Author: Aleksandra Vrbica

In line with our commitment to nurturing journalistic collaboration and strengthening relations between the two regions, we are launching the call for applications for our Travel & Reporting Grants Programme. This exclusive opportunity provides financial assistance, regional expertise, and on-the-ground support in countries where BIRN network has offices (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro).

Journalists interested in covering stories in the Balkans are encouraged to apply for this opportunity, which is designed to foster on-the-ground reporting and a deeper understanding of the region in all its complexities. Participation in the programme should result in the journalistic output being published in the local media in the applicant’s country, with the possibility of the content being republished also on BIRN’s Reporting Democracy platform and in local media in the Balkan region.

What We Support

We encourage the submission of projects for the production of relevant journalistic content. We support various forms, including analysis, investigations, features and interviews. Cross-border stories, serialized articles and multimedia content – including videos, photos, and/or radio/podcast productions – are encouraged.

Enhance your journalistic pursuits, extend your impact and contribute to a dynamic media environment. Apply now with an idea for a story that resonates across the borders.

Who Can Apply?

Journalists from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia can apply for this grant. We welcome applications from a diverse range of applicants, including:

• Individual journalists, whether working within newsroom structures or as freelancers;
• Collaborative teams of reporters, producers, photographers and video editors;
• Media organizations eager to pursue international and cross-border stories.

In this grant cycle, we will award up to 10 grants to the most deserving applicants.

Grant Details

Successful applicants will receive a grant of €2,500 to undertake in-depth and impactful journalistic stories.

Important Dates:

Application Deadline: August 9, 2024

Grant Completion Deadline: February 28, 2025

Each applicant may submit only one application under this grant scheme.

Application Guidelines

To be considered for this grant, your application should include:

• Engaging Topics: Clearly articulate the compelling topic(s) you intend to report on, showcasing their relevance for your target audience.
• Balkan Expedition: Present your plans for visiting one or more countries within the Balkan region, supported by a tentative timeline that demonstrates your commitment to thorough research and reporting.
• Publishing and Dissemination Plan: Outline a robust and strategic plan for sharing your journalistic output. Highlight the platforms and channels you will use to maximize the impact of your work.

Eligible Expenses

The grant covers a broad range of essential expenses, including:

• Professional fees
• Travel costs
• Accommodation expenses
• Subsistence allowances during fieldwork
• Various production costs, such as translation services, fixers, photographers, etc.

How to Apply

Interested individuals and organizations should use the designated application form. Two types of application forms are available: one for individual journalists and teams, and another for media organizations.

Any additional documentation required can be submitted in an online format.

The Application Form must be completed in English.

Ensure all information is clear and comprehensive, as requests for clarification will only be made when the information provided is insufficient for objective assessment.

Submit your completed application to: [email protected] by 23:59 CET on August 9, 2024.

Application Forms:

Application for individual journalists and teams

Application for media organizations

For any further inquiries or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to support you throughout the application process.

Evaluation and Selection Process

Step I: Technical Evaluation

BIRN staff will conduct a thorough technical evaluation to ensure applicants have adhered to the application procedures and submitted all required documents.

Step II: Editorial Board Evaluation

The editorial board will then assess the applications based on the quality of the proposed idea, feasibility of the plan, and the potential to effectively reach the intended audience.

Step III: Notification of Applicants

All applicants will be promptly notified of the outcomes. Successful applicants will be notified by August 25, 2024.

We appreciate your patience during the evaluation period and assure you that we will provide timely updates about your application. We value your dedication to journalistic excellence and eagerly anticipate the opportunity to work with the selected individuals and organizations.

In its latest report, BIRN analysed the practices of Vodafone Albania and ONE Albania in several key areas linked to freedom of expression and privacy.

Since early 2023, Albania has had two operators in the telecommunications market, Vodafone Albania and One Albania. One Albania was created by the merger of ALBtelecom, the historical operator of fixed phone lines, which also operated a mobile operator named Eagle, and One Telecommunications, a company founded in 1995 as Albania Mobile Communication, a state-owned mobile operator.

The merger follows a consolidating trend in the country’s telecommunication market that has continued since 2017, when Plus Communication, the fourth mobile operator in the market, decided to get out.

The market is almost evenly divided, with Vodafone having 51 per cent of active users and One Albania, 49 per cent. Financial data from 2023 were not yet available by the time of publication but data from 2022 showed that Vodafone had revenues of some 16 billion leks while One Communications’ revenues were 9.6 billion. Data from ALBtelecom has not been published.

Overall, Albanians spent 38.1 billion leks on communication services in 2022.

Research found that Vodafone Albania performs satisfactorily in terms of access to its Terms of Service (ToS) and notifying users about changes to the ToS, but room for improvement remains. Access to Vodafone Albania’s ToS is relatively good; the ToS for both prepaid and postpaid mobile services are easily accessible and presented in a clear and understandable manner. Similarly, ONE Albania provides convenient access to its ToS.

However, ONE Albania’s Privacy Policy lacks a clear description of what data the company collects and how it handles it.

Both companies’ broad statements about collaborating with authorities, without distinguishing between administrative and judicial bodies, are a matter of concern.

Vodafone’s and One Albania’s ToS lack summaries and visuals for better legibility. Vodafone notifies users of ToS changes via SMS and media but doesn’t maintain a public archive. Both companies’ ToS enforce overbroad content restrictions and lack transparency on enforcement. They don’t disclose data on content restrictions, government demands or private requests. Privacy policies are available but vague on data handling and third-party information collection.

Recommendations outlined by the report include improving transparency, archiving ToS changes, and clearer privacy policies. The research showed that both companies should consider reporting periodically on the number of cases when public authorities or private parties seek to block access to certain information and why. Companies should also explain to their customers in a more detailed way what access the authorities have to their communications and data, based on what laws, and for what purposes.

Albania has some 611,000 customers with broadband internet access. One Albania is the largest operator with some 135,000 customers, followed by Vodafone with 128,000. Other smaller operators hold 56 per cent of the market.

In 2006, Albanian telecom companies were embroiled in a scandal involving Bosnian businessman Damir Fazlic, who allegedly demanded a $1 million investment for Albania’s Democratic Party to secure a telcos contract. Fazlic and his US partners planned to offer VoIP services through ALBtelecom. In 2017 and 2020, Albanian telcos faced investigations for price manipulation and for creating an oligopoly by raising tariffs and reducing services. In 2020, the Hungarian company 4iG bought significant shares in ALBtelecom and One Telecommunications, raising concerns about market duopolisation.

The increase of disinformation in Bulgaria amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and recurring ideological clashes in parliament are integral topics to Svetoslav Todorov’s work.

Svetoslav graduated in Bulgarian Philology and Visual Culture from Sofia University’s Faculty of Slavic Studies. He has experience as an art curator and speaker at events organised by the Sofia International Literature Festival, the Rhodope Documentary Film Festival and Romania’s Alternativa Sociale. Let’s find out more about his professional situation.

1. Your original background is in arts and culture writing, and you have also covered topics related to history, education, and human rights. So, how did you become a Bulgaria correspondent for Balkan Insight?

I know some of the previous journalists who have contributed to BIRN from Sofia so I was encouraged to apply for the position. Air pollution, water shortages, gender-based violence and gambling scandals were among the first topics I worked on, right before the pandemic hit.

Being part of BIRN has been a big learning experience about the region, and although all countries have influenced each other culturally in countless ways, there’s always a new layer to explore (I’m yet to fully grasp how elections in Bosnia actually work). It’s a cliche but it’s indeed true how close these countries are geographically, yet how little we know about each other.

As I’m still writing regularly about society, arts and culture for local outlets, I’m essentially leading a double life between my work in Bulgarian and my work in English. Not sure which one is Dr Jekyll and which one is Mr Hyde.

2. You have been working for Balkan Insight since 2020, right before the onset of the pandemic and the beginning of the anti-government protest wave in Bulgaria. Since then, there has been significant turmoil on a global level. How have these events affected the topics you cover?

It was like being thrown in cold water but finding yourself swimming. Bulgaria has been in a non-stopping rollercoaster of turmoil in the last few years, whether that’s a healthcare crisis, a breach of someone’s rights, yet another election, or a short-lived coalition. There’s a general feeling that, as a society, we’re sleepwalking into vague but scary territory and there’s little international attention given to the destructive processes here.

Following these events and finding the right words and context to explain them has brought about a different layer of understanding; you see how certain issues are even more deep-rooted than expected. But the Balkans are a fertile ground for drama, aren’t they?

3. What was the most challenging part of your journalistic career so far?

Through my whole professional path that would be my indecipherable handwriting. During my experience as part of BIRN, translating any quote from a leading local politician automatically makes them sound more intelligent than in the original. It’s a challenge to translate the erosion of public speaking.

4. What Balkan Insight stories did you work on that made you most proud, and why?

The Bulgarian context is hard to explain to foreign readers as, after 2021, when the election spiral here started, there’s been many new figures on the political scene and bubbling movements that come and go, or stay and transform into something bigger. Yesterday’s friends become foes and vice versa in the space of months. The far-right resurgence – with pro-Russia party Revival as a major vehicle for this – has been a particular interest of mine and a curious case for anyone who deals with how disinformation is spread around here.

Also, explaining to an English-language audience how the main Socialist party remains conservative to its core will never stop being entertaining!

Last year, I was traveling by bus to the other end of the town for a club gig and suddenly the bus was stopped at a crossroad because of a protest by locals against the erasure of green spaces by an ambitious developer. I had the eureka feeling that I’d literally stumbled upon a story. This eventually turned into a feature about that neighbourhood’s spirit and endurance. Actually, it was a success story as well, as the protest scared the developer away.

5. Knowing what you know after years of working in journalism, what would you change regarding your journalistic beginnings?

I would be less anxious about reaching out and pitching to international outlets, collaborating with editors and writers from abroad and working on cross-border stories. Amassing experience is, surprisingly, not a linear thing, especially in the current media landscape, where we constantly have to adapt to new ways of storytelling (or resist them, in some cases). If you think about it, you should do it.

6. What one message would you like to send to young journalists?

I recently saw a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth by a young troupe of local actors and there was a particular line that stayed with me: “there’s daggers in men’s smiles”.

I think one of the challenges of the profession, and one which I might not have been that aware of early on, is that readers and subjects often might express support because a certain article or an opinion fits their narrative, and they might turn against you when you no longer serve this purpose. One must fight very hard for integrity in a climate that is increasingly user-orientated, algorithmic and fragmented. The bigger picture has turned into a mosaic and young journalists must also protect their vision and their sanity (usually after a decade in, quite literally) so they can pick and arrange the pieces.

So my advice would be: be aware of the daggers.

The programme will:

• Include 8-month accelerator and incubator programmes
• Introduce opportunity to media that need to pilot and validate their business ideas
• Provide intensive cohort and one-on-one immersive training, mentoring and hackathons
• Include grants of up to €20,000 to news organizations

Media Innovation Europe (MIE), a multidisciplinary, multi-project programme that has funded over 50 news organizations in the past two years, is kicking off its second edition.

The programme provides business needs assessments and personalized advisory, grants, training, hackathons and mentorship to media managers journalists working in and building newsrooms that are moving ahead towards a full digital transition. The goal is to empower media outlets to navigate a changing media industry, providing tools and guidance to align their journalistic products, business structures, and means of discovery and distribution in an audience-focused and sustainable way.

MIE will continue its immersive training approach, focusing on networking-building and providing consultancies and guidance to participating newsrooms.

The first edition was launched in June 2022 to energize the European ecosystem for independent and local journalism, stimulating innovation, sustainable business models, and collaboration among media outlets.

Who is behind the programme

Led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), the consortium brings together the Thomson Media (TM),  The Fix Foundation (TFF) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

The programme will continue to be co-funded by the European Union.

The programme

The MIE programme includes several projects that will leverage the strengths of its partners to mobilize networks, manage granting and mentoring programs, and support media innovation. MIE is a response to the challenging environment media operate in, including growing hostility to media freedom, lack of trust in journalism as well as the disruption of media by the digital transformation and economic threats. Each partner brings a deep understanding of the needs and challenges facing European media today, alongside proven strategies to respond and invest in developing successful independent news products. .

Participants of all the programmes will be selected by independent juries.

Here is a list of the projects MIE will continue:

Project	Description	Run by
Transition Accelerator	* 18 established news organizations * 8-month innovation accelerator with training, advisory, coaching and solutions development * grants of up to €20,000 each	IPI
New Media Incubator	* 15 early-stage independent news organizations * 8-month innovation incubator with training, coaching and solutions development * grants of up to €15,000 each	IPI
Early Stage Digital Validation	* 15 media companies will be selected * Up to €5,000 grants each * Review, design and validate digital media business plans	Thomson Media
Advanced Business Consultancies	* 6 independent media organizations * grants of up to €30,000 each * implementing new digital products	Thomson Media
Audience Engaged Journalism Grants	* 15 media outlets (two cross-border and 11 country-based) * Promotes the development of 13 investigative stories * Up to €5k grant per story.	Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Journalism Innovation and Ideation Hackathons	* Two, three-day focused creative media events aimed at establishing cross-border and cross-company ties in the media sector. * Minimum of 10 projects per hackathon	The Fix Foundation
Peer-to-peer journalism mentoring	* A project that will match journalists and newsrooms with mentors that will help with ideation and feedback around news products, technologies and business models	IPI

Press contacts

IPI: Ryan Powell, [email protected]

Thomson Media: Davor Marko, [email protected]

The Fix Foundation: Daryna Shevchenko, [email protected]

BIRN Network: Gentiana Murati, [email protected]

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commision. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

The 14th edition of the Summer School is taking place from August 19 to August 24 in Mlini, close to Dubrovnik in Croatia. Thirty selected journalists from Southeast, Eastern and Central Europe will take part in a week-long intensive training aimed at mastering their investigative skills.

Participants in BIRN’s flagship capacity building programme will learn from experienced and award-winning journalists and editors and other media professionals led by Blake Morrison, investigative projects editor at Reuters in New York.

Journalists will be introduced to the fundamentals of investigative reporting, including work on complex cross-border stories, data journalism and visual storytelling, as well as on how to preserve their own digital security while reporting.

Jonathan Soma, a programmer and educator specializing in making complex data accessible, who has worked with ProPublica and The New York Times, among others, will provide guidance on navigating the challenges posed by AI.

Elena Kostychenko, an independent Russian journalist and civil rights activist, winner of the European Press Prize, will share many of her experiences with School participants, including those on reporting in and on Russia.

She was a special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta for more than 15 years until the newspaper was shut down at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. She covers the war in Ukraine and collaborates with Russian media in exile. In 2023, Elena published a book, I love Russia: Reporting from a lost country.

Investigative journalist Maria Georgieva and her colleague Ali Fegan from the Swedish public broadcaster will be showcasing a large cross-border collaboration by a team of award-winning journalists and editors from four public television and radio broadcasters in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland about “Putin’s shadow war” in the Nordic area.

The Summer School is also hosting sessions focused on visual storytelling, sustainable media industry and business models with Jakub Górnicki, reporter and co-founder of Outriders, a media publication combining art, journalism and technology.

BIRN will also showcase some of its own work at the cross-section of investigative and engagement journalism and digital rights violations monitoring. It will share its experience in covering transitional justice issues and documenting war crimes, relevant in view of reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Continued collaboration with The Self-Investigation foundation will provide important discussions on mental health and well-being in the newsrooms. The setting in Mlini is familiar – it will be the third Summer School in this beautiful village on the Croatian coast – and will help us to combine hard work with time for self-care. BIRN will also provide space for networking and future collaborations beyond the Summer School.

As every year, BIRN is providing 30 full scholarships for selected participants. Journalists from the following countries are eligible to apply: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This will cover a full stipend for participation in the programme, accommodation, meals, as well as transportation expenses of up to €200.

The focus remains on journalists from the Balkans, while the list of eligible countries has expanded over the years following BIRN’s increased coverage of the wider region of Southeast and Central Europe, and also to enable further exchange of knowledge and incentivise cross-border collaboration. This year we would like to particularly encourage journalists from Ukraine to apply for the School, as we believe it is crucial to provide capacity building support to those pursuing investigative stories in the times of war.

In addition to training, editorial support and mentorship, through our Investigative Initiative Story Fund, BIRN will provide selected participants with funds to support story development and production.

Participants are requested to prepare a proposal for an investigative story and present it during the week in Croatia, to be worked on in the months following the School, either alone or in a cross-border team. On the last day of the School, a jury composed of BIRN editors and trainers will award the best pitches with editorial, financial and publication support.

Limited spots are also available for international participants who want to take part in the training and cover their own costs. They need to cover an all-inclusive fee of €1,500, covering full board at the hotel Astarea in Mlini, where the Summer School is taking place. No extra charges are requested for tuition.

Applications close on July 7, 2024.

Click here to apply!

The Internet Freedom Meet (IFM), organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) with the support of the European Union, brought together experts from different spheres of society this year to discuss ongoing and new challenges in the online sphere.

David Geer, Head of the Delegation of the European Union in North Macedonia, said solving Internet challenges requires the involvement of the whole of society. “They are not just challenges for governments to tackle but for all of us and all relevant addresses of Internet governance, from the private sector, government, academia, technology companies, to civil society and the media,” Geer said.

Speaking about foundations, consequences and solutions for the misuse of data on the Internet, Kosovo’s Commissioner for Information and Privacy, Krenare Dermak, said the first step is to teach citizens the basics of Internet searches. He suggests we should never agree to give access to all cookies, because that means giving access to all of our information, while at the same time, the user usually does not know where that data goes and to whom.

Journalists at the Internet Freedom Meet drew attention to gender-based violence, which is common online and mostly aimed at the sexual freedom of women. They stated that thousands of men are sharing intimate content on girls and women without their permission. The victims are often minors, which is an additional motive for the involvement of prosecutors. Recently, several leaders of Telegram groups were arrested in one action.

Telegram, it was noted, is an attractive app for those who intend to break the law, participate in creating or joining extremist groups, or are part of huge disinformation networks. Anonymity, protection of exchanged messages, and the lack of cooperation from Telegram owners with local prosecutors, all contribute to the popularity of the application.

While it can be used benignly and positively, it has also caused significant damage to individuals and society as a whole, experts concluded at the conference. Strict regulation of the use of artificial intelligence (AI), expert Arvin Kamberi mentioned, may not be the best solution. However, in the long run, AI’s monopoly on knowledge could become problematic.

Participants in Skopje also discussed the need for and reasons behind the use of public surveillance cameras, which must be strictly regulated, as well as the way in which camera data is used.

Finally, panelists touched on the problem of elections and pre-election campaigns, which are increasingly challenged by misinformation and the use of artificial intelligence, AI, to undermine the integrity of institutions or political opponents.

The IFM concluded with the presentation of BIRN’s project “Reporting Digital Rights and Freedoms”, emphasizing how cooperation with independent experts and institutions can be achieved.