Aleksandra Vrbica, Author at BIRN

BIRN Holds Regional Meeting with GIF Local Partners

Local partners gathered in Belgrade to discuss challenges and lessons learned during implementation of the GIF regional project.

Partners involved in the Greater Internet Freedom, GIF, project, focusing on enhancing digital rights advocacy in the region, met for a two-day event in Belgrade for productive discussions, knowledge sharing and strategic planning on, among others, ensuring the sustainability of the GIF initiative beyond its conclusion in September.

Local partners shared success stories, addressed challenges and crafted plans for continued regional collaboration on digital rights advocacy and policy development.

On the first day, participants reflected on lessons learned from the GIF project, learned how to develop impactful policy briefs, engage civil society in international digital rights forums, and discussed what should be improved in regional cooperation when it comes to content moderation and freedom of expression.

Some of the success stories participants highlighted include BIRN Albania’s advocacy campaign that engaged police and strengthened networks, Metamorphosis’ practical cybersecurity training, and KVART’s streamlined, flexible application process.

Other successes include KCSS’s accessible cybersecurity handbook, Mediacentar’s digital strategy guide and SCIDEV’s simplified procedures.

Participants emphasised the need for a strategic, consistent presence throughout the year, especially on social media. Organisations should tailor content to each platform and focus on understanding target group habits. Additionally, efforts should concentrate on a few core topics, and youth campaigns must customize messages for different platforms.

The meeting closed with sessions on developing a communication strategy, building capacity for digital rights advocacy, and an open-floor discussion on future advocacy strategies, focusing on emerging technologies.

The session on communications provided an overview of the development of the GIF Communication Strategy, with a focus on sharing success stories.

Additionally, Olga Kyryliuk’s session, on CSO Engagement in Digital Rights Spaces, explored opportunities and strategies for local civil society organisations to engage in international digital rights forums, such as the Internet Governance Forum, RightsCon, and SEEDIG.

Participants learned how to navigate these global and regional spaces effectively and how local perspectives can shape global digital rights discussions, fostering stronger connections between local initiatives and international advocacy efforts.

BIRN’s local partners include Mediacentar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Youth Centre KVART (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Centre Science and Innovation for Development, SCiDEV (Albania), BIRN Albania, BIRN Serbia, the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies, and Metamorphosis (North Macedonia).

BIRN Holds Training Camp on Legally Safe and Crisis Reporting

Journalists from Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia attending BIRN’s Regional Training Camp on Legally Safe and Crisis Reporting on September 18-20 in Bjelasnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, learned how to protect themselves and their newsrooms from different kinds of attacks, including physical attacks, legal actions such as SLAPP lawsuits, as well as how to preserve their digital security.

The camp was organised in cooperation with the Silk Training Centre from the UK, which has developed a unique, tailor-made training to suit participants’ needs.

The first part of the programme focused on understanding the threats and risks the participants might be exposed to – and what they can do about them.

The second part focused on building the participants’ skills as first aiders.

The trainer and participants worked on practicing first aid and applying trauma first aid in a remote high-risk setting, including many skills that will be useful on a day-to-day basis.

The training also included a session about the protection of critical assets, assessments of threats and vectors, and physical and cyber information security risks.

During the training, participants had a chance to practically test the first aid tactics, helping an injured journalist with augmented reality techniques, and developing a protection scenario for a crisis.

Radmilo Markovic, from BIRN Serbia, then led a session about how journalists can recognise and protect themselves from SLAPPs.

He presented the definition of a SLAPP, including its background, characteristics, targets, legal and financial burden and its psychological effects on journalists and newsrooms.

Radmilo also presented four cases studies of SLAPPs from the Western Balkan region. He finished his presentation with advice on how journalists can best protect themselves from SLAPPs.

Participants expressed their appreciation of the Regional Camp, especially about its practical part.

The Regional Camp was part of the EU-funded project “Strengthening Quality Journalism in Western Balkans and Türkiye II”.

BIRN Kosovo and KCSS Provide Training on Detecting, Countering, Disinformation

On September 21-22, journalists and journalism students in Pristina participated in a two-day intensive training focused on disinformation held by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN Kosovo, and the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies, KCSS.

The training aimed to provide practical tools and knowledge to identify and counter Russian, Chinese and religious disinformation in Kosovo.

The first day of the training, led by Skënder Perteshi from KCSS, focused on the context of religious radicalization and extremism in Kosovo and the broader region.

Perteshi highlighted the ways in which extremist groups, both Islamist and Orthodox Christian, utilize disinformation to promote their radical agendas. He discussed how these narratives often target vulnerable populations, aiming to disrupt secularism, democracy and social harmony.

The session explored key topics, such as the dynamics of religious extremism and online radicalization, how extremist groups use disinformation as a tool for recruitment and the importance of developing counter-narratives to combat extremism and false information.

Participants engaged in discussions about the real-world impact of religious disinformation on Kosovo’s communities and how journalists can play a crucial role in exposing and countering these harmful narratives.

On the second day, Visar Prebreza from BIRN Kosovo, introduced participants to the historical and ongoing influence of Russian and Chinese disinformation in Kosovo and the wider Balkans. Prebreza, an expert in fact-checking and disinformation mapping, delved into how these foreign actors use propaganda to shape public opinion and destabilize political and social environments.

Key topics of the second day included: the strategic objectives behind Russian and Chinese-driven disinformation campaigns in the Balkans; the role of investigative journalism in identifying and exposing sources of disinformation; how local media can strengthen their internal capacities to resist and counteract fake news.

Participants were encouraged to think critically about how disinformation affects Kosovo’s political landscape, especially in terms of electoral processes, public trust in institutions and media freedom. The session also emphasized the importance of building a professional foundation in fact-checking and sourcing reliable information.

The training concluded with participants working in groups to develop ideas for citizen activism against disinformation. The focus was on creating community-driven initiatives that empower individuals to recognize and reject false information.

This training was held by BIRN Kosovo and KCSS within the project “Increasing public awareness on Russian, Chinese influence and religious disinformation and equipping media students and journalists with the necessary tools to identify, analyze, and combat disinformation”, supported through the Digital Activism Program by TechSoup Global.

BIRN Albania Opens Call for Investigations on Local Government

BIRN Albania launched a call on September 20, 2024, offering grants to produce investigative in-depth articles on local government in Albania.

BIRN is offering three reporting grants for individual journalists or journalistic teams to cover stories on abuse of office and corruption at local level in Albania.

The grants, as well as the mentorship, fact checking and editorial support are made possible through the funding of the Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA.

The call will fund reporting grants for journalists that investigate corruption and abuse of office in local government, with a particular focus on the topics highlighted during a roundtable held in Tirana on September 17 between journalists and representatives of civil society organisations.

Topics discussed at the roundtable included:

The lack of implementation of integrity and anti-corruption plans, particularly on the elements of ethics and conflict of interests in municipalities and municipal councils;
Nepotism and clientelism in the human resources of municipalities;
Transparency of budgets, public procurement procedures and public contracts awarded by municipalities;
The appointment of people with a criminal background to public inspectorates and their role during elections;
Corruption cases with contracts on waste management or treatment of solid waste;
The lack of representation of rural areas at municipal level;
Lack of sewage and sewage treatment plants in rural areas;
Problems of urban development, building criteria, parking, garbage bins, etc;
Lack of budgets to implement social plans or address the needs of marginalized groups.

The journalists will have around three months to dig deeper and research their ideas. They will also have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as mentors to guide them through the process of writing in accordance with BIRN standards.

The call only applies to journalists from Albania. It closes on October 10, 2024.

Click here for more information (in Albanian) about the application procedure.

Click here to download the application form (in Albanian).

Funding Open to Engage Your Audience: Calling Media Outlets in the Balkans and Visegrad Countries

Media outlets from 10 Balkan and Visegrad countries are invited to apply for grants, training, mentoring, and access to BIRN’s innovative audience-engagement digital tool.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is calling on media outlets to involve their audiences in reporting by applying for Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants.

This innovative approach places the audience as a direct and active participant in content creation, fostering trust and stronger relationships between media outlets and their communities, ultimately making them more credible and reliable sources of information.

Do you want to engage your audience and build trust within your community while addressing underreported issues? Submit your original story proposal and share details about the community you wish to engage.

Who is eligible to apply?

Media outlets from the following 10 Balkan and Visegrad countries may apply: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.

What are we offering?

Grants for individual stories of up to €4,000.
Grants for cross-border stories of up to €8,000.
Four-day online training on audience engagement.
Mentoring throughout the project.
Access to a digital tool to enhance audience engagement.

In this circle BIRN will fund up to nine media outlets to strengthen their reporting and investigate underreported issues within diverse communities. Stories focusing on marginalized communities, youth and women are strongly encouraged.

Media outlets will utilise the audience-engagement tool developed by BIRN to crowdsource, gather and analyse data from their communities. Audience-engaged journalism seeks to bridge the gap between newsrooms and their audiences, transforming journalism into a service that directly responds to the needs of the community.

About the project

The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants are part of the project Media Innovation Europe: Independence Through Sustainability (MIE). This two-year initiative is led by the International Press Institute (IPI) and its consortium partners, The Fix Foundation, BIRN and Thomson Media (TM). The project focuses on building networks, providing consultancy and offering guidance to participating newsrooms.

The first edition of Media Innovation Europe was launched in June 2022 to invigorate the European ecosystem for independent and local journalism. As part of this initiative, media outlets produced a range of audience-engaged stories, some of which you can read here:

How to apply?

To learn more about the grants, click HERE to read the full call for applications. After reviewing the information, follow the link to access the application form.

BIRN will also organise two information sessions, and registration is open:

Information session: 3 October 2024 at 9:00 (CET), register HERE.
Information session: 4 November 2024 at 14:00 (CET), register HERE.

Deadline for application is 27 NOVEMBER 2024.

For further updates, follow BIRN on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

For clarifications, contact the Project Coordinator: [email protected].

BIRN Kosovo, KCSS, Train Students in Prizren to Recognise and Counter Disinformation

On September 17, students from the Prizren region in Kosovo attended a training session aimed at combating growing foreign and religious disinformation in Kosovo.

Led by experts from the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Kosovo), the event focused on equipping the participants with practical tools to identify and counter false narratives.

Skënder Perteshi, a researcher at KCSS, opened the training by discussing the strategic aims of radical religious organisations that use disinformation as a tool to undermine democratic institutions. Perteshi highlighted that these actors often target vulnerable audiences by spreading narratives designed to erode trust in secularism, democracy and the rule of law.

The second part of the training, led by Labinot Leposhtica, from BIRN Kosovo, shifted the focus to Russian and Chinese disinformation in Kosovo.

Leposhtica emphasized the global disinformation tactics used by these foreign actors to destabilize regions and influence public opinion. He presented several cases of how Russian and Chinese narratives have infiltrated media platforms in Kosovo.

The training was designed to be more than just a theoretical discussion; participants were actively involved in discussions. They were encouraged to question the information they consume and were provided with methods to fact-check and validate sources.

In addition to combating disinformation, the session underscored the importance of promoting a free and independent media in Kosovo. Perteshi and Leposhtica emphasized the need for ongoing vigilance, especially as foreign actors continue to exploit digital platforms to spread misleading information.

Students underlined that the need for these trainings is critical, as they are increasingly exposed to disinformation from various media channels. Such sessions help equip them with the skills to critically analyze information, identify false narratives and understand the strategies used by foreign and radical actors to manipulate public opinion.

Meet the Mentors Strengthening Albania’s Media Landscape: Aleksandra Bogdani

Aleksandra Bogdani is an investigative journalist for BIRN Albania. She has more than 20 years of experience as deputy editor-in-chief of daily newspapers in several newsrooms in Albania.

She is a lecturer in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Tirana. Aleksandra won the first prize of the EU Investigative Journalism Award in 2014 and the CEI-SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism in 2015.

She’s also a mentor in the Western Balkans Media for Change project and has been involved as a mentor in the project Media for All. Find out more about this important role in strengthening Albania’s media landscape.

1. What type of support do you offer to media outlets?

Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) is an innovative approach to journalism in the Balkans, particularly in terms of involving women, youth, and vulnerable communities. Our role as mentors is to offer our support and expertise to media organisations implementing this method. Specifically, we collaborate with media outlets to develop their activity plans, select topics, prepare callouts and questionnaires, distribute and promote calls, analyse data and content production.

2. What does the mentorship process look like?

We prefer to start the process with an open meeting with editors and journalists from the media outlets to jointly assess their editorial capacities and needs concerning the projects they wish to undertake. In my experience, open discussion helps establish a trustful relationship between us. Based on these needs, we develop individual mentoring plans for each media outlet, focusing on the exchange of knowledge and expertise that BIRN has built over the years concerning ECR. The process then includes continuous communication through both face-to-face and online meetings throughout all phases, from topic selection to story publication.

3. In your opinion, what are the biggest successes and results achieved through this type of mentorship?

The greatest success in this process has been engaging diverse individuals and communities to produce high-quality journalistic content on topics that genuinely interest these communities. Through this method, partner media outlets have given a voice to the challenges faced by women and youth in entrepreneurship, patients with severe illnesses, parents of children and adolescents struggling with bullying, and vulnerable communities that are often overlooked in the fast-paced news cycle driven by politics and click-driven needs. Another advantage is the strengthening of ties between media outlets and these communities, which enhances their credibility and impact.

4. What are the reactions you receive from the supported media outlets through this process?

The media outlets we are currently mentoring have been surprised by both the number of individuals engaged through ECR and the quality of the information received from them. This has not only supported their reporting, but, in some cases, has turned them into reference point for other media outlets in the country.

The Western Balkans Media for Change project is funded by the UK government and implemented by the British Council in partnership with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Thomson Foundation and the International NGO Training and Research Centre, INTRAC.

Meet the People Behind BIRN: Nino Bilajac

Nino Bilajac is an award-winning journalist working at Detektor.ba (BIRN BiH).

His main responsibilities include following developments related to corruption and crime in government institutions and public companies as well as malign foreign influence. Recently, Nino reported from Ukraine, where he wrote about the bombing of a children’s hospital, a story close to his heart having grown up in war-torn Sarajevo.

Let’s meet him.

1. You started working at BIRN in 2022. What were your expectations back then? What has changed regarding your work since then?

It’s hard to look back on exactly what my expectation was, because everything happened so quickly. The work started immediately, but certainly new paths and opportunities opened up for me that I had not had before. Here I am specifically talking about work on foreign influence and work in other countries. Especially when we talk about that one type of war journalism, which has always been my wish and which I can say has finally come true. The big challenge was to move from working on mostly corruption to working on foreign influence.

2. Recently, you visited Ukraine. Can you tell us more about this trip?

Working in Ukraine was something completely new. The whole journey that took 34 hours in one direction, the uncertainty, the bombing, the testimonies of the victims… it would be a challenge for anyone engaged in this work. It’s a strange feeling as a child of war, after 30 years you again feel and see what was happening in your country, and writing the story about the bombing of the children’s hospital certainly evoked the greatest emotions in me. Ukraine was a special experience with a lot of mixed emotions, but also a sense of satisfaction that I had the opportunity to show the public what crimes are committed against innocent people.

3. What’s it like following developments in corruption and crime in government institutions, public companies, and malign foreign influence in Bosnia?

When someone asks me why I deal with these topics, I try not to go into the essence and explanation. This is simply what makes us one of the poorest countries. If there was no one to deal with it, they would do whatever they wanted, and we won’t let them. We will always follow them and we will not allow that minority to have a nice and comfortable life and the majority of my fellow citizens to have a bad life.

4. You and your colleague Tomas Madlenak were recently nominated for this year’s Slovak Journalistic Award in the ‘written investigative journalism’ category for the joint investigation by BIRN Bosnia and ICJKpublished last year. You discovered that two officials involved in an internal struggle within the Slovak police are now living in exile in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tell us more about this investigation.

It was kind of a continuation of everything we were doing until then when we talk about foreign influence. At that time, we had a series of articles about Russian influence and Russian diplomacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Quite by chance, we found out that three high-ranking officials of the Slovak police and intelligence service escaped to Bosnia and Herzegovina from prison sentences for corruption, for which they were convicted in Slovakia. Unfortunately, the bigger problem for us was how the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina allowed this omission to happen and unfortunately no one took responsibility. It is unbelievable that people like them are allowed to enter BiH at all, and especially to live unhindered. The cooperation with colleague Tomas and colleagues from Slovakia was a fantastic example of how useful cross-border journalism can be and how necessary such cooperation is in exposing negative influence.

5. You received many journalistic awards, such as “Eco Journalist” 2022; European Union Award for Investigative Journalism in BiH 2021 – second prize; European Press Prize 2021 – selected in the top five; CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism 2018; Thompson Foundation – Finalist for the Young Journalist Award. What do these awards mean for you?

The awards are the culmination of what we spent a lot of time on, gave our best and went through a difficult path to arrive at a certain thesis. An interesting example is that almost all of my awards are international, because the societies and organisations that give out awards in BiH do not seem to appreciate enough what we do and how we do it, or they simply do not understand what we write about.

6. What are the main challenges in your work? Did you have any moment during your career when you thought you should change your job and switch from investigative journalism to some “safer” profession?

First of all, we must be clear that Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans in general are some of the best places to engage in this type of journalism because it is exactly like that – a lot of corruption, crime and irregularities. Therefore, it would be somewhat pointless to deal with something other than what I am currently doing, together with my colleagues from BIRN.

7. What would be your message to young aspiring investigative journalists in the Western Balkans region?

Be brave, don’t let yourself be bought and don’t be a spokesperson for parties and political options, but have faith in yourself.

BIRN Summer School 2024 Closes with Investigative Story Pitches

Bringing to an end the week-long Summer School in Croatia, participants pitched cross-border stories, some of which will receive funding and editorial support from BIRN.

The 14th annual BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting closed on August 24 with participants from Central and Southeastern Europe, Ukraine, Georgia and Uzbekistan pitching investigative story ideas to BIRN editors.

A total of 19 pitches were submitted, focussing mainly on cross-border issues. BIRN editors will select the best for funding, editorial support and mentoring.

Blake Morrison, the Summer School’s lead trainer and investigative projects editor with Reuters in New York, said it was “exciting to hear the ideas and to see the collaboration of journalists from different newsrooms in different countries”.

“They’ve worked hard all week to develop powerful proposals for investigations, and I expect some great journalism as a result,” he said.

The topics included environmental neglect, organised crime and corruption and reproductive rights.

On Friday, the final day of training, participants heard from BIRN Albania editor-in-chief Besar Likmeta about ways of covering environmental issues, while BIRN investigations editor Apostolis Fotiadis talked about how to secure the best possible impact.

Over the week-long course in Mlini, on the Croatian coast, some 35 participating journalists heard from 15 trainers on a range of issues relevant to investigative journalism, from digital security to artificial intelligence, visual storytelling to covering war crimes, as well as how to best protect their mental health while on the job.

BIRN’s regional director, Milka Domanovic, thanked all the participants for their hard work and expressed her hope that they will continue collaborating “even after the school ends”.

“The Summer School is not only about polishing and learning new skills, but it is also about establishing long-lasting professional connections.”

More information about the lectures and panels can be found here: https://birnsummerschool.org/

BIRN Summer School Day 4: Visual Storytelling and Mastering the Pitch

Perfecting your pitch and how visual storytelling can offer a “new angle on already known events”.

The penultimate day of teaching at BIRN’s Summer School of Investigative Reporting focussed on pitching and visual storytelling, after picking up Wednesday’s thread of mental wellbeing and advanced data journalism.

Jakub Gornicki, reporter and co-founder of visual storytelling platform Outriders, explained to the participants the process involved in creating engaging stories.

“Journalism does not have to be boring, so we combine art and reporting skills to explain global issues,” he said, while discussing some of the platform’s work in Ukraine and other places.

Visual storytelling can offer a “new angle on already known events”, he said. “We usually post three months after something happened.”

The participants had the chance to build on Wednesday’s discussions concerning data scraping from open sources and how to use artificial intelligence for elementary coding.

Blake Morrison, lead trainer and investigative projects editor with Reuters in New York, led a session on pitching stories. Journalists should not necessarily see themselves as “salesmen”, he said, but “selling the story is like selling yourself”.

“We need to anticipate that your editors will be sceptical, and that they will ask questions,” he said, so journalists should expect to be queried and to offer answers.

The day ended with a workshop on stress management led by A.X. Mino, a programme director at the Self Investigation network, a global non-profit that promotes healthy work culture in the media and communication industries.

Friday will be the last day of workshops before participants get to pitch their story ideas on Saturday.