Call for Applications for Internship Programme

BIRN offers a three-month internship programme for students interested in investigative reporting as part of its Investigative Reporting Initiative. If you are a journalism student looking for an opportunity to learn from highly dedicated journalists and editors, you are welcome to apply for this programme.

Most media receive applications for internships on a rolling basis, but rarely do they have the time and resources to offer a structured programme, so interns usually lack proper training, mentoring and feedback. However, this three-month-long programme should first provide key theoretical foundations, followed by systematic yet very practical investigative work.

Selected candidates will receive online training from experienced journalists at the beginning of the programme and spend the internship working on investigative stories while receiving support to understand and learn about the most relevant procedures.

BIRN offers six paid internship placements for applicants from six Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. You will work from home or your newsroom.

Who can apply?

Senior year journalism students from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia may apply.

How to apply?

Applicants should complete and submit only one application that is attached to this CfA.

All applications should be submitted in English before April 30, at midnight Central European Time to: [email protected] along with the following documents:

  • Applicant’s CV (in English)
  • Motivation letter (in English)
  • Work sample (in English or local language, school assignments are eligible)
  • Evidence of status (in English or local language)

The motivation letter should show how would you benefit from this programme and your motivation to participate.

Applicants that do not have any published work can submit their student assignments from practical courses in journalism.

Applicants should provide evidence of their current. These evidences include but are not limited to, confirmation of enrolment for the following.

Language:

All applications must be submitted in English, as well as applicants’ CV and motivation letter, while work samples and proof of status may be in local languages.

The program’s working language will be English, so advanced knowledge of the English language is required.

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP: June 15, 2022 – September 15, 2022

ONLINE TRAINING:

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Download here

APPLICATION FORM: Download here

DEADLINE: May 15th, 2022 at midnight Central European Time

 

Protecting and Promoting Labour Rights of Vulnerable Groups in the Labour Market

BIRN Kosovo

This project aims to improve the working conditions for vulnerable categories of employees, notably within the private sector, including workplace health and safety for women and men, through the promotion of social dialogue between workers and duty bearers. This will be achieved through activities such as the development of a special section platform to report the violations of labour rights, monitoring and reporting the employment cases where the employees were victims of work injuries, capacity building and training of the duty bearers, capacity building training of the CSOs, journalists and human rights activists, raising public awareness on the Labour Law, the establishment of the consortium of CSOs to advocate for changes in the Labour law, sub-granting awards for CSOs, lawyers, and other registered entities to promote labour rights. These activities will ensure the effective implementation, quality of legal services, and creation of sustainable structures for future work in promoting labour rights.

Summary:

Effective implementation of the Labour Law in Kosovo, which was adopted on November 2, 2010, remains a challenge for private sector employers and public institutions in Kosovo. Workers’ rights are subject to grave violations in both sectors, thereby breaching important international labour standards and agreements. A large proportion of private sector employees are working within the informal economy and are thereby negatively affected by fiscal evasion. Most private sector employees work without contracts and insurance, meaning they endure long working hours, have no guaranteed leave days and are forced to cover all potential work-related injury costs from their own pockets.

International reports further attest to the insufficient implementation of the Labour law in Kosovo. The 2020 Commission Staff Working Document for Kosovo raises a number of concerns related to social policy and employment. The document reports non-compliance with occupational health and safety regulations, despite Kosovo having aligned its regulations with the EU directives on occupational health and safety at work in 2019. Of particular concern was the construction sector. Although the reported number of work-related incidents resulting in was lower in 2020 than in 2019, the numbers remain worrying.

Gender-based discrimination is omnipresent in the Kosovo labour market, and affects most areas covered within the Labour law, including, inter alia, the recruitment process, promotion, salary, and maternity leave. The 2020 Labour Force Survey notes significant gender differences in the Kosovo labour market, with only one in five (20.3%) of working-age women actively participating in the labour market, compared to three-fifths of working-age men. The survey reports higher rates of unemployment for women and, among the working population, a 0.4% salary difference in favour of men. Of notable concern is the inadequate implementation of the law regulating maternity leave.

The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation in the labour market. Measures adopted by the Government to curb the spread of the virus had a damaging effect on businesses and employees, with many businesses forced to reduce staff numbers and thus terminate employment contracts, with some completely closing down. The private sector has been hit the hardest. Many employees working for private businesses have reportedly been forced to take unpaid leave, had their salaries halved or had their employment contracts terminated.

The project comprises of direct work with employees, future potential employees, key stakeholders, private companies, citizens, and CSOs who play a central role in advocating and protecting the human rights of the most vulnerable groups of employees.

 Donor:

European Union Office in Kosovo

Main Objective:

The overall objective of this project is to improve the working conditions for vulnerable categories of employees, notably within the private sector, including workplace health and safety for women and men, through the promotion of social dialogue between workers and duty bearers.

Specific Objectives:

Specific Objective 1: to strengthen compliance with labour laws through direct monitoring and reporting of labour rights abuse cases;

Specific Objective 2: to strengthen the capacities of duty bearers and CSOs to work on labour rights;

Specific Objective 3: to raise public awareness on labour law.

Main Activities:

  1. Development of a special section of the KALLXO.com platform to report “Violations of Labour Rights”;
  2. Organising joint inspections with the Tax Administration of Kosovo (TAK) and the Labour Inspectorate;
  3. Monitoring citizens’ reports of labour rights violations in relevant institutions;
  4. Organising a three-day workshop on labour rights in Kosovo;
  5. Training for 20 duty bearers to strengthen their capacities on working with labour rights violation cases;
  6. Training for journalists on reporting on labour rights and violations;
  7. Interviewing 50 businesses, 20 employees (people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, women, youth) and analyse the level of implementation of the law;
  8. Carrying out a social media campaign;
  9. Establishing a Consortium of CSOs to advocate for changes in the Labour law;
  10. Organising information sessions on labour law in Kosovo municipalities;
  11. Launching a sub-granting scheme awarding up to 20 awards, amounting between EUR 5,000 and EUR 10,000 for unions, CSOs, lawyer groups and other registered groups (entities) to promote labour rights, report violations, conduct research, and engage in social dialogue with public authorities.

Target Groups:

  • Workers;
  • Employers;
  • Justice Institutions (the Court, State Prosecutor, Police, Ombudsperson);
  • Labour Inspectorate;
  • Tax Administration of Kosovo;
  • Media in Kosovo;
  • Social-Economic Council;
  • Local CSOs;
  • Non-formal groups;
  • Human rights activists;
  • Potential future employees.

Main Implementer:

 Advocacy Training and Resource Center – ATRC

Partners:

BIRN Kosovo

 

 

Open Calls for EU Investigative Journalism Award for 2022

Investigative stories published from January 1 to December 31, 2021, and related to freedom of expression, rule of law, transparency, abuse of power and fundamental rights, corruption and organised crime are welcome to apply.

The award fund in each country in 2022 (for achievements in 2021) is 10,000 EUR. The first prize will be 5,000 EUR, the second 3,000 EUR, and the third will be 2,000 EUR.

Individuals or groups of journalists are eligible to apply in all journalism forms (print, online, radio and TV) published or broadcast in the media in each country in official, minority or international languages.

Articles eligible for submission must appear in print, online, radio and TV media outlets during the 2021 calendar year.

EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey aim to celebrate and promote the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists as well as improve the visibility of quality journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

The awards are a continuation of the ongoing regional EU Investigative Journalism Award in the Western Balkans and Turkey and part of the ongoing project ‘Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey’, funded by the European Union.

The project partners involved all have extensive expertise in the field of media freedom and have been recognised locally and internationally as strong independent media organisations.

The jury for the EU Award comprises media experts, some of them from the project consortia. Others are drawn from the extensive network projects that the consortium members have, such as editors, members of academia and journalists with merits.

Please download individual packages below to find more information, including application forms and deadlines for the EU Award for Investigative Journalism in your respective country.

Download documents for Bosnia and Herzegovina


Download documents for Kosovo (in Albanian and Serbian)


Download documents for North Macedonia (in English and Macedonian)


Download documents for Montenegro


Download documents for Serbia


Download documents for Turkey


Download documents for Albania

 

BIRN Offers Grants to Explore War Crimes Archives

BIRN is offering grants to journalists, artists, historians and activists to create projects based on the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and domestic courts in former Yugoslav countries that held war crimes trials.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network has launched a call for proposals for small projects by journalists, artists, historians and civil society activists covering topics related to the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and domestic courts in former Yugoslav countries that dealt with war crimes cases.

In 2019, BIRN awarded 20 journalists, artists and historians with grants of 2,000 euros each to produce small projects based on archives of local and international courts that dealt with war crime cases.

This was an indication that there is a significant interest of various professionals from different fields to research archives and improve memorialisation efforts in the Balkans.

BIRN is now offering this opportunity again, but also wants to enhance its cooperation with artists, researchers, filmmakers, historians and activists in order to develop a network of experts in various fields that will provide a holistic approach to the process of memorialisation.

“The number of war crime trials is significantly declining, and archives remain a resource for the future construction of fact-based narratives about wartime history in the Balkans,” explained programme associate Nejra Mulaomerovic.

“Currently, court archives are often inaccessible to the general public, and their enormous potential remains untapped. We are seeking projects that will creatively use courts’ archives in order to promote truth, justice and accountability in the Balkans,” Mulaomerovic said.

Journalists, artists, historians and civil society activists who want to dig deeper in the archives of the ICTY in The Hague and national courts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia are eligible to apply.

They are being invited to explore questions such as criminal justice, victims’ testimonies, missing persons, reparations, lustration, responsibility as well as other issues related to transitional justice and dealing with the past.

Further information about the application process can be found here.

The call is a part of the Enhancing Accountability and Memorialisation Processes in the Balkans project, financed by the Matra Regional Rule of Law Programme.

Meet the People Behind BIRN: Albulena Sadiku

Each month, BIRN introduces you to members of its team. For March, meet, Albulena Sadiku, Deputy Director and Senior Programme Manager at BIRN Kosovo.

Sadiku, 33, is Deputy Director and Senior Programme Manager at BIRN Kosovo. This year, she celebrates her 12th work anniversary at BIRN. BIRN Kosovo is one of the most active partners of the network. Their “small” office has won numerous international prizes and distinctions while promoting democracy and accountability and the fight against corruption.

Sadiku has always been a civil society activist, she says. With her colleagues, they are working together, making a difference and most important, making a mark. Let’s meet her.

  1. When did you start working in BIRN? What do you like most about it?

When I started working with BIRN, the organization was flourishing. People talked about the impact BIRN’s work was having in various spheres, including in the lives of regular Kosovo citizens. Naturally, as a civil society activist with some years of experience in civil society and advocacy, I saw BIRN as an ideal opportunity to maximize my activity and expand the platforms to do so.

This year marks my 12th anniversary since I started working for BIRN. In these 12 years, I have had the pleasure of seeing the organization grow exponentially. I, too, felt I could grow professionally with it and become part of a team whose work is significantly impactful. BIRN has acquired a great level of credibility among Kosovo institutions, prompting the latter to react to BIRN’s findings and act to improve their performance and the lives of regular citizens. The personal satisfaction gained through working with such a great team of people, and witnessing the fruits of our work on the ground, is unparalleled. I am beyond proud to be working with a team of highly professional journalists, who received eight journalism awards in 2021 alone. Our journalists’ work has received recognition from local and international institutions who have awarded them for their stories on public procurement, corruption and the environment. 

  1. When was BIRN Kosovo created? How important is its work in Kosovo?

BIRN Kosovo was established in 2005. Since then, the organization has grown hugely. It now houses a team of over 50 professionals of various backgrounds, including journalists, editors, legal advisers, court monitors, producers, technician operators, finance officers, project managers and coordinators, to name but a few. All these individuals have come together to fulfill BIRN’s mission of ensuring the momentum of democratic transition in Kosovo by promoting accountability, rule of law and political reform. BIRN’s flagship media products, including the online anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com, the television programme KallxoPernime and the fact-checking platform Krypometer/(Truth-o-Meter), enjoy great credibility among the Kosovo public, including public institutions. BIRN’s KALLXO.com was listed as the second most credible source for fighting corruption for over five years in a row, only finishing behind the Police and far ahead of the Prosecution and Anti-Corruption Agency. Furthermore, our team was recognized as a source for reporting corruption by the US State Department 2021 Investment Climate Statement, for the second year in a row.

The results of 16 years of BIRN’s work in advocacy, reporting and watchdog monitoring of public institutions have yielded great and meaningful impacts in Kosovo society.

A total of 1,705 citizens reported on our KALLXO.com anti-corruption platform in 2021 alone. Citizens’ reporting on the injustices they encountered led to the publication of investigations and television programmes that ultimately had an impact in improving the lives of regular citizens. During 2021, BIRN’s work resulted in more than 100 direct short-term and long-term impacts on wider society.

In 2021, BIRN Kosovo’s team of court monitors, legal officers and advisers monitored a total of 388 court hearings and submitted 2,099 legal complaints to relevant public institutions in Kosovo, of which around 970 were requests for access to official documents and requests for access to information. Our legal office also gained – and provided – expertise by participating in more than 45 public discussions, workshops, conferences and meetings.

BIRN Kosovo monitored 14 recruitment processes for senior positions in Kosovo’s public Institutions during 2021, including the Police, Security and the Ministries of Culture and Trade. What is remarkable is the fact that, in the past, BIRN was imposing a process of monitoring recruitment of key management staff on various public institutions in Kosovo; nowadays, it is the institutions themselves that are asking us to monitor their recruitment processes, to ensure that recruitment standards are met and the process is merit-based.

Importantly, during 2021 alone, BIRN delivered over 70 training sessions, workshops and webinars to over 561 participants. They benefited from BIRN’s training expertise on topics such as fake news, fact-checking, the basics of investigative journalism, professional investigative journalism, televised investigations, media ethics, source protection, reporting on terrorism, public speaking, violent extremism and radicalization, environmental issues and effective advocacy.

  1. What has been BIRN Kosovo’s biggest achievement so far and what is its biggest challenge?

BIRN’s impact in improving the lives of thousands of Kosovo citizens through its work in advocating, reporting and watchdog monitoring of public institutions, constitutes its biggest achievement. The wide impact of BIRN’s work would have not have been possible without the initial reports received from citizens through our online anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Due to the type of work we do, our principal challenge is a lack of sustainable funding of our investigative reporting and watchdog monitoring. Furthermore, Kosovo still has weak accountability and reluctantly transparent institutions, and discrimination on the basis of gender, nationality, sex and networks persists. In these circumstances, our biggest practical challenge nowadays is lack of staff to deal with all the citizen reports that we receive. Lastly, we face continuous propaganda whenever our stories expose the powerful elites. This is also a consequence of Kosovo’s media scene being vulnerable to financial influences, as well as to those of other groups, which shrinks the space for independent reporting.

  1. How do you overcome work-related difficulties? What is the secret of BIRN Kosovo’s success? 

The enthusiasm of the people working at BIRN is what keeps the organization going, despite work-related difficulties. Each year we witness a dozen aspiring new journalists starting off their professional journey at BIRN as interns and then steadily growing and establishing their place in our team. It goes without saying that without our families’ support we would not have been able to get this far. This is especially the case for journalists, who are busy reporting from every corner of Kosovo and are often away from their families for long periods. Last but not least, none of the work we do would be possible without our donors, partners, sponsors as well as our supporters, friends and whistleblowers, who have continued to place their trust in us for 16 years.

  1. What are BIRN Kosovo’s next plans and goals?

 BIRN Kosovo will continue to fulfill its mission and uphold the highest journalistic standards in Kosovo. We will keep the public informed through regular and specialized reporting while continuing to exert pressure to increase transparency and accountability in public institutions and advocate for changes to policies and legislation that will better represent citizens’ public interest. Lastly, and this is what I am particularly fond of and excited about, we will continue to deliver training to a wide array of stakeholders, including to local CSOs and media and journalism students, in investigative journalism and fact-checking; we will continue to support journalists through sub-grants, awards and fellowships programmes – and we will keep providing young journalists with  training and internship opportunities at BIRN.

 

 

BIRN Holds Training in Digital Security and Surveillance Capitalism

BIRN organized a four-day training in digital rights, “From Personal Security to Surveillance Capitalism”, for journalists, representatives from civil society organizations, CSOs, legal professionals and IT experts, in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.

The comprehensive programme encompassed three modules: personal digital security; reporting on surveillance capitalism; and digital activism with the goal of empowering participants to defend themselves against surveillance capitalism and understand power relations between the public and private sphere.

The first module explained the issues surrounding surveillance capitalism that impact our privacy and security and offered effective ways to combat it.

Domen Savic, from the NGO Državljan D (Citizen D), offered hands-on exercises that the participants can then replicate in their home environment. Participants learned how to harden their personal computers/mobile devices and how to avoid leaving too wide a digital trail online.

The second module focused on developing effective media reporting skills when tackling the issues of surveillance capitalism from a theoretical and practical point of view, focusing on case studies from the region. Participants learned how to investigate surveillance capitalism and worked in groups to decide on the topics they want to cover in their local environment.

During the third module, trainer and participants discussed digital policy development and the role of digital activists and campaigns.

The final sessions encouraged debate and networking, so that participants can develop relationships and ultimately benefit from these synergies to cover surveillance capitalism from a broad perspective.

The training was led by Citizen D, an NGO built whose foundational principle is the inclusive promotion of human and digital rights. Državljan D is highly experienced in providing digital security training for local and regional journalists as well as in giving insights into digital privacy and security issues: from state to corporate surveillance and secure data handling, to app and device usage.

 

 

BIRN Presents Database as Tool to Educate and Counter Revisionism

Marking the 30th anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo, a new BIRN online project features the video testimonials of 44 people – one for each month of the military blockade – recalling wartime hardships, atrocities and brief moments of joy.

BIRN presented a panel discussion on the topic, “No Room for Adjudicated Facts in School Curricula”, presenting part of its database of facts related to the 1992-5 siege of Sarajevo that has been established in or by verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

Besides besieged Sarajevo, other parts of the city that were under the control of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, including Grbavica, Vraca and Nedzarici, as well as Sarajevo municipalities Ilidza, Hadzici, Vogosca and Ilijas, have also been covered, to include places where civilians were held and killed, demolitions and pillaging of property, and other crimes committed in the areas of Pale and Sokolac.

BIRN journalist Haris Rovcanin, who is working on creating the database, said Sarajevo and its surroundings were the first regions to be presented, symbolically, as that siege began 30 years ago, in April 1992. The term “siege”, he explained, is used in court verdicts and the fact that Sarajevo was under siege during the war represents one of the adjudicated facts.

“We have created a database containing some of the fundamental court conclusions referring to the sniping and deliberate shelling campaigns and unselective and direct attacks targeting the civilian population, as well as the fact that no parts of the city were safe from shelling from positions held by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army, as determined in verdicts, and that civilians were targeted while fetching water, walking in the city and using public transportation, especially trams,” Rovcanin said.

BIRN’s local director Denis Dzidic said the development of the multimedia database of court-established facts was of extreme importance for learning about the past and as a tool for countering revisionist narratives and denial of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We are witnesses to the politicization of history in Bosnia, which has been particularly pronounced in politicians’ public appearances in the pre-election period, but also in school curricula,” he said.

“Through the development of this database, we endeavour to counter-narratives that focus on divisions and denial, and develop a unique multimedia platform which can serve teachers, students and all those interested in adjudicated facts,” Dzidic said.

Sniping and shelling incidents, as they are called in verdicts, for which it was determined with certainty that fire was opened from positions held by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, have been singled out and processed for the purpose of the database. So was the shelling with the use of modified air bombs in 1995, which, as Hague tribunal chambers established, were not suitable for hitting concrete targets.

According to Rovcanin, one of the goals of this database is to gather in one place all the crimes established by the Hague tribunal’s verdicts, but not naming concrete perpetrators. This is because in some cases trial chambers determined that crimes were committed at a certain location but lacked evidence to link and sentence the person on trial to those specific crimes.

Besides that, the goal of the database is to help future researchers, students and journalists find the basic information they need for their further work, but also to assist teachers and education ministries by supplying materials for school curricula and methodologies for teaching about the past war.

Historian Melisa Foric who worked on the educational tool in this database as an external contractor of BIRN, said the database of facts will offer an option for a quick search, check and use of facts and historical sources, which are an integral part of the verdicts pronounced by the ICTY.

“The model classes, which will be an integral part of the database, offer a possibility to analyse events in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995 on the basis of parts of testimonies by victims described in ICTY verdicts, and encourage students to present their personal conclusions vis-à-vis the content of verdicts,” he said.

“In particular, attention is drawn to the significance of personal testimonials made in the form of short videos to which school-age children are much more receptive in the process of understanding and learning,” Foric added.

According to her, through a multi-perspective approach and original materials, the database should facilitate an easier determination of the chronology of the war, enabling a clearer perception of a causal link between certain events and the responsibility of individuals for those events, as established by ICTY verdicts.

A senior human rights advisor in the Office of Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Agnes Picod, said this was very important for remembrance within Bosnia but also outside its borders, adding that education was the backbone of reconciliation.

She said the principle of impartiality had been very important in the work of the ICTY.

According to her, decisions rendered by ICTY and the International Court of Justice are based on evidence and witness testimonies, while convictions pertain to individuals.

“Verdicts establish an individual, not collective, criminal responsibility. They are for convicting individuals. ICTY verdicts contribute to the truth establishing process and have an essential role … [though] 26 years after the end of the war certain individuals continue to deny, minimize and negate the adjudicated facts,” Picod said.

Picod also said that education should be one of the pillars and paths through which reconciliation is spread. In her opinion, school curricula and textbooks lack impartiality, especially as regards conflict.

“When they mention criminal offences, they do not mention them as crimes against humanity or genocide. Schools and educational systems should not be exposed to political agendas,” Picod said.

Although the ICTY archive is available already, the platform of adjudicated facts offers an abbreviated and clear overview of the conclusions of ICTY verdicts to the broader public and teachers, as well as to creators of educational content related to topics about the 1992-95 war, enriched with original content that can be used in teaching, Foric said in conclusion.

Anisa Suceska, of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, and history professor Zijad Sehic also addressed the panel discussion.

By the end of the project, besides Sarajevo, the database will also contain facts on ten other regions, namely Eastern Herzegovina, Zenica Region, Central Bosnia, Doboj-Posavina Region, and Eastern Bosnia, Srebrenica, Herzegovina Region, Krajina and Bijeljina-Zvornik Region.

The database is implemented with support of the UN Democracy Fund, UNDEF.

Video Testimonials Tell Story of Sarajevo’s 44 Months Under Siege

Marking the 30th anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo, a new BIRN online project features the video testimonials of 44 people – one for each month of the military blockade – recalling wartime hardships, atrocities and brief moments of joy.

BIRN on Wednesday launched the ‘44 Months under Siege’ project, which features video interviews with 44 people who lived through the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo, speaking about the dangers and deprivations of living under the longest military blockade of a capital city in recent times.

BIRN recorded interviews with journalists, doctors, teachers, artists, musicians, film-makers and other residents of the besieged city speaking about massacres, sniper attacks, shortages of food, water and power and the dangers of venturing out to find supplies, go to school or hold funerals during the sustained shelling of the city from April 1992 to the end of 1995.

“Focussing on individual testimonials is a unique and very striking way of telling a story about a city,” said Denis Dzidic, director of BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“This is definitely not a story about everything that Sarajevo’s residents experienced during the siege, but it is a portrait of some of the most vicious crimes, as well as the way in which ordinary citizens countered the terror,” he added.

Jasmin Begic, a journalist who worked on the project, said that most of the people who gave interviews had lost loved ones, been injured or survived attacks that have been documented in verdicts at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

“These testimonials show that civilians in Sarajevo, as stated in the verdicts, were targets of unselective attacks while standing in lines to buy bread and food at markets, and fetch water, as well as children who were killed at their school desks,” Begic said.

“The hardest part was talking to parents whose children were killed and who experienced these traumatic events all over again,” he added.

The videos are arranged chronologically on the page, starting from April 1992 to November 1995. The 45th video is about the importance of the end of the war.

The ‘44 Months under Siege’ project, which was created with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA, can be seen here.

 

BIRN Kosovo Trains Journalists on Reporting Crisis Situations

To improve the way journalists report from emergency crisis situations, BIRN Kosovo held a training for journalists and students of journalism, designed to equip them with appropriate knowledge and practices on reporting from protests, with a special focus on violent ones, which was held on March 25.

The training consisted of two sessions. The first was delivered by Amir Gërguri, Commander of specialized units in the Kosovo Police. He elaborated on communications with security institutions in emergency crisis situations. The second session was delivered by Kreshnik Gashi, editor-in-chief of KALLXO.com, who reflected upon safe and ethical reporting of emergency crisis situations.

Participants were given examples to further understand the applicability of the theoretical framework of the training sessions. They were also given the opportunity to ask insightful questions on reporting from emergency crisis situations, as well as share their own experiences.

The training was organized as part of the project “Ensure a safe space for journalists during protest reporting.”, a project funded by the European Commission.

In total, 18 journalists and students of journalism participated in this training.

BIRN Kosovo aims to support the democratic transition in Kosovo and the implementation of human rights and media freedom by holding regular training sessions and workshops.

During this part of 2022 alone, BIRN Kosovo, as part of the project “Resilient Community Program”, held three community gatherings in the municipalities of Prishtina, Gjilan and Obiliq.

The gatherings consisted of a lecture by Kreshnik Gashi, editor in chief at KALLXO.com, and brought together psychologists and directors of schools.

The guests shared their experiences with people, more specifically students, whose families have returned from the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, and the process of reintegration and re-socialization to which they have been subjected. In total, 16 participants have been part of the gatherings held thus far.

Training on fact-finding

As part of the project “Promoting fact-checking to combat false news and misinformation in Kosovo”, which is supported by the US embassy in Kosovo, BIRN Kosovo also held three trainings on fact-checking methodologies with a total of 50 journalists, in the municipalities of Prishtina, Prizren and Gjilan.

The trainings were made up of three parts. The first covered standards, the basics of fact-checking, and the differences between misinformation, fake news, deep fakes, and other fake news production formats.

The second was dedicated to identifying fake news and harmful narratives in the media and building debunking mechanisms within newsrooms. The third part gave participants the opportunity to practice together with the trainers to identify fake news.

Workshop trainers included Kreshnik Gashi and Visar Prebreza, managing editor of Research and Krypometer articles at KALLXO.com.

As part of the project “Data 4 Fighting Harmful Narratives in the Judiciary”, which is funded by the Millennium Foundation Kosovo, MFK, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, BIRN Kosovo held training sessions on using judicial data with a total of 77 Faculty of Law students from the University of Pristina and the University of Prizren.

On March 10 and 11, as part of the project “Confidence Building Project”, which is supported by UNMIK, BIRN Kosovo held a training session with a journalists in the municipality of Gjilan on the bases of investigation and fact-checking principles.

On the first day, KALLXO.com’s Kreshnik Gashi, spoke about the bases of reporting, the public profile that journalists should keep, how to develop contacts with sources of information, protection of sources and how to build trust.

Visar Prebreza meanwhile spoke on how to initiate research and secure information from open data platforms. He also talked about investigations into public procurement and techniques for detecting stories in this field. Finally, on day one,

Valdet Salihu, a producer at the TV programme KALLXO Pernime, gave insight into different production techniques, photographs and video footage.

The second day of the training involved activities in which the participants practiced use of techniques for fact-checking and detecting fake news, with scenarios sourced from statements and footage of public officials.

A total of 16 journalists participated in the course, including three from the Serb and Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian minority communities.

Additionally, as part of the project “Ensure a safe space for journalists during protest reporting”, a project funded by the European Commission”, BIRN Kosovo held a training for 18 journalists and students of journalism, which aims to equip them with appropriate knowledge and practices on reporting from protests, with a special focus on violent ones.

*This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

 

 

 

BIRN Kosovo Holds Workshops on Reintegration of Returnees from Conflict Zones, Fact-Checking and Reporting Protests

BIRN Kosovo held a regional workshop on March 28 on reinforcing the role of Centers for Social Welfare and strengthening the process of reintegration and resocialization for returnees from Middle eastern conflict zones, in order to prevent violent extremism and terrorism in Kosovo.

The workshop consisted of three sessions. The first, delivered by Kreshnik Gashi, editor-in-chief at KALLXO.com, focused on the state vision of preventing the radicalism and the violent extremism that leads to terrorism, and reflecting this vision to the wider public.

The second, delivered by Vehbi Mujku, director of the Center for Social Welfare in Pristina, focused on the role of the Centers in the early identification process of radical behaviours, and in the treatment of people affected by violent extremism.

The third session, delivered by Luljeta Berisha, psychologist at the Kosovo Rehabilitation Center for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, focused on the early identification of radical behaviours in children and treatment of trauma in them.

In total, 18 representatives from the Centers for Social Welfare and members from other municipal institutions participated in the workshop, organized as part of the “Resilient Community Program”, which is funded by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, GCERF.

BIRN Kosovo aims to support the democratic transition in Kosovo and the implementation of human rights and media freedom by holding regular training sessions and workshops.

During this part of 2022 alone, BIRN Kosovo, as part of the project “Resilient Community Program”, held three community gatherings in the municipalities of Prishtina, Gjilan and Obiliq.

The gatherings consisted of a lecture by Kreshnik Gashi, editor in chief at KALLXO.com, and brought together psychologists and directors of schools.

The guests shared their experiences with people, more specifically students, whose families have returned from the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, and the process of reintegration and re-socialization to which they have been subjected. In total, 16 participants have been part of the gatherings held thus far.

Training on fact-finding

As part of the project “Promoting fact-checking to combat false news and misinformation in Kosovo”, which is supported by the US embassy in Kosovo, BIRN Kosovo also held three trainings on fact-checking methodologies with a total of 50 journalists, in the municipalities of Prishtina, Prizren and Gjilan.

The trainings were made up of three parts. The first covered standards, the basics of fact-checking, and the differences between misinformation, fake news, deep fakes, and other fake news production formats.

The second was dedicated to identifying fake news and harmful narratives in the media and building debunking mechanisms within newsrooms. The third part gave participants the opportunity to practice together with the trainers to identify fake news.

Workshop trainers included Kreshnik Gashi and Visar Prebreza, managing editor of Research and Krypometer articles at KALLXO.com.

As part of the project “Data 4 Fighting Harmful Narratives in the Judiciary”, which is funded by the Millennium Foundation Kosovo, MFK, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, BIRN Kosovo held training sessions on using judicial data with a total of 77 Faculty of Law students from the University of Pristina and the University of Prizren.

On March 10 and 11, as part of the project “Confidence Building Project”, which is supported by UNMIK, BIRN Kosovo held a training session with a journalists in the municipality of Gjilan on the bases of investigation and fact-checking principles.

On the first day, KALLXO.com’s Kreshnik Gashi, spoke about the bases of reporting, the public profile that journalists should keep, how to develop contacts with sources of information, protection of sources and how to build trust.

Visar Prebreza meanwhile spoke on how to initiate research and secure information from open data platforms. He also talked about investigations into public procurement and techniques for detecting stories in this field. Finally, on day one,

Valdet Salihu, a producer at the TV programme KALLXO Pernime, gave insight into different production techniques, photographs and video footage.

The second day of the training involved activities in which the participants practiced use of techniques for fact-checking and detecting fake news, with scenarios sourced from statements and footage of public officials.

A total of 16 journalists participated in the course, including three from the Serb and Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian minority communities.

Additionally, as part of the project ““Providing a safe environment for journalists during protests”, a project funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo”, BIRN Kosovo held a training for 18 journalists and students of journalism, which aims to equip them with appropriate knowledge and practices on reporting from protests, with a special focus on violent ones.