Category: News and Events

BIRN Kosovo Trains Local Media in Gjilan

As part of the ‘Fact Checking for Accountable Media’ project, BIRN Kosovo held a training session on implementing standards and the verification of facts at the Hotel Kristal in Gjilan on October 24.

The workshop was attended by ten representatives from local media in Gjilan, Viti and Kamenica, who were eager to gain knowledge based on the experiences of the BIRN Kosovo team represented by Kreshnik Gashi, the anchor of the ‘Justice in Kosovo’ television programme, Visar Prebreza, editor at Kallxo.com, and Labinot Leposhtica, a coordinator in BIRN Kosovo’s law office.

In the opening session, Gashi shared his knowledge and experience on fact verification and secure reporting, as well as thorough research methods based on International Fact-Checking Networkstandards and research based on reports from whistleblowers.

Prebreza meanwhile elaborated on the reporting conducted through Kallxo’s fact-checking platform ‘Krypometer’ (‘Truth-o-Meter’). He explained how to use corruption reporting platforms and information from citizens to investigate major cases of corruption and organized crime, as well as how to build journalistic reports by monitoring audit reports.

Finally, Leposhtica trained the participants on legal matters, including journalistic ethics, privacy issues, copyright and protection of sources.

Representatives of the local media successfully completed the training session and were provided with certificates.

BIRN and Internews Hold Investigative Journalism Training in Kosovo

Nineteen young journalists from the Prizren municipality in Kosovo took part in a special training course on investigative journalism on October 17-18, organised by Internews Kosova and BIRN Kosovo.

The course was held at the American Corner in the southern Kosovo city of Prizren.

The course was divided into 11 sessions, covering topics including reporting and monitoring, building public credibility for media that fight corruption, fact-checking, public speaking and television reporting.

The director of Internews Kosova, Faik Ispahiu, who specialises in providing training on broadcast media management, marketing, and TV production, as well as in developing commercial media strategies, used KALLXO.com, BIRN Kosovo’s online anti-corruption platform, as a case study during a session on the use of whistleblowers to fight corruption.

He spoke to participants about building public credibility for media reporting on corruption, as well as BIRN Kosovo’s television programmes ‘Life in Kosovo’ and ‘Justice in Kosovo’, and on how to transition print media to become online platforms.

KALLXO.com’s editor, Visar Prebreza, spoke to participants about types of reporting and monitoring, including how to use social media to source stories and how to identify fake news.

He also elaborated on the reporting done through Kallxo’s fact-checking platform ‘Krypometer’ (‘Truth-o-Meter’), using corruption reporting platforms and information from citizens to investigate major cases of corruption and organised crime, as well as monitoring public procurement and building journalistic reports based on monitoring audit reports.

KALLXO.com law office coordinator Labinot Leposhtica also led a session on media regulations and ethics, including ethical reporting and the self-regulation of print and digital media, as well as basic court reporting.

To round out the training, Leposhtica and Prebreza held an intensive workshop for the participants, providing them with in-depth knowledge on how to access the Public Procurement of Kosovo website and address practical issues in procurement and auditing using cases from court and public procurement monitoring.

BIRN Kosovo Trains Journalism Students in Fact-Checking

BIRN Kosovo held a two-day training course on fact-checking standards with over 40 journalism students at the Sirius Hotel in Pristina on October 21 and 22.

During the first day of training, talks were given by Kallxo.com editor Visar Prebreza and BIRN Kosovo’s law office coordinator, Labinot Leposhtica.

Sharing his experiences at BIRN with the students, Prebreza highlighted the importance of facts during research, giving specific examples from his work.

He also elaborated on the reporting done through Kallxo’s fact-checking platform ‘Krypometer’ (‘Truth-o-Meter’), which uses the corruption reporting platform and information from citizens to investigate major cases of corruption and organised crime.

Leposhtica meanwhile talked through some of the legal issues the students might face in the future, discussing ethics in journalism, privacy issues, copyright and the protection of sources.

On the second day, students had the opportunity to gain insights from Kreshnik Gashi, anchor of the TV programme ‘Justice in Kosovo’.

Gashi elaborated on how to establish facts, and ensure secure reporting in journalism, as well as outlining thorough research methods based on International Fact-Checking Network standards and research based on reports from whistleblowers.

In the second part of the day, the students had the chance to see some of the ‘doorstep’ interviews that have been conducted by Kallxo.com journalists. After watching some examples of such interviews, the students practiced them with their colleagues.

Journalism students on the course were provided with certificates to demonstrate the knowledge and experience gained from the three lectures. This training was provided by the Civil Society Program for Albania and Kosovo, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by the Kosovo Foundation for Civil Society (KCSF) in partnership with Partners Albania for Change and Development (PA).

BIRN Albania Opens Call for Investigations into Education

BIRN Albania launched a call for investigative stories on education on October 21, offering grants for three journalists to cover education stories, with mentoring by experienced editors.

The call is being held as part of a project entitled ‘Raising Awareness about Accountability and Transparency through Investigative Reporting’, financed by the National Endowment for Democracy.

The project aims to boost the fight against the culture of impunity in Albania through investigative journalism, bridging the gap between civil society organisations and journalists, building their capacities and creating common ground for joint action in exposing corruption cases in the country.

Three journalists will be awarded grants to cover their expenses while conducting investigations and writing their stories on the education system in Albania.

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

The call only applies to journalists from Albania and closes on November 10, 2019.

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

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

Bosnia Journalists Condemn HJPC ‘Gestapo’ Slur About BIRN

The Steering Board of the BH Journalists Association has sent a strong letter of protest to Bosnia’s High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, HJPC, after its Vice-President on social media likened the work of BIRN BiH to “the Gestapo”.

The association accused Ruzica Jukic of “unprofessional and institutionally unacceptable communication with journalists and the media in BiH, including personal comments from HJPC members via social networks on journalistic questions about events of public concern”.

After BIRN BiH reported that Jukic had attacked foreign embassies and institutions on her Facebook profile without presenting any evidence for her claims, Jukic commented on BIRN BiH’s work on her profile with the headline “When Journalists do Gestapo work,” in which she singled out the work of the journalist Admir Muslimovic.

Following Wednesday’s session of the HJPC, she also told reporters that she would no longer make press statements but would only communicate via social networks.

The BH Journalists’ Steering Board said it was “inadmissible to withhold information from journalists after yesterday’s session of the HJPC, at which two deputy chief prosecutors were appointed and decisions of public interest were reached”.

It said such conduct was “a direct violation of social and legal norms on the transparent operation of the HJPC and timely informing the public about the work of this institution”.

It added that, “withholding information from the media is an inadmissible demonstration of institutional and judicial power undertaken to restrict the right to freedom of expression and impede access to public information held by the HJPC”.

The Steering Board also said its members “remain caught up by the vocabulary, qualifications and insults that Ruzica Jukic, Vice President, and Milan Tegeltija, President of the HJPC, have spoken about journalists and media through social networks”, adding that “BIRN journalists have recently been targeted by key HJPC officials, as earlier were journalists of Zurnal and Oslobodjenje, FTV, as well as numerous other media”.

The letter urged the HJPC to maintain professional and decent communication with the media in order to “keep the public informed on issues relevant to the work of the HJPC in a timely manner”, asking it also to avoid “the language of the street that has no place in serious public communication”.

“You, members of the HJPC, and above all Vice President Jukic and President Tegeltija, are urged to remove such content, and to resolve your own misunderstandings or professional objections to the media through the legitimate legal means at your disposal,” the letter concluded.

BIRN Albania Holds Roundtable on Education

BIRN Albania held a roundtable on October 15, bringing together journalists, civil society representatives and activists working to improve the education system in Albania.

The event was held as part of the project “Raising Awareness about Accountability and Transparency through Investigative Reporting”, financed by the National Endowment for Democracy.

The project aims to boost the fight against the culture of impunity in Albania through investigative journalism, bridging the gap between civil society organisations and journalists, building their capacities and creating common ground for their joint action in exposing corruption cases in the country.

Rigels Xhemollari, the executive director of Civic Resistance, an organisation working to improve the quality of higher education in Albania, moderated the roundtable.

At the roundtable, participants suggested a number of key topics worth investigating.

They ranged from public-private partnerships for the construction of news schools to poor investments made in the infrastructure of university dormitories, the management of university dorms, students IDs and benefits, the quality of higher educational publications, elections to student councils, the education budget, the curricula for pre-college education, teacher recruitment, segregated schools, the quality of schools texts, school infrastructure, teacher transportation and other topics.

The goal of the roundtable was to draw attention to an upcoming call for grant proposals to fund investigative reporting on education.

BIRN Albania will make the call in the near future. Three journalists will be selected by an independent jury and then mentored by BIRN editors for three months, as they produce hard-hitting investigative reports on this important topic.

Free Flow Wins Best Documentary Award

BIRN Albania’s documentary ‘Free Flow’ has been recognized with the’ Fatos Baxhaku Prize’ as best documentary in the Balkan Film Food Festival, which is held annually in the lakeside city of Pogradec.

The documentary was recognized by the jury ‘for its realistic point of view on the research and confronting the truth.”

The award for best documentary is named this year after late Albanian journalist, editor and famed reportage writer Fatos Baxhaku, who passed away this August.

The documentary ‘Free Flow’ follows Albania villagers, activists, scientists and artists as they try to draw attention to the threat posed to the environment and the local ecotourism industry by power plant projects.

‘Free Flow’ was directed by film-maker Elton Baxhaku (no relation to the journalist) and focuses on three areas, the Shebenik Jabllanica National Park, the Vjosa River and the Valbona National Park, and the struggle of local communities to voice their concerns over hydropower plant projects, their fight to challenge concession contracts in court and protest in the streets to encourage support for their cause.

Elton Baxhaku is an acclaimed Albanian film-maker, best known for his 2014 documentary ‘Skandal’ and the 2016 documentary ‘Selita’, which was co-directed by Eriona Cami.

Earlier the documentary Free Flow has been screened in Tirana, Sarajevo, in communities affected by power plant projects in Albania  and during a conference on hydropower in the European Parliament. Free Flow was also part of the official selection in 2018 at Dokufest – the international film and documentary festival held in Prizren, Kosovo.

BIRN Trains Journalists in Transitional Justice Reporting

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network began a three-day course in Belgrade to train journalists from across the former Yugoslavia in reporting on war crimes trials and other transitional justice topics.

The three-day training course on transitional justice reporting, organised by BIRN in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, started in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Monday.

A total of 25 reporters from various countries across the former Yugoslavia are being trained by journalists with substantial experience in covering war crimes trials and transitional justice topics, and hearing from experts who are directly involved in legal processes, such as prosecutors and court officials.

The participants were addressed at the start of the course by Francine Pickup, the UNDP resident representative in Serbia, who pointed out that there are still hundreds of war crimes cases to be prosecuted in the region and said that the training could help journalists address challenges they might face while reporting on the proceedings.

“We hope that this training will help you in your reporting and that it will give you some advice on how to strengthen your relationships with relevant institutions,” Pickup said.

As well as looking at the essentials of criminal procedures, best practices for reporting on cases and sources of information for journalists, the course also focuses on the role that victims play in war crimes trial processes.

Expert panellists at the course include Ivan Jovanovic from UNDP Regional War Crimes Project, Nemanja Stjepanovic from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Registry, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state prosecution spokesperson Boris Grubjesic, Croatian Chief State Attorney’s Office spokesperson Martina Mihordin, and Vasilije Saratlic, deputy war crimes prosecutor and spokesperson at Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office.

BIRN’s Regional Director Marija Ristic said that the idea of the training course was to look beyond the proceedings in war crime trials and use the archives that courts have built up and the legacy of their judgments as story material.

“This job is very rewarding because we are giving a voice to the victims and sometimes, if it was not for us, their stories would never be told,” Ristic said.

After the course, the participants will be required to pitch an in-depth story about transitional justice issues in the Balkans.

From the pitches and general assessments of the participants during the course, BIRN will select ten journalists to participate in a study visit to The Hague that will be held in November.

The journalists who propose the best stories will receive a grant of 1,000 euros from BIRN to further develop their work in cooperation with BIRN’s experienced pool of editors.

The project is being supported by the United Kingdom’s embassy in Belgrade and the European Commission.

UK embassy first secretary Chantel Care said that it is important for journalists to strengthen their networks and partnerships, and told the participants that “you have the opportunity to do that here”.

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BIRN Hosts Kosovo Prime Ministerial Debates

BIRN Kosovo hosted a series of debates ahead of Kosovo’s upcoming parliamentary elections, with the candidates for prime minister invited to present their plans for governing to a team of civil society experts.

Over four consecutive nights, from September 26-29, in the buildup to Kosovo’s parliamentary elections on October 6, BIRN Kosovo invited all the candidates for prime minister to appear in a televised debate anchored by the organisation’s director, Jeta Xharra.

Flanked by a team of ten MP candidates from their respective parties and coalitions, each prime ministerial hopeful unveiled their plans for governing in front of a team of 24 experts invited by BIRN, who provided further questions and scrutiny.

The candidates were probed about their plans for domestic issues in particular, especially on economic development, education, the environment, social welfare and the rule of law.

Albin Kurti of Vetevendosje, Ramush Haradinaj from the coalition between the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Vjosa Osmani of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and Fatmir Limaj from the coalition between NISMA, the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and the Justice Party (PD) all appeared in the debates. Kadri Veseli, the prime ministerial candidate for the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, also agreed to present his plans but later cancelled his appearance.

The debates were broadcast on RTV21 and streamed through the Facebook page for BIRN Kosovo’s anti-corruption platform, Kallxo.com. Online streams reached close to one million people. 

BIRN Kosovo’s election coverage will now continue with debates featuring specialists from each party on specific fields, including health, education and sustainable development.

The first was held on September 30 and focused on economic development and featured representatives from all five of the major political forces seeking representation in the Kosovo Assembly.

BIRN Partners with Prague Media Point Conference

BIRN Serbia is a partner in this year’s Prague Media Point conference, an international journalism conference for media professionals, journalists, academics, policy-makers and activists which will be held in the Czech capital from December 5-7.

At the event, BIRN will present its Reporting Democracy programme, as part of a session entitled ‘Leading and impactful investigative journalism in the V4 and Western Balkan countries’.

The principal objective of the Visegrad Fund-supported project is to showcase examples of investigative journalism projects that have overcome challenges posed by globalisation, digitalisation and populism, resulting in shrinking revenue streams and low audience trust.

The goals of the project are to level the playing field for media experts and investigative journalists from the V4 region and the Western Balkans with those in the rest of Europe and around the world in terms of access to relevant information, skill-building and networking.

The project is a collaboration between KEYNOTE (Czechia), Transitions (Czechia), ResPublica (Poland), Denník N/N Press (Slovakia), School of Communications and Media (Slovakia), BIRN Serbia, and the Albanian Media Institute (Albania).