Author: birnEU

BIRN Bulgaria workshop on analytical journalism

Albena Shkodrova, Director of BIRN Bulgaria, will hold a workshop on
analytical journalism on September 20-21 in Sofia. It will be part of a
long-term course for Roma journalists-in-training organized by the
Access Foundation.

This project focuses on young members of the Roma community and prepares them for careers in journalism. It aims thereby to redress the negative representation of the Roma minority in the Bulgarian media by integrating Roma journalists in media outlets.

The training consists of four months of theoretical lectures, workshops and seminars followed by a six months of practical work in which trainees apply their new skills in a professional setting.

The theoretical part involves training in basic journalism skills, grammar, style, politics, law, economic, social, and judicial reporting, media management, human rights, interethnic relations, computer-assisted reporting and English.

In the workshop, Shkodrova will introduce trainees to the basic standards of writing a journalistic analysis, pointing out the difference in the way analyses are written in Bulgaria and in the international media, and between a commentary and an analysis.

BIRN Bulgaria’s director will familiarize them with the BIRN house style and give them an opportunity to come up with themes for their own pieces of analysis, based on techniques taught in the course. These may be published in Balkan Insight.

The first day of the workshop will cover the theoretical part of the session while the second will take the form of a brainstorming session aimed at producing potential themes.

Through this workshop, BIRN Bulgaria hopes to contribute to the future careers of the journalists involved.

Besides commissioning articles for Balkan Insight, BIRN Bulgaria will considers taking on one course participant as an intern, as part of his or her professional module.

Balkan Insight To Expand in Croatia

Balkan Insight is set to increase coverage of Croatia and the EU
integration process now that BIRN’s former regional network director,
Anna McTaggart, has began a new position in Zagreb, building a team of
contributors. “ Croatia’s development is key to the region, not least
because it is closest to EU membership,” said McTaggart. Croatian
journalists interested in participating in the project should contact
[email protected].

BIRN Romania Writers Awarded

Alina Constantinescu and Daniel Ganga, contributors to a BIRN Romania
local project, won honorary mentions in a journalism contest organized
by the Romanian Center for Resources for Roma Communities for fair
reporting on Roma issues. The two reporters are both regular
contributors to Divers (www.divers.ro),
a weekly online publication covering ethnic minorities issues, edited
by BIRN Romania with financial support from the Ethnic Diversity
Resource Center in Cluj, Romania.

RBF to help capacity-building of BIRN Kosovo and BIRN Serbia

Rockfeller Brothers Foundations has awarded BIRN a two-year grant to build capacity in Serbia and Kosovo and aid BIRN’s regional development and visibility. The grant will boost BIRN Kosovo high-profile local TV debates project, “Life in Kosovo” and BIRN Serbia’s drive to train more journalists in areas with a significant ethnic minority population.

BIRN Bulgaria Opens Office

BIRN Bulgaria opened a new office at 45 Tsar Simeon Street in Sofia, near the Dundukov Blvd. and Rakovski St. crossing.

This marked an important step in capacity-building for BIRN Bulgaria, enabling the organization to serve as a workplace and information center for Balkan Insight contributors and offer more professional support for journalists seeking to raise their standards.

BIRN Bulgaria is collecting a specialized library of reference materials and manuals that will be useful to all journalists interested in working on investigations or analyses. BIRN Bulgaria will host an opening party for donors, journalists and friends of the organization once final details are complete.

Life in Kosovo: Kosovo’s Economical Potential

Another episode of the BIRN-organised “Life in Kosovo” programme was broadcast on Kosovo public television, RTK, on June 7, looking at economic life in the region.

RTK, Pristina, June 7, 2006.

The issues raised in the discussion ranged from Kosovo’s economic potential to the sectors of the economy that offered the best prospects.

The debating panel comprised Albin Kurti, leader of Levizja Vetevendosje (movement for self-determination); Mimoza Kusari, head of American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, Avni Zogiani from Cohu (rise); and Baton Haxhiu, director of Express, a daily Kosovan newspaper.

At the outset, the predominant view of the panellists was that economic situation in Kosovo is poor and there were problems associated with fiscal policy.

Albin Kurti, who is currently running a campaign for a boycott of all products that come into Kosovo from Serbia, said that poverty here was growing and would not be halted unless local products were promoted.

“Our fiscal policy is only good for Serbia,” said Kurti. “Only by boycotting Serbian products can our economy begin to develop.”

Kusari Serbian products were cheaper than local ones because they are not properly taxed when they are imported. She disagreed that a boycott was the solution.

“Very little, or nothing at all is being done for proper economic development,” added Kusari.

Haxhiu said that civil society should put more pressure on international authorities and the Kosovo government to change fiscal policy.

“The root of the problem is that Kosovo institutions and ministers are building a corrupt political system,” said Haxhiu.

The debate also examined how Kosovo could extricate itself from the current economic situation.

Kurti said it was all the fault of political leaders and that his movement aimed to overthrow the system by revolutionary means, then hold a referendum on independence.

He said after this, he and his followers would seek to develop agriculture and invest in energy resources.

Zogiani suggested that there was unlikely to be a revolution, and unless there were practical solutions the situation would only get worse.
“As we wait for this revolution,” he said,
“politicians will create an inferior economy.

“We need to exert pressure on these men and show that they are not working properly.”

Kusari said that “the only factor that can save our economy is direct investment from abroad”.

MONTENEGRO SPECIAL

A special edition of Balkan Insight examining critical issues facing post-independence Montenegro was published on June 23. The edition, Montenegro Special, comprising seven articles by BIRN journalists, followed a four-day workshop on the subject in Budva at the beginning of June, organised by BIRN Serbia

The articles dealt with issues ranging from the economy, relations between groups of different ethnic backgrounds, tourism, the question of refugees, forthcoming elections and achieving the long-term goal of joining the European Union.

Nedjeljko Rudovic, Vijesti, looked at Montenegro’s European aspirations; Petar Komnenic, Monitor, assessed upcoming elections and the fact that independence will no longer represent the major campaign issue; Bojana Stanisic, Dan, revealed Serb intentions to sell their property and move to Serbia; Sead Sadikovic, freelance journalist, explained how the independence poll created ethnic divisions in Bijelo Polje. Izedina Adzovic, Radio Tuzi, and Zeljko Madzgalj, Polje, explored the economic potential of an independent Montengro. Tufik Softic, Radio Berane, reported on the plight of refugees; and Nikola Doncic, Monitor, profiled Montenegrin tourism.

In a separate article, Samir Adrovic, Vijesti, examined whether the independence poll had been manipulated by Albanians.

Gordana Igric, BIRN director and editor-in-chief, Nedjeljko Rudovic, a Vijesti journalist and BIRN representative in Podgorica, as well as Dragana Nikolic Solomon, BIRN Serbia director and editor, worked intensively with the journalists who contributed to the Montenegro Special, providing them with on-the-job training and editorial support for their articles.

Montenegrin journalists were delighted with the BIRN mentoring programme and the subsequent package of stories.

Sadikovic said the workshop was very important to him and represented right way forward, “I was happy that I had the opportunity to exchange views with my colleagues and by working on the articles together, we were able to help each other.”

Debate on Custom Service in Kosovo

A BIRN-organised RTK debate at the Pjeter Budi Institute on July 3 looked at the problems facing the Customs Service of Kosovo, which collects 70 per cent of the revenue of the Kosovo govenment budget.

RTK, Pristina, July 3, 2006.

To discuss issues such as the battle against corruption within the service and the education of it staff, BIRN invited a panel consisted of Naim Huruglica, deputy director of UNMIK Customs; Ekrem Hajdari, head of special services within the customs service; Allma Shabi, chief of the service’s anti-smuggling unit; Hans Turner, head of the EU Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office; Avni Haxhiu, owner of a fast forwarding company; Sofronija Miladinoski, professor of international marketing in Pjeter Budi Institute, which educates Kosovo customs officers; and Baki Koleci, board member of the same institute.

The debate, which took place in front of a student audience, initially centred on the customs service’s important revenue-raising role, but Huruglica pointed out that it also played a key part in securing the borders and watching out for smuggled goods.

Hajdari said Kosovo was no longer part of the drugs distribution network as was the case in the immediate post-war years, although he admitted that contraband cigarettes were still a problem.

“Recently the presence of untaxed cigarettes in the Kosovo market today has increased to 20-30 per cent of the total number of cigarettes in Kosovo,” he said.

A recent success in combating cigarrette smuggling was a crackdown on illegal sales by some members of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR.
Huruglica said KFOR help was crucial in this operation as the civil customs service has no access to international military personnel.

Turner said the “custom service in Kosovo is the best such service in Balkans”.

Miladinoski said the inefficiency of the legal system and the courts constituted a problem for the customs service today.

Shabi gave an example. Once her team confiscated 70 thousand litres of ethanol – which can be very dangerous – that was designed for production of counterfeit alcoholic drinks, but were forced to hand it back by the public prosecutor.

The student audience was mostly concerned with the service’s employment policies.

Huruglica said none of its officers have any college qualification for customs work as there was no higher education institute providing diplomas in this field when the service was set up.

Commenting the importance of proper education, Miladinoski said that “when people are properly educated, it won’t be easy for politicians to manipulate with them”.

Koleci said that Pjeter Budi Institute had started cooperating with a university in Macedonia to provide a special education programme for customs officers in Kosovo.

Turner stressed that one of the strengths of Customs Service in Kosovo was that it had started from scratch with mostly young officers – and so had not inherited the vices of previous customs services in the Balkans.

The debate was moderated by Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo Director

Birn hosts third meeting of court reporters association

Members of the Association of Court Reporters who cover the Court of BiH held their third meeting on June 27. A list of proposals and suggestions aimed at improving the outflow of public information from the state judiciary was agreed and will be presented to the Court of BiH.

Members of the association, which is chaired by BIRN BiH, agreed on the following proposals:

* The possibility of introducing a live internet feed from
the courtrooms of the War Crimes Chamber should be explored. The system could follow the example set by the Hague tribunal. Such a service would not only help the electronic and non-Sarajevo based media to better cover the trials but would also make the justice process more open for the general public in BiH, the region and internationally.
* A rule book for journalists covering war crimes trials
should be produced in order to prevent misunderstandings and mistakes that jeopardise trials. It should be put together in cooperation with the Press Council and the Regulatory Communications Agency, as well as the Court of BiH.
* The importance of timely statements from court and
prosecution officials or their public information departments is once again reiterated. One of the reporters’ objections during the association meeting was that they do not receive the statements they request of the court officials on time, which diminishes the value of their report or results in stories being spiked.
Association members also repeated some of the previous suggestions to which they have not yet received a response from the Court of BiH.
* It is once again suggested that photographs from each
hearing are put on the appropriate section of the website which would contribute to the dynamics of reporting and increase the effectiveness of information coming out of the court.
* The association urges the court to adopt the practice of
publishing a weekly index/listing of motions and records filed in each case. While it is acknowledged that all public documents are available on request, it is clear that reporters and members of the public cannot make an informed decision on what motions are available to them without a listing. A similar procedure is already in practice at the Hague Tribunal.
* The association once again reiterates the need for the
introduction of weekly press briefings for the media where an update on events at the court is given to the public. This would improve the efficiency of communication between the media and the court as well as the quality of reporting. This proposal is also based on experiences of the Hague tribunal.

About the association:
The Association of Court Reporters was founded in 2005 in order to improve communication between the media and Court of BiH.

The work of the association is supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If you have proposals for the association’s further work, please write to [email protected] or [email protected] . Find out more about the association on www.bim.ba

“JR” editor at media seminar in Sarajevo

An editor with BIRN’s Justice Report, Nidzara Ahmetasevic, spoke at the conference “War crimes and media:
possibilities of establishing trust” held on May 18 and 19 in the Mediacentre Sarajevo.

The media representatives from the region who gathered at this two-day round table organised by Transitions Online talked about war crimes reporting, the challenges in war crimes processes and violation of human rights.

In her speech, Ahmetasevic stressed the importance of regular and detailed reporting on war crimes trials before local and international courts, which can be helpful in the process of establishing trust and facing the past.

Other speakers were Dejan Anastasijevic, reporter from Vreme magazine, Belgrade; Boris Vlasic, reporter form daily paper Jutarnji list – Zagreb; Drago Pilsel, columnist and reporter of the daily paper Novi list – Rijeka; Sabina Cehajic, University of Sussex, Brighton; Zoran Pajic, Kings College London; Nevena Rsumovic, editor of web publication NetNovinar, Mediacenter Sarajevo.