tackling inter-ethnic disinformation  from Russia and China within the region, held by Dren Gerguri, lecturer at the University of Prishtina’s Department of Journalism.

He also spoke about the online tools that are being used by AI to identify manipulated materials and news spread online.

Fatjona Mejdini, Director of the South Eastern Europe Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, spoke about her in-depth investigation of drug networks from Ecuador in Europe and Western Balkans.

The training closed with a presentation by Arita Suhodolli, Program Manager at BIRN on the Fellowship program.

The training course was held as part of the EU-funded project Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey II.

Kosovo’s Radio Gorazdevac, Long-term Partner of BIRN, Celebrates 25 Years

Small radio station that punches above its weight marks an important anniversary and reflects on future goals and challenges.

Radio Gorazdevac, a respected local media outlet and current grantee of the “Western Balkans Media for Change” project, celebrated its 25th anniversary by hosting a media conference.

Gorazdevac may be a small village in southwestern Kosovo but for the past 25 years a local media outlet has been independently putting it on the map of a divided society.

Radio Gorazdevac celebrated its anniversary on October 10 at the local Cultural Centre, transforming the event into a small “media festival,” as its editor-in-chief, Darko Dimitrijevic, humbly but proudly remarked.

The conference drew journalists, NGOs, and speakers from diverse backgrounds, speaking both Albanian and Serbian among others.

BIRN and Radio Gorazdevac are long-term partners in two projects delivered in cooperation with British Council, Intrac and Thomson Media.

The Media 4 All project has significantly improved the station’s reporting quality and internal capacity, particularly by bringing young people onto the team.

Thanks to the Western Balkans Media for Change project, Radio Gorazdevac has expanded into new formats, such as podcasts, and has continued using the Engaged Citizens Reporting tool, provided and developed by BIRN as part of the Media 4 All project, to encourage citizen involvement in reporting. Its “E-reporter” page now invites citizens to report issues in their communities proactively.

Dimitrijevic has been with Radio Gorazdevac since its birth in the aftermath of the Kosovo war in 1999. Since then, he has witnessed the station’s struggle to report in Serbian and bring community stories to light, despite daily challenges.

“I was really surprised by the turnout of more than 80 people in small Gorazdevac, including representatives of the international community. This event is the crowning achievement of our work, and it shows what we’ve accomplished as a small local media outlet in Kosovo,” he said.

Among those who congratulated Radio Gorazdevac was Maja Sever, President of the European Federation of Journalists. In her video message, Sever said: “Only those of us from this region know how successful it is and what it means to survive and work as an independent journalistic radio station for so many years.”

Over time, Radio Gorazdevac has expanded to include a small TV production, and, with the growth of the internet, it has established a strong online presence.

“Many people learn about local events thanks to Radio Gorazdevac. We address the problems citizens face with institutions, and often citizens reach out to us directly to report issues in their daily lives. We’ve earned their trust but the path has not been easy, especially considering the challenging political climate in Kosovo,” Dimitrijevic added.

To celebrate its anniversary, Radio Gorazdevac organised a conference with two panels. The first discussed the role of local media outlets in an era dominated by social media. The second focused on crisis reporting and the safety of journalists, especially given the daily online and physical threats faced by independent journalists in Kosovo.

“What would happen if Radio Gorazdevac didn’t exist, producing news for the local community?” asked one of the panelists, Ardita Zejnullahu, director of the Association of Broadcast Media in Kosovo, AMPEK.

“People would likely turn to social media where misinformation and disinformation are rampant. The average citizen doesn’t fact-check what they see in these spaces. This poses a significant risk, as highly politicised communities form when there are no local media outlets to produce, verify, and deliver credible information,” Zejnullahu noted.

Ana Marija Ivkovic, journalist and editor at Alternativna and a civil activist from Northern Kosovo, highlighted the challenges local media face in reporting crises and obtaining accurate information amidst a sea of misinformation.

“We have a huge responsibility to report on crises, even though we are often not trained for it. We do the best we can,” she said.

The panelists agreed that media outlets are a powerful tool in combating misinformation and disinformation but acknowledged the challenges they face.

“There are only a few media outlets and journalists in Kosovo that can truly be called independent. In my opinion, local media outlets are the bravest when it comes to independent reporting,” said Andjelka Cup, editor-in-chief of Gracanica Online.

The conference also provided an opportunity for Radio Gorazdevac to reflect on its future direction.

“Media 4 All and Western Balkans Media for Change are programmes that have helped us grow and I can already see the direction we’ll evolve in the coming years. This progress is a result of the project funding, training and mentorship we’ve received from BIRN over the years,” Dimitrijevic concluded.

Visar Prebreza, BIRN investigative journalist and a mentor to Radio Goraždevac as part of the Western Balkans Media for Change project, praised the station’s commitment to journalism.

“They have also been proactive in finding media partners to produce regional stories, recognising that many issues in the Balkans are shared and require the collective efforts of all countries to be addressed,” she said.

“I believe the project has contributed to enhancing the radio’s professional and technical capacities, bringing it closer to the public while also enabling it to evolve in line with modern times and competitive media,” Prebreza remarked.

BIRN Serbia Wins Three EU Awards for Investigative Journalism

Gordana Andric, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Andjela Milivojevic and Radmilo Markovic received awards for stories investigating embezzlement through public competitions, illegal constructions in Belgrade and image-based sexual abuse of women.

BIRN journalists were awarded with three prizes at the ninth annual EU Investigative Journalism Award on October 9 in Belgrade.

The first prize went to a team from the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) – Ivana Milosavljevic, Teodora Curcic, and Vladimir Kostic – for their investigation “CINS in SNS Call Center: Hostess Agency, Vote Buying, and Millions in Cash.”

Gordana Andric and Aleksandar Djordjevic of BIRN received second prize for their investigation into a widespread network of individuals who embezzled millions of euros from the state budget through public competitions, exposing systemic failures in the mechanism intended to fund public interest projects.

The third prize was shared by Radmilo Markovic, for his investigation into illegal construction and legalisations, and Andjela Milivojevic for her work on image-based sexual abuse of women.

Markovic’s article on illegal construction reveals years of systemic legal violations by investors and municipal authorities in Belgrade. Hundreds of new buildings constructed without permits during and after 2015 were legalized without legal grounds. This process led to the legalization of nearly half a million square meters, damaging the public budget, and damaging the quality of life in the capital while enriching a few individuals. In his months-long investigation, Markovic identified over 300 buildings with a total area exceeding 450,000 square meters that were legalized without clear legal justification.

Milivojevic, in her investigation of the devastating impact of unauthorized sharing of women’s intimate photos, interviewed over 25 women and girls from Serbia about the shock, fear, and shame they experienced. She also mapped out 16 groups on the social media platform Telegram that shared private photos and videos of Serbian women, with the largest group having almost 50,000 members.

This year’s jury included journalist Ljubica Gojgic, the Secretary General of Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia Tamara Filipović Stevanovic, and Perica Gunjic, editor of Cenzolovka.

The EU Award for Investigative Journalism was established in 2015. It is given for outstanding journalistic efforts in six Western Balkan countries and Turkey, promoting media freedom and highlighting the importance of investigative work in countries where independent media play a crucial role.

BIRN Macedonia Starts Second Year of Investigative Journalism Training Program

BIRN Macedonia started a series of trainings for 14 young journalists with a three-day course on October 4-6 in Dojran, North Macedonia.

The course was the first in a series of five training modules that will take place over the next year. The next courses will be held in November, February and April and will end with a summer school in mid-2025 where the journalists attending can acquire skills and techniques that will prepare them for work in journalism. The programme also includes mentoring support.

The first training consisted of a mix of theoretical lectures and practical exercises. The idea was to introduce the participants to important journalistic concepts, while allowing them to apply that knowledge in a practical way.

The first session focused on understanding investigative journalism, the concept of public interest, and the key ethical values of the profession. Through discussions and interactive activities, guided by experienced BIRN editors and journalists, participants in teams went through the initial stages of the investigative process – learning how to find stories, define a story pitch and where and how to identify credible sources and documents.

Young journalists showed great interest throughout the training and actively applied what they learned in practical exercises. Between now and June 2025, they will attend four additional training sessions covering different aspects of investigative journalism.

Journalists Who Investigated Toxic Waste Win Press Awards in Albania

Six journalists were handed awards at the EU Investigative Journalism Awards on Thursday for outstanding stories published in Albania last year.

Stories about toxic waste, a controversial incinerator project, and challenges faced by the Balkan farmers were among the winning reports.

Anesti Barjamemaj, Vladimir Karaj, Oli Xama, Geri Emiri, Aida Ciro and Aleksandar Dimitrievski were announced as winners at the annual awards held at Europe House in Tirana.

The first prize went to Anesti Barjamemaj and Vladimir Karaj from Reporter.al and Voice of America for their investigation into environmental crime at the Sharra landfill, exposing toxic waste discharges into the Erzen river.

The second prize was handed to Ola Xama, also from Reporter.al, for a story that uncovered the role of the mayor of Tirana in the controversial Tirana incinerator project.

The third place went to Geri Emiri, Aida Ciro, and Aleksandar Dimitrievski from Amfora.al for their work highlighting the challenges faced by Balkan farmers in accessing EU funds.

The jury consisted of Ilda Londo from the Albanian Media Institute, Albana Kasapi, a senior journalist and editor at the BBC’s World Service Radio and Elira Canga, a media development expert.

BIRN Albania and Civic Resistance Hold Roundtables on Transparency and Accountability

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania and Civic Resistance on September 30 and October 3 held two roundtables in Shkodra and Vlora on transparency and accountability in the education and health systems in Albania.

More than 75 activists and experts from civil society organisations and citizens from Shkodra and Vlora discussed issues regarding transparency and accountability in education and health in Albania.

Rigels Xhemollari and Dhimiter Zguro from Civic Resistance presented the main challenges in education resulting from monitoring the strategy in education.

Alma Lahe, project manager at Together from Life, highlighted some of the issues arising from monitoring the health strategy.

Bylyre Serjanaj, project coordinator at BIRN Albania and Gjergj Erebara, journalist, shared the findings of the monitoring of transparency and accessibility in eight regional directorates of the educational and health system, emphasizing the need for urgent reforms and clear responsibilities on the part of these institutions.

These events were supported by the SPACE project – “Support Participation, Accountability and Civil Society Empowerment” – implemented by Together for Life (TFL) in partnership with BIRN Albania, Civic Resistance and Destiny Center for Excellence, and financed by European Union.

The main objective of the SPACE project is supporting CSOs to play oversight/watchdog and monitoring roles in the field of good governance and, on the other hand, to advocate, educate and raise awareness for better governance.

Adrian Paci Discusses “Centro Di Permanenza Temporanea” at Reporting House

An airport in San Jose, CA, where a crowd silently lines up towards an aircraft boarding staircase, is the very first image of the film that the renowned Albanian artist from Shkodra, Adrian Paci, presents to his audience, inviting them to rethink the conception of migration.

His film, titled “Centro di Permanenza Temporanea”, which is Italian and translates to “Temporary Detention Center”, refers to the Italian temporary camps for undocumented immigrants, evoking a paradox between temporary and permanent existence.

On the 2nd of October, Adrian Paci joined BIRN Kosovo at Reporting House, in an inspiring work, which explores themes of identity, migration, and political transformation, reflecting Paci’s own journey of displacement.

Paci’s work challenges viewers to contemplate the state of those waiting for a fight to nowhere, trapped between the transitory and the fixed. It symbolizes the broader dislocation experienced by migrants worldwide. His work has been featured at the Venice Biennale and in major collections like MoMA and the Guggenheim.

Currently his work is exhibited at Reporting House. His work is significant as displacement and migration is a constant outcome of conflicts and wars.

The discussion with Paci, provided a unique opportunity for over 60 participants, especially in the field of arts, to engage with Paci’s insights and work, and a very personal story of the journey of an artist of displacement and rediscovery.

“Centro di Permanenza Temporanea” is being screened at Reporting House and is open for visitors – from Tuesday to Saturday, starting from 10 am to 6 pm – at the former Germia Department Store Building in the center of Prishtina/Kosovo.

25 Years of German-Kosovar Partnership Marked at Reporting House

On October 2, 2024, BIRN Kosovo hosted an event at Reporting House to commemorate 25 years of a strong and evolving partnership between Germany and Kosovo, through a panel discussion that explored the past, the present, and the future of this relationship.

The panel discussion “25 Years of German-Kosovar Partnership Marked at Reporting House”, organized in partnership with the German Embassy in Prishtina, gathered hundreds of participants from politics, media, civil society, and diplomats.

Moderated by Michael Martens, from the renowned German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the panel included key voices on this discussion, such as Manuel Sarrazin, the German Federal Government Special Representative for the Western Balkans; Donika Emini, Senior Security Expert and Researcher, and publicist Veton Surroi.

The discussion highlighted Germany’s crucial role during the Kosovo War and the state-building process, its significant financial and political investments, and the ongoing challenges and expectations that have shaped the partnership between the two nations since 1990.

As the focus shifted to the future, the speakers stressed the importance of continued collaboration to tackle current European challenges, including the integration process for the Western Balkans.

Border Graves Project Wins Investigative Award

An investigation project into unmarked graves of migrants in Europe, which included a BIRN investigation, has won a top journalism prize.

A major cross-border journalism project that identified hundreds of unmarked graves of migrants has won the Impact Award at the annual Investigative Journalism Award for Europe (IJ4EU). 

The Border Graves Investigation, a cross-border project that confirmed over 1,000 unmarked graves of migrants across Europe over the last ten years, included a story by journalist Barbara Matejcic for BIRN about state-linked refugee deaths in Croatia.

The ceremony was held on September 26th at IJ4EU’s annual UNCOVERED Conference, hosted at the iMEdD International Journalism Forum in Athens.

Barbara Matejcic’s investigation, ‘Nomen Nescio: Dying En Route to Europe, Buried Without a Name,’ was published on BIRN’s flagship outlet, Balkan Insight. She worked on it with seven freelance journalists in countries along the European Union’s borders. The team wanted to investigate how these deaths occur, especially when they are the result of the EU border regime.

“For me, it’s important that the research for which we were awarded raises the question of the causes of death at the borders of the European Union,” Matejcic said BIRN.

“People die not because of impassable rivers or mountains, but because of border regimes. If your life is threatened in Afghanistan or Pakistan, you have no other way to claim protection in the European Union than to go on a deadly journey.

“It is also important to me that it is known that the violent behaviour of the police at the borders is directly responsible for some of these deaths, as I showed in my part of the investigation that concerned Croatia and the Croatian police. Professionally, this award is a confirmation that even small research teams of freelancers can win this kind of award in competition with large media houses and significant funds invested in their research.”

An independent jury consisted of Maltese investigative journalist Paul Caruana Galizia, pioneering documentary maker Christopher Hird, deputy director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network Gabriela Manuli, award-winning Kosovo journalist Saranda Ramaj, and media freedom advocate Nik Williams, who co-chairs the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition.

“This project is a perfect example of how to do investigative journalism with boots on the ground, while shining a light on individual stories and humanising victims,” Manuli said.

“What makes it more exemplary, is that it was conducted by a very small cross-border team. Out of the eight reporters, six of them are full-time freelancers, and the other two are affiliated with small newsrooms. And all this significant reporting was done with very little resources, in a period of over six months.”

The jury was unanimous in its decision. The winning teams received cash prizes of €5,000 each.

The award is organised by Investigative Journalism for Europe, a fund that supports cross-border watchdog journalism in and around the European Union.

Western Balkan Journalists Trained in Data Analysis and Data Visualization

Journalists from six Balkans countries were given training in vital modern newsroom techniques by BIRN.

A group of 38 journalists from six countries across the Balkans have been trained in data analysis and visualisation by BIRN.

Between September 23-30, the journalists, from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, took part in three online training sessions.

Run by BIRN as part of the Western Balkans Media for Change project, the training focused on sessions to enhance journalists skills in data analysis and visualisation – key skills required in today’s evolving newsrooms.

Training sessions on data analysis were led by Besar Likmeta, editor-in-chief of BIRN Albania, in the Albanian language, and by Milica Stojanovic, an investigative journalist with Balkan Insight, in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian.

These sessions focused on showcasing ways to analyse crowdsourced data collected via BIRN’s Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) tool using spreadsheets. The ECR tool, developed by BIRN through the Media for All project, allows citizens to contribute with their testimonies, forming a valuable data source for journalistic stories.

Additionally, Azem Kurtic, also an investigative journalist with Balkan Insight, provided insights into data visualisation techniques. Kurtic introduced participants to various data visualisation tools, including Knight Lab, Flourish, and Datawrapper, which help enhance storytelling through interactive and visually engaging elements.

This training complements a previous session held in June by Jonathan Stoneman, a data journalist and trainer with extensive career in BBC.

The Western Balkan Media for Change project is funded by the UK government and implemented by the British Council in partnership with BIRN, the Thomson Foundation, and INTRAC. The project supports the work of media outlets and individual journalists across the Western Balkans.