One of them was Ana Petrusheva, BIRN Macedonia’s director. Prior to founding BIRN, Ana worked as a journalist for various outlets. During the conflict in 2001, she worked for Reuters and started writing for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). In 2003, she became country director for IWPR.
BIRN was founded two years later, and Ana was a managing editor of Balkan Insight between 2006 and 2016. She explains what it was like founding the network in 2005 with female colleagues in the traditional patriarchal region of the Western Balkans.
“In those days we were a small group, of mainly women, and we were all very close, had already worked together, we were loving it and we were convinced that we had a winning formula: that we could marry local knowledge and international standards and produce groundbreaking journalism that would be valuable to both local and international audiences. In doing so, we’d fill a substantial gap between what local media was reporting and how international media would often parachute in and out of our countries and produce reporting that would not necessarily paint the whole story or would lack certain context.
“Although the media market in the Balkans is traditionally oversaturated, it was always contaminated – now probably more than ever – with media serving various political or business interests rather than the public interest. In turn, that has made our role even more important,” says Ana.
There were several obstacles that the founders had to confront in working as an independent regional media organisation.
“Funding was one. We were new, we had great ideas, lots of ambition, but we had to start from scratch. Fortunately, the Swiss were among the first to recognise our potential and they supported the making of our 2005 documentary about Kosovo, ‘Does anyone have a plan?’, which involved dozens of interviews with politicians and ordinary people from the Balkans, as well as various top international officials. I believe it was that film, directed by Lode Desmet, along with the launch of Balkan Insight, that paved the way for the organisation it is today”, says Ana.
Besides working as a country director, she is also a member of the BIRN Board.
“The Board, over the years, has had a very important role in different aspects, from the general direction of the organisation’s development, to fundraising and programmes. My role, specifically, is to represent the Network members, given that the other members of the Board are not from BIRN. The board has played an important role in navigating the organisation, particularly at difficult times when the organisation has been under attack from various actors,” she adds.
As the director of BIRN Macedonia, Petrusheva has many tasks, among others: running the editorial, organising training sessions involving journalists throughout the country, and securing the organisation’s funding. Of course, she prefers some parts of her job.
“My passion and the part of my job I enjoy the most is and always has been the editorial part of it. I have been incredibly lucky to work with some of the finest reporters and editors in the country, who are eager to dive deep into complex stories, no matter how much time and work it takes. At the same time, equally important, we share the same ethical and professional standards to ensure the findings in our investigations are bulletproof. I am immensely proud of our stories and the Prizma publication that is recognised not only for its exceptional investigations but also for excellent writing and original storytelling,” Ana explains.
Speaking about BIRN Macedonia, Ana says it has been a pioneer in the region in developing massive, complex interactive databases on different topics.
“From the award-winning database uncovering the cost of the Skopje 2014 revamp, to a database documenting almost 10 years of foreign investments, which was shortlisted for the global Data Journalism Awards in 2017, to other databases detailing the spending in 80 municipalities over 4 years, exploring agricultural subsidies and media ownership in the country, to the latest published this year documenting all the properties and land owned by the biggest religious communities,” says Petrusheva.
Apart from that, she also enjoys the training sessions BIRN Macedonia organises, mainly for young journalists.
“It is so invigorating, the enthusiasm, curiosity, and dedication of young people. It is also a good reminder that despite all the changes and looming dangers for the profession, be it from social media or AI, there are driven young people who recognise journalism as a calling, rather than just a job,” adds Ana.
And, in her opinion, those are the two most important pillars of BIRN’s work – reporting and training.
“Our publications, Balkan Insight – the flagship publication in English – but equally important Prizma in Macedonian, Detektor in Bosnian, BIRN’s publication in Serbia, Kallxo and Reporter in Kosovo and Albania, along with TV production in different countries, the stories that reach audiences through these outlets, that is what BIRN is about,” she says.
“At the same time, hundreds of journalists who have gone through long-running regional programmes such as the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence and the Summer School of Investigative Reporting are now leading writers and editors in various media across the Balkans,” adds Ana.
With all these BIRN activities in mind, journalism as a whole faces a tough future.
“Given the current global challenges and dangers for journalism, I believe we are entering a phase that will bring a whole new set of difficulties and obstacles for our work. The blurred lines between ‘content’ and journalism, the constant political attacks on professional media, the hike of SLAPP suits, the rise of AI and the decline of professional standards, the rise in journalists being killed, all point to rough seas for the profession, especially in regions with autocrats at the helm”, explains Ana.
For Ana, BIRN means freedom and privilege.
“Freedom to do great journalism, to uncover and expose wrongdoing and systemic flaws, to put difficult and complex issues under the spotlight without anyone hanging over your head, without any agendas. Privilege to work with an amazing team that shares the passion and dedication to make a difference, against all odds.”
But would she do anything differently if she could in her professional path over the past 20 years?
“Not necessarily. I am not a ‘what if’ type of person, as I believe that retrospect leads only to regret. If a certain decision seemed the right call at the time it was made, it was probably right. And when it wasn’t, it was a lesson that has further shaped my personal growth,” says Ana.
She has a clear image of BIRN in the next 20 years.
“Hopefully, it will continue to be a beacon of professional journalism, and its position would be further fortified against the tide of scandalous, false, superficial, malicious information stemming from all sorts of ‘content’ creators. At the same time, I hope it will continue to be an oasis for young reporters who receive BIRN training, regardless of whether on the job within BIRN or through its training programmes.”
