Author: birnEU

‘Navigator’ Offers Investigative Journalists Invaluable Tool

New guide supplies Balkan journalists with range of ways to use Open Source Intelligence in their research.

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The German Corporation for International Cooperation, GIZ, and BIRN have developed a new guide for investigative journalists on Open Source Intelligence. Ludo Block and Andrej Petrovski developed The Navigator for investigative journalists following a training session held in May for investigative journalists from the Western Balkans in Skopje, North Macedonia.

The guide is designed to assist journalists in their research and investigations, especially with regard to Open Source Intelligence techniques. It supplies a variety of tools for documenting, archiving and operational security, provides ways to navigate search engines and social media and track people, assists with image verification, geolocation, searching different corporate registers and metadata research, and with exploring the “dark web”, as well as data handling.

The Open Source Intelligence training and development of The Navigator are part of GIZ’s Global Program, in its Governance and Human Rights Section, done in cooperation with BIRN, supporting investigative journalists from the Western Balkans in the global fight against illicit financial flows.

Winners of EU Awards in North Macedonia Announced

EU Awards for investigative journalism for North Macedonia were awarded on Friday at the Public Room in Skopje.

“Professional journalists are essential for the strength of our democracy, they are watchdogs of democracy. The have to be better protected,” said Samul Zbogar, Head of EU Delegation in Skopje, at the opening of the ceremony. “Today we are celebrating your crucial contribution to society and democracy”.

The jury comprising of Milica Saric, in the capacity of the Head of jury, and jury members Vlado Apostolov and Radka Betcheva had an important task of evaluating the shortlisted applications.

Milica Saric in explanation of the decision said: “We had huge responsibilities in front of us. We have received 20 applications from 23 journalists. Eight of them were shortlisted, and they were selected because they covered important issues for society and democracy development. Three stories that were chosen to win were covering the most important topics.“

She added: “We want to encourage journalists to continue working on the investigations, even though surrounding can be discouraging, but this job is more important than ever. And this prize is celebrating that”.

First prize in this year’s contest for EU award for investigative journalism, was awarded to Snezhana Lupevska Sozen, Miomir Serafinovic and Biljana Nikolovska, for the investigative story Citizens Identity Theft for Criminal Purposes”. The jury members awarded this the best investigative story deeming it a product of an outstanding  research.

Second prize went to Saska Cvetkovska for her piece The Secret Players Behind Macedonia’s Fake News Sites.

Third prize went to Kristina Ozimec and Vasko Magleshov for “Scandalous Amounts for MPs’ Travel Expenses”.

The EU awards will have an overall goal of celebrating and promoting outstanding achievements of investigative journalists from the Western Balkan countries and Turkey, as well as improving visibility of quality investigative journalism in these countries among the general public.

The EU award for investigative journalism is awarded through EU funded project “Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey” in 2019, 2020, 2021 in EU candidate and potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, for investigative stories published in the period between 2018 and 2020. In total 63 awards will be awarded through a three-year period.

The award in North Macedonia is coordinated by the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers in North Macedonia (SSNM), while the regional consortium is led by Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network (BIRN Hub).

Winners of EU Awards in Turkey Announced

EU Awards for investigative journalism for Turkey were presented on Wednesday at the Press House of the Association of Journalists in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

First prize in this year’s contest for the EU award for investigative journalism was awarded to Hazal Ocak, for her investigative story „Emsalsiz İhanet“ (Unprecedented Betrayal). The story is about corruption in the real estate industry in Turkey. The jury members awarded this the best investigative story, deeming it a product of outstanding and courageous research, which was additionally presented very clearly.

Second prize went to Dinçer Gökçe for his piece “Türkiye’nin Utanç Listesi” (Turkey’s List of Shame) Part 1 & Part 2, about 115 underage girls and the gross negligence of officials in public hospitals. The jury viewed this story as a systematic and massive graft that demonstrated the need for transparency in governance. Not only was it expertly researched, it was also masterly and courageously presented in a manner over which a spotlight was cast on some very serious problems in the country.

Third prize went to Fevzi Kızılkoyun for “20. Katın Sırrı / Otopsiden Çıkan Gerçek” (Secret of the 20th Floor / Truth Revealed by the Autopsy). He was investigating a rape and murder case that might have been otherwise closed as a “suicide”, which was researched by the careful and dedicated journalist, who had little yet important evidence and was confronted with a wall of ignorance. The jury had agreed that this story was very well researched, the follow up was efficiently done, and the whole story was adequately presented.

The jury comprising Yusuf Kanlı, in the capacity of the Head of the jury, and jury members Nursun Erel, and Göksel Bozkurt had the task of evaluating the shortlisted applications.

“It is very unfortunate that investigative journalists are subjected to numerous threats and intimidating circumstances not only in our own country, but around the world. Journalists must keep in mind they are the loyal servants of public interest, and not forget that journalism is considered to be the fourth power of a democracy and is protected by national and international provisions”, said the Head of the jury.

The EU awards will have an overall goal of celebrating and promoting outstanding achievements of investigative journalists from the Western Balkan countries and Turkey, as well as improving visibility of quality investigative journalism in these countries among the general public.

The EU award for investigative journalism is awarded through the EU funded project “Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey” in 2019, 2020, 2021 in EU candidate and potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, for investigative stories published in the period between 2018 and 2020. In total, 63 awards will be presented through a three-year period.

The award in Turkey is coordinated by the Association of Journalists, while the regional consortium is led by Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network (BIRN Hub).

Photo: Naz Akman

Milorad Ivanovic

Milorad is an editor at BIRN Serbia in Belgrade. He is also coordinator and trainer on the project “Technical Assistance to Public Service Media in the Western Balkans.”

Previously he was the editor-in-chief of the Serbian edition of Newsweek magazine, deputy editor-in-chief in Blic daily and executive editor in Novi magazine weekly. He is a contact person for the Western Balkans of the Dart Center for Trauma and Journalism. Milorad has had articles published in international newspapers such as The Sunday Times in the UK, El Mundo in Spain, Der Standard in Austria and the Washington Times. Milorad co-produced “Hidden Wounds”, a documentary film on post-traumatic stress disorder which was made in co-operation with the BBC. His investigations have included work on human trafficking, the employment of Balkan mercenaries by British and US security firms in Iraq, and arms trafficking from Ukraine into Serbia.

In 2007 Milorad was selected for the BIRN’s Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (BFJE). Since 2009 he was a permanent jury member of the BFJE. He is also a jury member of the annual awards given by the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, IJAS, and the US embassy in Belgrade.

Visar Prebreza

Visar started his career as a journalist at the “Kosova Sot” newspaper in 2007.

In 2010 he joined the team of the newspaper “Koha Ditore” and worked there until July 2016. Throughout his career, he has been noted for research in the field of economics. He has written in particular about the energy and procurement sectors. He also studied Political Science and Public Administration at Fama College. He is completing his Master’s degree at the University of Business, and Technology, UBT, in Management, Business, and Economics. During his career in journalism, Prebreza has been awarded by the UNDP, the Association of Journalists, the European Union, the Union of Albanian Journalists, the Riinvest Institute and the EU Energy Efficiency Project.

Naser Sertolli

Naser joined BIRN in January 2016, after 16 years of experience as a journalist, translator, and editor at the daily newspaper Zeri.

Naser graduated from the Department of French Literature and Language at the Faculty of Philology within the University of Pristina. His fields of expertise are social and justice issues.

Mimoza Feraj

She graduated from the Faculty of Economy in the Banking, Finance and Accounting department at the University of Pristina, and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree.

Her previous experience is in the field of auditing and financial advising.

Dorentina Kastrati

Dorentina is a journalist who joined KALLXO.com initially as an intern at the end of 2016.

She graduated from the Journalism Department at the University of Pristina and is now pursuing a Master’s degree in European Integration and Public Administration at the public university in Pristina. The topics she addresses in her articles span across various fields, ranging from citizen reporting and daily news to investigations into public procurement.