Category: News and Events

Civil Activists Seek Expanded Role in Balkans’ Future

Civil sector groups from six Western Balkans countres urged their political leaders to secure freedom of expression and media independence, also calling for more of a role in their countries’ EU integration processes.

As leaders from the Western Balkans and the EU gathered in Vienna for the second leg of the Berlin Process, about 200 civil society activists and members of think tanks and the media discussed their proposals and concerns for the region.

In joint recommendations presented by BIRN’s Macedonia Country Director and Balkan Insight’s managing editor, Ana Petruseva, on Thursday, activicts urged the Western Balkan states to continue their modernization process both in their own states and in the wider region.

The recomentations were presented to the Western Balkans leaders and EU officials and tackled three main topics – regional cooperation, freedom of expression and creating jobs and prosperity.

Civil society representatives voiced their concerns and put forward concrete demands, saying that greater civil society involvement could help push forward  EU integration and reforms.

“Governments of Western Balkans should accept the civil society sector as an equal partner in the EU integration process and commit to funding civil society initiatives and networks that delivered tangible results,” the recomendations read. 

Civil society actors say they can contribute toward policies and strategies for enhancing regional cooperation in the area of social development and help improve the institutional and legal environment for civil society regionally.

The recommendations said that improving mutual understanding, exploring and discussing difficult episodes in their common history remain important aspects of regional cooperation in which civil society can and should play an active role.

The recomendations emphasize the role and potential of civil society for EU integration,  regional cooperation and energy or infrastructure projects. 

The recomendations also urge Balkan leaders to secure freedom of expression, the independence of the media and greater legal protection and working conditions for journalists.  

“The  legal protection of journalists needs to be increased as well as their working conditions, improved through the social dialogue with employers, which would overall diminish their precariousness in working relations. Media owners should adhere to existing laws in regard to employment and working conditions”, the documents reads, adding that public broadcasters must be independent and regulatory bodies need to become free from direct or indirect government influence.  

In the third discussed area – job creation and the labour market, civil activists urged the region’s governments to focus on re-starting production, modernising and supporting the agricultural sector and improve consumer protection.

The Civil Society Forum of the Western Balkans Summit Vienna 2015 is a joint initiative of ERSTE Foundation, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and Karl Renner Institute, in close cooperation with the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.

Sixth BIRN Summer School opens in Albania

BIRN’s summer school for investigative reporting opened in Durres, Albania, with a plea to journalists to channel their curiosity.

Blake Morrison, investigative projects editor at Reuters in New York and the school’s lead trainer, kicked off a packed programme urging journalists to “use our skills of observation, be curious”. 

Morrison detailed how journalist can pinpoint sources and find key information during their investigations.

“People(Sources) will believe you if you really try to understand what the problem is,” he added.

Morrison also explained the importance of careful planning in complex stories.

BIRN journalist and investigations’ editor Lawrence Marzouk presented the school’s investigative fund, which provides grants to promising story ideas.

He said that participants will be split into groups and develop investigative proposals to present to a panel of judges on the final day. Two or three stories will receive funding from a pot of around 6,000 euro so that participants can carry out their investigation.

“I will help you to develop the story,” Lawrence added.

Mar Cabra, who heads ICIJ’s Data & Research Unit, outlined how journalists can find data and the importance of data journalism. She revealed how she had used official statistics to expose the worrying use of psychotropic drugs among children in the US.

“I decided to check how many drugs children in foster care in the state of Texas are prescribed and their use of psychotropic drugs,” Cabra said.

She presented a selection of groundbreaking data stories and emphasized that we need to think about data in every story, because “data is everywhere”.

“Try to do data as much as possible, and not only for clicks, use it for investigation,” she said.

In the afternoon, Philipp Grüll’s documentary “Tito’s Murder Squads – The Killing of Yugoslav Exiles in Germany” was screened.

The first day’s working sessions concluded with a discussion about the use of confidential files with Philipp Grüll, Anuska Delic, investigative and data journalist from Slovenian daily newspaper Delo, Besar Likmeta, BIRN Albanian editor, and Marija Ristic, Balkan Transitional Justice assistant editor.

The sixth BIRN Summer School brings together young journalists from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Austria, Kosovo, Palestine, Germany and Georgia to learn from leading media experts how to use social media to uncover crimes, skills for cracking open offshore companies and how to make reluctant sources talk.

The Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2015 is organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung  and with support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Open Society Foundations and USAID Macedonia.

BIRN Macedonia Launches “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” Database

On the anniversary of the devastating Skopje earthquake in 1963, BIRN Macedonia published an online interactive database “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” documenting the new classical look of Skopje in the past five years.

When the grand revamp of the Macedonian capital was first announced back in 2010, the project, known as “Skopje 2014”, envisaged the construction of some 40 monuments, sculptures, facades and new buildings.

Fast forward to 2015 and the number of buildings and monuments has tripled.
The price tag of Skopje’s new look has meanwhile also shot up, far surpassing the initially announced figure of €80 million, to around €560 million, a BIRN investigation shows.

The eight-month  investigation draws on data procured through the Access to Public Information Act, the official web page of the Public Procurement Bureau, the “Skopje 2014” audit and a joint report by the government, the Skopje municipality of Centar and the Ministry of Culture, presented after the 2013 local elections.

The “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” database documents and maps works built or under construction  with the official contracts, authors’ fees, annexes and statistics on most contracted builders, sculptors, architects and foundries that participated in the project. As of July 26, this data is available to the public in Macedonian language. An English version will be available soon. An official launch and promotion event will be held in September.

The online database is available at: http://skopje2014.prizma.birn.eu.com/

More details on the investigation and the results are available here.

BIRN Albania Journalists Win EU Investigative Award

Three BIRN Albania journalists were among the top four winners of a prestigious EU award.

Two BIRN Albania Journalists, Aleksandra Bogdani and Flamur Vezaj, won first prize in the EU Investigative Journalism Award 2014 for Albania contest, for their series of three articles on the recruitment of Albanians to fight for radical Islamists in Syria.

The articles were published in reporter.al news portal and were republished in other newspapers and newsportals.

Second prize went to Juli Ristani, from the investigative program “Fiks Fare”, on Top Channel TV, for her story on the judicial treatment of drug users and smugglers.

Third place went to Besar Likmeta, also from BIRN Albania, for his investigation into the use of public funds by the previous government to denigrate the leader of the opposition.

The article was published in Balkaninsight.com and republished in other media.

Lutfi Dervishi, chair of the jury, said that many of the applications were of high quality and the jury had been faced with a difficult task. Noting that many of the winning journalists were young, he called it a good sign for the future of investigative journalism in Albania.

The awards ceremony was held on July 16th at the Tirana Times Bookshop. A total of 19 investigative stories were nominated for this year’s EU Award in Albania. The jury consisted of five media professionals and civil society representatives: Lutfi Dervishi, a media expert, Iris Luarasi, professor of journalism, Arben Muka, Deutsche Welle correspondent, Aleksander Cipa, head of Union of Albanian Journalists, and Zef Preci, director of the Center for Economic Research.

“Investigative journalism in particular can play an incredible role in exposing wrongdoing, inspire reform, and ultimately change people’s lives,” the EU Head of Delegation, Romana Vlahutin, said.

“I firmly believe that these awards we are announcing today will further contribute to the strengthening of media standards and ultimately become a benchmark for media quality in Albania,” he added.

A Unique Voice and an Inspiration

Let me congratulate you on your 10th anniversary and wish you all the best for your next decade and hopefully more years of contributing to investigative journalism and media freedom in the Balkans. 

You were a baby that grew very fast and became a strong, independent and self-confident woman, holding up a mirror to those in power in and around the Balkans – producing stories based on facts and thorough investigations. Well done!

I had been following and reading you from your first days, when I was working as a Western Balkans correspondent for German-speaking newspapers in Sarajevo from 2005 to 2010. You were always a source of inspiration and of course of reliable information. Thank you for that. Later, when I joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland in 2010 and started working in different countries of the region supporting civilian peace-building efforts, I met you again.

You were present everywhere in the region; the cooperation of your correspondents and editors had intensified even more than it had already been the case before. I was impressed by your performance, not only as a reader and consumer, which I already used to be for years, but now also as a partner and representative of one of BIRN’s donor countries, Switzerland. This immediately put me in a dilemma. In Berne, capital of Switzerland, my colleagues at the Ministry were often confused because they thought that I was speaking about them when mentioning BIRN. Berne and BIRN sound the same in English! That created funny confusion so many times.

So, dear BIRN, you have become and will remain the Balkans BIRN for me – also in terms of pronunciation – although your stories are also published in English and therefore reach many people outside the Balkans as well. This is good and much wanted. Both audiences need BIRN: those who read, listen to and watch your stories in one of the Balkan languages but also those all over the world who want to be informed about what is going on in and around the Balkans.

One more thing is great with you among many others, a thing that makes you unique. You were founded and have been led by female directors over all these years. This is unique not only in the Balkans but probably worldwide. In addition to that, so many women, side by side with equally talented male colleagues, contribute as professionals to your success every day. Congratulations!

Dear BIRN, I commend and thank you for being what you are: an invaluable contribution to a better-informed society in the Balkans and a better-informed world about the Balkans. This helps connecting people and ideas! Your independent voice is needed more than ever. Happy birthday, BIRN!

The Author is currently working for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland in Kyiv, Ukraine

BIRN Conference Sparks Widespread Media Interest

Several Bosnian TV stations, including the region’s CNN affiliate N1 and over 30 online media outlets, reported on BIRN’s conference on media freedom challenges in the Balkans held last week.

The BIRN network directors were featured on ‘Reflex’, a talk show hosted by Mimo Sahinpasic on TV OBN in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They discussed the various issues media professionals are faced with in the region today.

Commenting on the situation in Macedonia, BIRN’s director Ana Petruseva highlighted the power the government has over media in the country. “The prime minister’s cabinet decides on everything, from topics to be covered to potential interviewees,” Petruseva said.

BIRN regional network director Gordana Igric told FACE TV meanwhile that the media and civil society in the Balkans should not wait for Brussels’ help but act to ensure their own freedom and avoid becoming victims of political games.

Mirna Buljugic, BIRN BiH’s acting director, gave an interview for N1 in which she raised concerns about the deteriorating situation in the media sector, increasing political pressures as well as physical attacks on journalists in the country.

The cost of ethical and professional media is always high as room for critical opinion is constantly shrinking, concluded Jeta Xharra and Dragana Zivkovic Obradovic, BIRN directors from Kosovo and Serbia for Hayat TV.

In addition, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn’s video message to the conference about the disturbing media situation in the Balkans was featured on Radio Free Europe, Banja Luka-based portal Buka, klix.ba, news agencies Tanjug and Fena as well as kurir.rs, vesti.rs, beta.informer.rs, bljeask.info, dnevnik.ba and video news site source.ba.

BIRN Serbia, NALED, Run Budget Process Workshops

Nine towns and municipalities in Serbia – Sombor, Subotica, Pirot, Knjazevac, Sremska Mitrovica, Pancevo, Ruma, Zrenjanin and Trstenik – took part in workshops on the topic of involving citizens in the budget process with representatives of BIRN Serbia and NALED in the framework of the project “Participatory Budgeting”.

The workshops were attended by 200 representatives of NGOs, media and the business sector, as well as representatives of town or municipal governments.

Introducing the practice of public participation in the decision-making process on local budgets, the project aims to strengthen the role of the media, civil society, businesses and citizens in the democratic process at the local level and so strength ther credibility of the decisions made by the public administration.

The project’s special value lies in the direct involvement of citizens and representatives of the media and civil society in the process of budget adoption and enabling them to continue to monitor the implementation of planned priority actions.

Workshops were held on 16 – 26 June and project activities will continue in August.

Online Media Association Formed

A new online association, OMA, brings together 18 internet portals from all parts of Serbia, committed to the affirmation of the free, independent and professional work of online media and highest journalistic standards, the statement by OMA said.

OMA will work to develop and promote ethical standards of reporting on the internet as well as strengthening the role of online media in the democratization of society.

The first elected president of the board of the association, Predrag Blagojevic, is editor in chief of Juzne vesti. The new vice president is Tanja Maksić, from the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN Serbia.

The first activities of AOM will aim to improve ethical standards on the Internet, with a focus on copyright protection, helping people to understand the new legal regime that applies to online media and connect with relevant regional and international actors.

Founders of OMA include the websites 021.rs, Autonomija.info, Cenzolovka, CINS, IST Media, Istinomer, JugMedia, JUGpress, Juzne vesti, cricket, Media and Reform Center Nis, mingle, My Sad, Njuz.net, SOinfo, ŠumadijaPress and Titulli.com.

BIRN Marks its Tenth Birthday in Bosnia

The BIRN network celebrated its 10th anniversary from June 12th to 14th with a regional media conference in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, followed by series of team building events, meetings and workshops on Mt Vlasic, some two hours’ drive away.

More than a hundred employees of the organisation from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia participated in two days of events at a hotel on Mt Vlasic.

Programme managers, project coordinators and administrative staff discussed rules, guidelines and a new information management strategy in two sessions led by Dusica Cook, BIRN Regional Operations Manager.

Jeta Xharra, BIRN’s Kosovo Director, used the opportunity to brief the management on the monitoring of elections, courts, procurement, the Kosovo-Serbia agreement, and municipalities.

BIRN journalists attended training sessions on journalistic standards led by Andrew Gray, Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence Editor, and on investigative journalism, led by Lawrence Marzouk, BIRN editor.

Valon Canhasi, BIRN Kosovo’s Social Media Editor, guided journalists on the importance of having a presence on social media and on the latest trends in users’ habits.

Balkan Insight and Balkan Transitional Justice staff held editorial and commissioning meetings, while Ana Petruseva, Balkan Insight’s Managing Editor and Milos Milosavljevic, BIRN’s Chief Digital Officer, held a technical training session for journalists.

Finally, BIRN journalists and management had two sessions – one on databases in the Network and their further development and possible integration, and the other focusing on BIRN’s web strategy.

BIRN Assembly members and Gordana Igric, BIRN’s Regional Network Director, convened for their regular annual meeting where they discussed BIRN’s new five-year strategy.

The BIRN team celebrated the fact that the Balkan Investigative Reporting Regional Network was established in July 2005, ten years ago, since when it has grown significantly, winning numerous national and international awards and merits and becoming one of the most trusted media organisations in the Balkan and Southeast Europe region.

The next meeting of the BIRN network, scheduled for 2017, will see a new round of team building activities, workshops and a checkpoint review of the five-year strategy.

BIRN BIH at the International conference “The Research Process, Documentation and Prosecution of Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina”

Erna Mackic, Chief Editor at BIRN BiH, moderated a panel called “Legal, Political and Ethical Dimension of Genocide and Holocaust Denial”, at the International conference “The Research Process, Documentation and Prosecution of Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 11 and 12 2015.

Speakers on the panel were Carmel Agius, Vice President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Patricia Whalen, former International Judge at the Court of BiH, Elijas Tauber, Scientific Associate from the Institute for Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law at the University of Sarajevo, and Jelko Kacin, who was heavily involved in the adoption of the European Parliament Resolution on Srebrenica.

During the debate, Agius emphasized that any attempt to deny the genocide in Srebrenica is a falsification of history, while Tauber explained that genocide is always conducted with one primary aim – to destroy a nation.

Kacin mentioned that BIH society’s approach to what happened in Srebrenica influences the process of EU integration. Whalen noted the European Court for Human Rights’ 2013 decision in Maktouf, in which the Grand Chamber determined that the Court of BiH had applied the incorrect law in two war crimes cases. The Strasbourg judgment resulted in the release of 20 individuals who had been sentenced for war crimes and genocide.

The Conference was organized by the Movement of the Srebrenica Zepa Enclave and the Association of victims and witnesses of genocide. Many researchers, prosecutors, judges, and transitional justice experts from BiH, the region and the Hague participated in the debate. Survivors of war crimes and genocide also shared their opinions and experiences throughout the two day event.

The conference’s main goal was to bring together individuals directly involved in the investigation and prosecution of genocide in BiH. Attendees thereby reported on results thus far and discussed what they have learned about genocide in BiH and the importance of respecting justice.