Category: News and Events

The Second Phase of the “Kosovo Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence” Programme Launched Today

Following a success during the first phase of the program, BIRN Kosovo in cooperation with AJK, as part of the project funded by the EU, has opened the call for applications for the second phase of the “Kosovo Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence” program for the year 2019.

The programme will begin in June and is based on the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, which has been running since 2007.

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN Kosovo and Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK invite all interested journalists to apply to the 6 months fellowship, provided by the European Union in Kosovo.

10 ambitious and daring journalists will be selected by a team of local and regional professionals to become part of this dynamic and enriching experience. Each fellow will be granted a 2,000 euro fellowship bursary for an in-depth research story covering issues such as public spending, local governance, public procurement, environment, energy, healthcare, culture, education, media financing, human rights, inter-ethnic cooperation, etc.

In addition, the selected journalists will receive mentorship by a team of highly-skilled BIRN Kosovo editors, who have extensive experience in producing and editing high quality reporting in Kosovo and the region.

At the end of the programme, fellows are expected to have produced an original research/investigative story with a limit of 1,500 – 3,000 words. The format may vary from written articles, to TV reportages or content presented in a multimedia format. Stories of the selected fellows will be published in Albanian, Serbian and English. BIRN will ensure republication of fellowship articles in other local media in order to increase the outreach of the stories produced.

Are you interested in becoming part of this prestigious program?

Fill in the Application Form and submit your application by midnight on May 31, to [email protected], with the subject “Kosovo Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence” – Phase II”

Any questions regarding this programme or the application can be addressed to [email protected], by May 25that the latest.

The proposals can be submitted in either Albanian, Serbian or English, the three working languages to be used during the fellowship.

Women and members of non-majority communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Lansohet faza e dytë e programit të Bursës së Kosovës për Ekselencë në Gazetari

Pas një suksesi gjatë pjesës së parë të programit, BIRN Kosovo në bashkëpunim me AGK, në bazë të projektit të finanucar nga BE, ka hapur procesin e thirrjes për aplikim për fazën e dytë të Programit “Bursa e Kosovës për Ekselencë në Gazetari” për vitin 2019.

Programi do të fillojë në qershor 2019 dhe është i bazuar sipas Bursës Ballkanike për Ekselencë në Gazetari, që ka filluar qysh në vitin 2007.

Rrjeti Ballkanik i Gazetarisë Hulumtuese – BIRN Kosovo dhe Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Kosovës – AGK ftojnë të gjithë gazetarët e interesuar që të aplikojnë për këtë bursë 6-mujore, të ofruar nga Bashkimi Europian në Kosovë.

10 gazetarë ambiciozë dhe të guximshëm do të zgjidhen nga një ekip profesionistësh lokalë dhe rajonalë për t’u bërë pjesë e kësaj përvoje dinamike dhe të pasur. Secili anëtar do të përfitojë bursë prej 2,000 Euro për një storie të thellë hulumtuese që mbulon çështjet si shpenzimet publike, qeverisja lokale, prokurimi publik, mjedisi, energjia, shëndetësia, kultura, arsimi, financimi i mediave, të drejtat e njeriut, bashkëpunimi ndëretnik etj.

Përveç kësaj, gazetarët e përzgjedhur do të përfitojnë mentorim nga një ekip redaktorësh të kualifikuar të BIRN Kosova, të cilët kanë përvojë të gjerë në prodhimin dhe redaktimin e raportimit të cilësisë së lartë në Kosovë dhe në rajon.

Në fund të programit, bursistët pritet të kenë prodhuar një storie origjinale hulumtuese/kërkimore me një limit prej 1,500 – 3,000 fjalësh. Formati mund të ndryshojë, nga storie të shkruara, në reportazhe televizive ose përmbajtje të paraqitura në format multimedial. Storiet e bursistëve të përzgjedhur do të publikohen në shqip, anglisht dhe serbisht. BIRN do të sigurojë ripublikimin e storieve të bursistëve në mediat e tjera lokale në mënyrë që të rrisë shtrirjen e storieve të prodhuara.

A jeni të interesuar të jeni pjesë e këtij programi prestigjioz?

Plotësoni formularin e aplikimit dhe dorëzoni aplikacionin tuaj deri në mesnatë më 31 maj 2019, tek [email protected] me temën: “Bursa e Kosovës për Ekselencë në Gazetari – Faza II”.

Çdo pyetje në lidhje me këtë program ose aplikacion mund të drejtohet tek [email protected], jo më vonë se deri më 25 maj 2019.

Propozimet mund të dorëzohen në shqip, anglisht ose serbisht, që janë tri gjuhët e punës të cilat do të përdoren gjatë kohëzgjatjes së programit.

Gratë dhe pjesëtarët e komuniteteve pakicë inkurajohen fuqishëm që të aplikojnë.

Danas je lansirana druga faza programa Stipendija za novinarsku izuzetnost Na Kosovu

Nakon uspeha u prvoj fazi programa, BIRN Kosovo je u saradnji sa AGK, u okviru projekta koji finansira EU, otvorio poziv za podnošenje prijava za drugu fazu programa „Stipendija za novinarsku izuzetnost na Kosovu“ za 2019.

Program počinje u junu 2019. i zasnovan je na modelu Stipendije za novinarsku izuzetnost na Balkanu.

Balkanska Istraživačka Regionalna Mreža – BIRN Kosovo i Udruženje Novinara Kosova (AGK), pozivaju sve zainteresovane novinare da se prijave za šestomesečnu stipendiju, koju obezbeđuje Evropska unija na Kosovu.

10 ambicioznih i smelih novinara će izabrati tim lokalnih i regionalnih profesionalaca kako bi postali deo ovog dinamičnog i obogaćujućeg iskustva. Svaki stipendista će dobiti stipendiju od 2.000 evra za detaljnu istraživačku priču koja pokriva pitanja kao što su javna potrošnja, lokalna uprava, javne nabavke, životna sredina, energetika, zdravstvena zaštita, kultura, obrazovanje, finansiranje medija, ljudska prava, međuetnička saradnja, itd.

Osim toga, odabrani novinari će dobiti mentorstvo tima visokokvalifikovanih urednika BIRN Kosovo, koji imaju veliko iskustvo u produkciji i uređivanju visokokvalitetnog izveštavanja na Kosovu i u regionu.

Na kraju programa, očekuje se da stipendisti izrade originalnu ispitivačku/istraživačku priču, limitiranu na 1,500 do 3,000 reči. Format se može razlikovati: od pisanih članaka do TV reportaža ili sadržaja u multimedijalnom formatu. Priče izabranih stipendista biće objavljene na albanskom, engleskom i srpskom jeziku. BIRN će obezbediti ponovno objavljivanje članaka stipendista u drugim lokalnim medijima kako bi se povećalo pokriće izrađenih priča.

Da li ste zainteresovani da postanete deo ovog prestižnog programa?

Popunite obrazac prijave i pošaljite vašu prijavu do ponoći  31. maja 2019. na [email protected], pod naslovom “Stipendija za novinarsku izuzetnost na Kosovu – Faza II”

Sva pitanja u vezi ovog programa ili prijave mogu se poslati na [email protected], najkasnije do 25. maja 2019.

Predlozi mogu biti podneti na albanskom, srpskom ili engleskom jeziku – jezicima koji će biti korišćeni tokom stipendije.

Žene i pripadnici manjinskih zajednica se snažno ohrabruju da se prijave.

BIRN Serbia Wins Investigative Reporting Award

BIRN Serbia journalist Jelena Veljkovic was awarded a prize at a ceremony on Tuesday for the best investigative journalism story in Serbian online media.

The award was given by the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, IJAS, and the US embassy in Belgrade.

Veljkovic was awarded for a series of research articles (1), (2),(3), (4), (5) about illegal construction work on Mount Golija.

The reports named Zarko Veselinovic – brother of a controversial businessman from northern Kosovo, Zvonko Veselinovic – as the man behind the construction project.

This is the sixth time BIRN Serbia has scooped the award for best investigation, and this year BIRN was also shortlisted for another story.

BIRN Serbia journalist Ana Curic was among the finalists for a series of articles on the illegal engagement of Serbian Progressive Party officials at the Medical School in Cuprija.

In the online media category, the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network and the Juzne vesti website were also on the shortlist.

Serbian Nationalists Target BIRN Staffer for Defending Baker

After BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic live tweeted from a nationalist demonstration in Belgrade against an ethnic Albanian baker, the hate-speech mongers turned their attention to her.

Serbian right-wingers have begun a concerted campaign against BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic since she defended the rights of an ethnic Albanian baker in her hometown of Borca – himself the subject of nationalist attacks – sharing hate speech, insults and threats to her on social media and attempting to hack her account on Twitter.

“I have received lots of threats on my social networks and, sadly, I do not feel comfortable or safe enough in the place where I was born and where I currently live,” Todorovic told BIRN.

“But for me the option was not remain silent while all aspects of a life of an innocent man are threatened with this shameful and dangerous campaign,” Todorovic added – explaining her public advocacy of an Albanian baker who has been subject to nationalist intimidation in Borca.

Todorovic has a long history of work in human rights activism. Before joining BIRN, she worked with the Youth Initiative for Human Rights.

Following everything that has happened to her lately, she has said she will file an official complaint with the Serbian police.

Serbian ultra-nationalists recently started to target the Albanian baker in the Belgrade suburb of Borca, which is also Todorovic’s hometown.

Mon Gjuraj became a target of nationalist fury after right wingers on Facebook re-posted a two-year-old picture of his cousin posing with a hand gesture in the shape of a double-headed eagle – the national symbol of Albanians.

On April 27, nationalists gathered in front of the bakery, shouted nationalistic slogans, played Serbian patriotic songs, put stickers reading “Kosovo is Serbia” on the windows, and threw pig’s heads at the bakery – a reference to his being a Muslim. A similar event was organized again on May 4.

During the April 27 event, Todorovic was live tweeting and posting videos of the incidents.

Since then, she has received online threats. Right-wingers have made videos about her, calling her insulting names, mentioning her family and re-posting old pictures that are no longer public.

Her Twitter account has been placed under “temporarily restriction” since April 28 and she cannot access it.

Andrej Petrovski, from the Serbian SHARE Foundation, an NGO dedicated to protecting people’s digital rights, told BIRN that Todorovic’s account had been subjected to attack.

“Someone tried to hack her and her account was then temporarily blocked. Then she unlocked it with a new login. The attacker eventually managed to access her account, but Twitter locked the account again because it recognized unusual activity,” Petrovski explained.

He added that, when Twitter asked for verification by the number of her phone, the hacker used Todorovic’s old number, because of which the account has stayed locked.

“We are trying to communicate with Twitter on this case so it can provide her with the possibility to add her current phone number,” Petrovski said.

BIRN has also sent questions to Twitter about this matter but received no answer by the time of publication.

BIRN Kosovo Publishes Monitoring of Municipal Expenses

BIRN Kosovo has published findings from its municipal expenses monitoring project entitled ‘How Much Does the Boss Eat?’

The project, supported by Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, KFOS, was presented at a roundtable discussion on April 26, where the expenses incurred by municipal employees for official meetings, lunches, and dinners were reviewed on a national level.

In 2012, BIRN Kosovo filed legal proceedings against the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo because it failed to disclose the receipts of expenses of the prime minister and his officials. After a lengthy judicial process, Pristina Basic Court ruled that every expense paid out of public funds must be transparent and open to the public.

As a result, BIRN decided to extend the monitoring of the expenses of governmental officials to the local level, based on the ruling laid down in the Pristina Basic Court case. Since December 2018, BIRN has sent legal requests to all 38 municipalities in Kosovo, requesting the disclosure of their expenses for lunches, dinners, and events for the period of December 2017 to August 2018.

As of January 2019, BIRN Kosovo has published 78 reports at BIRN’s KALLXO.com site. Kreshnik Gashi, the managing editor of the site, presented the findings.

“Besides testing transparency, the project aimed to analyse the true nature of publicly-funded expenses,” said Gashi.

Out of 38 municipalities, 24 provided receipts for the requested period, which resulted in the processing and analysis of over 1,200 receipts.

The findings presented at the roundtable discussion, which was attended by financial officers from many municipalities in Kosovo, as well as civil society representatives, showed that municipalities have accepted expenses claims for which the receipts gave no information on the nature of the expenses being claimed.

Furthermore, the findings show that a considerable amount of expenses were made for alcohol, as well as other items like cigarettes and chewing gum.

Rozafa Ukimeraj, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA), presented the outcomes and challenges regarding municipal budget processes, as well as the financial sustainability aspects of municipalities and the steps taken by the MLGA to improve the policy and legislation framework in order to increase transparency and accountability in the management of public funds.

The General Auditor, Besnik Osmani, presented findings about financial checks on municipalities and about the management of and accountability in the process of the spending of public money.

Among a number of recommendations, BIRN suggested to MLGA that within the performance evaluation of municipalities in Kosovo, a transparency mechanism should be included regarding the expenses of municipal officials for lunches, dinners and other general expenses.

BIRN Albania Issues Local Government Transparency Monitoring Report

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania on April 25 published a national report entitled ‘Local Government Under the Lens of Freedom of Information: A Comparative Monitoring of Transparency Indicators Online and On the Ground’, covering all 61 municipalities in the country from 2017 to 2019.

The report contains assessments of the transparency of the 61 local government units in Albania, based on 55 indicators, evaluated in both 2017 and 2019, tracing the progress made by local municipalities in the implementation of freedom of information and public consultation laws.

According to the monitoring data, the indicators were reached by 41 per cent of local municipalities in 2019, with the majority of the municipalities failing to reach half of the monitored target indicators. Compared with 2017, the average level of transparency of local municipalities dropped by five percentage points.

The monitoring of municipalities for the report was carried out in February 2019 by a network of local journalists across Albania. The publication of the report was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

For a copy of the report in Albanian click here.

For a copy of the report in English click here.

BIRN Albania Publishes Report on Local Mayors’ Assets

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania has published a report entitled ‘Analysis of the System of Asset Declarations of Mayors in Albania’, which evaluates the wealth of the heads of local government units in the country as well as the integrity of the asset declaration system.

The asset declarations of serving mayors were analysed with the help of three financial experts, who recorded and categorised in a database all the data declared by heads of municipalities in their annual asset disclosures.

The experts analysed the information using a plausibility check, a method of scrutiny used by Albania’s High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflicts of Interest, HIDAACI, to investigate the wealth of public officials.

The goal of the report is to identify key trends contributing to the enrichment of the 61 heads of local municipalities in Albania.

The study sheds light not only on how mayors in Albania have accumulated wealth but also on key practices which obscure the origins of their money.

These include dividends from businesses, debts owed by family members, real estate transactions and cash kept outside the banking system.

To download a copy of the report in Albanian, click here.

BIRN: Stop Targeting Slobodan Georgiev

BIRN calls on all relevant institutions, especially the Serbian Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor’s Office, to react urgently to the latest attacks on our editor Slobodan Georgiev.

A day after BIRN published photographs pointing to a connection between Andrej Vucic, the brother of the Serbian President, and Zvonko Veselinovic, a notorious businessman from Kosovo, a campaign started on social networks, attacking and threatening both Georgiev and the investigative portals BIRN, CINS and KRIK.

A video recording, available on Twitter from last night, describes Georgiev as a “foreign mercenary”, a “traitor” and as an associate of Albanian and Kosovo politicians.

The footage uses cover pages of the pro-government tabloid Informer, which refer to the “lucrative jobs” BIRN has done for foreign donors. Such slurs have been disproven in court. The same clip also targets CINS and KRIK media outlets.

The background tone of the recording is the alarm siren used during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.

The release of the video has attracted numerous comments that contained insults and threats, some of which have been removed in the meantime.

As has happened before, instead of the dealing with the results and evidence presented by investigative media centres, raising awareness about threats to the rule of law, the fight against the corruption and the work of institutions, attention is being directed to editors and journalists who then become targets of attacks.

This spread of lies and misinformation is creating additional pressure on all journalists who want to work independently and professionally and critically report on the activities of the authorities. It is making them targets.

BIRN would remind the public and the relevant institutions that its editorial team has been almost constantly targeted by pro-regime media and ruling party bots on social networks since 2014.

We point out also that the attacks on Georgiev and BIRN have been reported to the authorities many times – without any concrete action being taken.

BIRN Kosovo Reports on Public Institutions’ Recruitment Process Problems

BIRN Kosovo has published a monitoring report entitled ‘Carving up the Pie’, produced as a part of the Monitoring of Recruitment Processes of Senior Managing Positions project that BIRN is implementing in cooperation with the British Embassy in Kosovo.

The report finds that Kosovo institutions have failed in implementing an agreement signed with the British Embassy by appointing people to senior positions who did not meet criteria set by an assessment by British experts.

Last year, Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and parliament speaker Kadri Veseli signed a number of memoranda of cooperation with the British Embassy in Pristina on the provision of assistance to institutions in recruitments for senior management positions.

The purpose was to support joint efforts to ensure independence, meritocracy and professionalism in the process of recruitment for senior management positions in the civil service and on the boards of public enterprises.

BIRN Kosovo’s monitoring report contains details of specific vacancies, indicating violations and interference that took place to appoint people who did not meet the criteria.

In some cases, BIRN was not allowed to monitor important vacancies for positions in Kosovo institutions. The government did not allow BIRN to monitor vacancies for positions on the boards of 14 public enterprises.

Report in English
Report in Albanian
Report in Serbian

Resonant Voices Workshop Held in Berlin

Selected Resonant Voices Fellows attended a workshop in Berlin on March 25-29, 2019, marking the official start of this year’s Fellowship program. The fellows will produce compelling content that pushes back against a polarising, inflammatory, and radicalising discourse.

In Berlin, the fellows received comprehensive training in reporting, writing and structuring skills and worked with BIRN editors on developing their story ideas. The workshop lasted four days and, besides work with editors, included visits to a number of organisations and meetings with relevant stakeholders in the area of migration, integration and radicalisation. The fellows were introduced to the work of local organisations such as Disruption Network Lab and Mediendienst Integration, which deal with issues relevant to the their reporting projects.

Going forward, the fellows will be mentored by designated editors and visual communications mentors in order to benefit from their practical experience and produce stories of the highest quality.

Click on the links below for videos where you can find out more about the in-depth stories the RVI fellows are working on:

Learn more about the Resonant Voices Initiative and follow the work of the RVI Fellows.

Herceg Novi to Host BIRN’s Investigative Journalism School

Herceg Novi and its stunning coastline will be the setting for the BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting in 2019.

The school brings together some of the world’s best journalists and trainers for six-days in the Bay of Kotor, known as the southern-most fjord in Europe.

Between August 18 and 25, reporters will have the opportunities to learn cutting-edge investigation skills while enjoying the delights of Adriatic Sea.

Successful applicants will be provided with excellent possibilities for networking – and the possibility of getting a grant for a story idea.

The lead trainer on the course in Montenegro is one of the best investigative editors in the US, Reuters’ Blake Morrison, a three-times finalist for the Pulitzer investigative award.

As part of the school, you will learn how to dig for data, convince difficult sources to talk, transform your research into sparking prose and harness the power of videos.

Who the Summer School is for:

The training course is suitable for both investigative journalists with a few years’ experience as well as those who are more skilled.

We encourage application from experienced journalists that want to learn new trends and work with a new generation of reporters, as well as editors interested in encouraging investigative reporting in their media outlets.

Investigative Story Fund:

The 30 reporters selected to take part, of which 20 will hail from the Balkans, will work together in groups throughout the week to develop an idea for a hard-hitting investigation, which will be presented to a panel of judges on the final day.

The three best story ideas will be awarded with funds and editorial support. 

Montenegrin coast:

Known as the southern-most fjord in Europe, the Bay of Kotor boasts a landscape that you won’t easily forget. The Iberostar Herceg Novi hotel is at the entrance to the bay, surrounded by forested mountains and a crystal blue sea, to which you have direct access.

On the opposite side of the bay you can admire Herceg Novi, the city that gives its name to the hotel and that has a history dating back over six centuries.

In a secluded location away from the hustle and bustle but well connected with the airports of Dubrovnik (26km) and Tivat (30km), the hotel is just a few kilometres from the popular tourist spots such as Kotor, Perast and Herceg Novi.

Participants will have the chance to enjoy the idyllic surroundings while honing their investigative journalism skills.

Apply here!