Apply Now for 2011 Fellowship

Seize your chance to investigate stories about justice at home and abroad with funded research, travel expenses and career development seminars in Berlin and Vienna.

About the fellowship

Application form

Application guidelines

Experienced journalists across the Balkans are invited to apply for the fifth annual Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme.

This year’s topic is justice. Applicants are encouraged to consider the theme in broad terms and submit original story proposals exploring issues surrounding the delivery of and access to justice – in both legal and social contexts.

Click here for more information on the 2011 fellowship topic

Journalists selected – by an independent committee – to take part in the fellowship will receive a €2,000 bursary, up to another €2,000 for travel expenses and will attend career development seminars in Berlin and Vienna.

Completed articles will be published in English and local languages in regional and European online and print media.

In addition, the top three articles, again judged by an independent committee, will attract awards of €4,000, €3,000 and €1,000.

Click here to find out more about how the fellowship works

Remzi Lani, director of the Albanian Media Institute and a member of the programme’s selection committee, described the fellowship as “a success story”.

“The programme offers a unique opportunity for detailed, in-depth reporting in your country and beyond. At the same time, if offers fellows the opportunity to meet colleagues and industry professionals from across Europe.

“Publication of the fellows’ articles in the most important media in the region and internationally is certainly clear proof that this project is a worthy venture – an opportunity that should not be missed,” he said.

The fellowship programme was established in order to develop and support Balkan journalists reporting on complex reform issues that have regional and EU significance.

To encourage regional networking among journalists and support balanced coverage of topics central to the Balkans and the EU, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and ERSTE Foundation established the fellowship in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

Download an application form

Read the application guidelines

Justice: 2011 fellowship topic

The topic for this year’s programme is justice. Applicants are encouraged to consider the theme in broad terms and investigate issues surrounding access to and delivery of justice in both legal and social senses.

Applicants should explore issues surrounding justice in their country – in government, in business, within society, among interest groups, between individuals and within families – and draw parallels to the situation in neighbouring countries and the EU.

As Balkan states adjust to new economic and political realities, are all citizens equal before the law? Are all laws just? What of the impact on social justice issues such as access to education, equal opportunities and employment? Has the road to EU membership provided adequate protection for citizens at home and abroad?

With the establishment of international courts and tribunals, and the existence of myriad extradition agreements, jurisdictions now cross borders. While some may find it more difficult to dodge justice, do all criminals have fewer places to hide? Does the threat of international legal action deter the abuse of human rights by governments?

The transitional economies of the western Balkans have, in the main, developed systems, values and legal frameworks that are broadly in line with those in the EU. However, unequal access to justice, haphazard investigation, weak enforcement and corruption are everyday realities. The task for our 2011 fellows will be to pitch fresh story ideas which shed new light on regional and international justice.

Life in Kosovo debates the lack of heating

Tonight Life in Kosovo discusses the heating problem in Prishtina.

Who is to blame for the lack of heating? Which are the biggest institutional and commercial debtors of Termokos? Why did the municipality of Prishtina, as a shareholder of this company, not ensure that heat would be provided for everyone at the start of the winter season? Why does Termokos remain without a board of directors?

To discuss these and other issues related to the heating problem in the capital, journalist Muhamet Hajrullahu has invited the following people:

Fëllanze Pula, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of Termokos
Bashkim Isufi, from the Ministry of Economy
Muhamet Gashi, Spokesman for the Municipality of Prishtina
Lavdim Hamidi, business reporter for the daily newspaper Zëri

After the debate, Life in Kosovo broadcasts an investigative report of journalist Petrit Çollaku, which shows
how the municipality of Prishtina paid 30 times too much for a fire engine.

Journalist Alban Selimi talks about the case of a patient who has sued the hospital in Peja.

At the end of the show, the Highlight of the Week comes from students of Sami Frashëri high school, who are playing music on Mother Teresa Square to raise money to pay for the the care of their sick friend.

 

 

Life in Kosovo interviews Draskovic and Naim

Tonight Life in Kosovo broadcasts an interview with Serbia’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Draskovic; an interview with the head of Customs, Naim Huruglica, and a TV report on a burns unit.

Vuk Draskovic, the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, speaks to Life in Kosovo about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, as well as his stance on the north of Kosovo and Kosovo Serbs.

The interview with the head of customs raises the issue of EULEX raids on this institution at the end of 2010 connected with claims of fraud involving tobacco imports in 2008.

After the interviews, Life in Kosovo broadcasts a report by BIRN journalist Alban Selimi, who looks at the importance of a centre that offers treatment for patients with burns and the reasons why there is a large number of these cases in Kosovo.

Debate on Albanian Language Media in South Serbia

Public forum entitled The Albanian Language Media: Opportunities for Improved Dialogue with Institutions, was held in hotel Rozafa in Bujanovac on December 23.

The aim of discussion was to initiate a constructive dialogue aimed at creating a favorable environment for the media scene in southern Serbia.

Vukasin Obradovic, President of the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia, NUNS, has cited lack of professional standards, economic mismanagement and unstable political situation as main reasons why the media in southern Serbia are under-developed and on the verge of collapse, as he said.

As key  issues  the media  in southern Serbia are facing, Baki Rexhepi, President of the Media Committee of the National Council of Albanians, has cited the unequal position of broadcasters, the unfinished process of privatization, and lack of human resources.

Goran Karadzic, from the State Broadcasting Agency, RRA, has expressed his hope that media strategy which is supposed to be released soon will resolve the issue as key things the strategy will deal with are privatisation of all media in Serbia and the issue of media in minority languages.

According to him, the most common problems RRA faces in South Serbia is piracy and media content as media broadcast without the proper license or they are incorporating Albanian television programmes into their own programme.

Dragana Solomon, Head of Media Department of the OSCE mission in Serbia, has presented a survey from 2009 which says that over 600 editors and journalists in Serbia appealed to the political and commercial pressures while working.

“The main reason for such situation on the Serbian media scene is too many media and there is not enough financial support for quality and independent media coverage,” Solomon said.

Life in Kosovo debates of elections

Tonight in Life in Kosovo, representatives of political parties, the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the
NGO Democracy in Action will discuss how the election process was organised on December 12.

Questions to be considered include: Who is responsible for the organisation and running of elections? What kinds of responsibility do those staffing Kosovo’s 2280 polling stations have? Why was appropriate equipment not provided?

What kind of legitimacy will the institutions to be created after these elections have? What lessons can be learned? Will Kosovo have fresh elections next year?

In order to discuss these and other issues relating to the December 12 elections, Jeta Xharra will be joined in the studio by:

Jakup Krasniqi, acting President of Kosovo and PDK secretary;
Valdete Daka, Head of the CEC;
Driton Selmanaj, Democracy in Action;
Ismet Beqiri, LDK secretary;
Burim Ramadani, AAK secretary;
Glauk Konjufca, member of Vetevendosje.

In addition, an interview by Jeta Xharra will be broadcast, in which two leaders from the CEC, Valdete Daka and Xhemajl Pecani, claim that the responsibility for the irregularities and violations does not lie with the CEC alone.

During the show, BIRN will also broadcast a report from journalist Edona Musa, in which she shows how the government has spent money set aside for children with disabilities.

BIRN Wins Prizes For Corruption Journalism in Kosovo

BIRN investigative journalists, Alban Selimi, Lawrence Marzouk, and Petrit Collaku, awarded first prizes for anti-corruption in the category of television and print journalism.

In the best journalists’ awards for reporting on combating and preventing corruption in Kosovo, the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosovo and Anti-Corruption Agency, gave first prizes to three BIRN reporters.

Alban Selimi won first prize for television investigative journalism with his investigative report into a lawyer and judge in Klina who forged documents to make an illegal profit of 16,800 euro. “This award has a special significance, since it is the official revelation of corruption as an enemy,” Selimi said.

“This is an appreciation of my work and the work of my BIRN colleagues who remain dedicated to the elimination of corruption and other negative phenomena in Kosovo,” he added.

Lawrence Marzouk and Petrit Collaku won first prize for written investigative journalism, with their investigative report published in Prishtina Insight, a publication of BIRN.

The winning report concerned misuse of government tenders for roads in Kosovo and allegations of corruption in the Kosovo’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.

“This took several months of work into documents and tenders about road building in Kosovo and our findings were really worrying,” Collaku said.
“This ministry was mostly investigated because it had the largest budget, from which lots of friends and relatives of the Minister of Transport, Fatmir Limaj, won tenders that cost several millions,” he added.

“The story has shown that the problem with tenders issued by the government continues to be a very serious one,” he continued.

This is the fourth year that BIRN has won major prizes for investigative journalism in Kosovo.

The winners said they hoped the prizes would encourage journalists to continue reporting cases of corruption, abuse of official positions, misuse of taxpayers’ money and provision of substandard public services for citizens of Kosovo.

BIRN Macedonia Promotes Fellowship Programme

The promotion of this year’s collection of articles, Taboo: Secrecy and Shame in the Balkans, which wraps up the 2010 edition of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, gathered leading Macedonian journalists and editors on December 21 at the Journalists’ club in Skopje.

This year’s articles present the original research of eight journalists selected from Southeast Europe to participate in the 2010 programme.

Editors and journalists from the most influential media, such as A1 TV, Dnevnik daily, Alsat M TV, Alfa TV, Nova Makedonija daily, Netpress news agency, Vest daily, BBC Macedonian language edition, Fokus weekly, Utrinski Vesnik daily, Radio Free Europe and AFP attended the promotion.

Representatives from the Macedonian Broadcasting Council, the OSCE, the British Embassy and the NGO Centre for Civic Communications also came.

BIRN Macedonia director Ana Petruseva introduced the Fellowship programme and praised the quality of the stories.

This year’s Macedonian fellow, Ruzica Fotinovska, a Skopje-based reporter, said it had been “a wonderful experience, a good chance to see how my colleagues journalists from other countries work on investigative stories”.

“The programme offers enough time and resources for real in-depth research, which it is impossible to get in daily media reporting,” Fotinovska added.

Fotinovska won the second prize this year for her article, “Freed Prisoners Remain Caught Behind Bars”, which investigated the life of former prisoners and the country’s failure to develop effective rehabilitation programmes.
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The first prize this year was awarded to Majlinda Aliu, based in Pristina, for her article “Trapped in Black: Balkan War Widows”.

Another Kosovar journalist, Jeton Musliu, who is also based in Pristina, took third place for his article, “Kosovars Turn Blind Eye to Fake Foreign Marriages”.

Petruseva announced the Fellowship programe for 2011 and invited journalists to apply.   

Initiated by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Erste Foundation in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, the Fellowship is aimed at supporting high-quality reporting, regional networking among journalists and advancing balanced coverage on complex reform issues that are central to the region as well as to the European Union.

Drafting Novi Pazar budget

An initiative aimed at increasing the amount set aside for social welfare and education in next year’s budget was adopted yesterday during a public meeting of the City Council of Novi Pazar. This initiative arises from a project of participatory budgeting, promoted by BIRN Serbia and Pro Concept.

This final element of the Local Budget Forum gave new emphasis to the creation of a budget at a local level. The  programme gives the people of  Novi Pazar the chance to directly participate in the drafting of the city budget.

The results of a survey conducted in Novi Pazar in November, showed the public’s desire that the city invest more in urban development projects, culture, social welfare and education and the budget presented by the delegates and representatives of the City Administration of Novi Pazar in the session of the City Council took into account the citizen’s budget priorities. The City Council adopted the proposed budget for the year 2011.

The report submitted to the City Council underlined the importance of the integration of citizen participation into the establishment of budget priorities for the forthcoming year.

Novi Pazar’s Mayor, Meho Mahmoudi expressed satisfaction that the budget proposal for 2011 were in line with the wishes of the public, as identified by the “Skockajte budžet” campaign.

After the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the City Administration and the organizers of the project, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Serbia) and Pro-concept.

“Leskovac and Novi Pazar were the first two cities where the project has been implemented. It is all about the willingness of local governments to be open to the ideas and priorities of their voters”, explained Slobodan Gerogijev, from BIRN Serbia, one of the organisations that implemented the project.

He stressed that the results show the willingness of the people and the public administration to work together in order to define budget priorities and to contribute to the transparency of the budgetary process.

“We hope that the local governement will adopt some of the mechanisms we have tried to introduce them to, in order to include the real needs and priorities of the people”, explained Nermin Hasanovic, from the European Partnership with Municipalities, PROGRESS.

At yesterday’s session The Novi Pazar City Council adopted a proposed budget for 2011, in the amount of 1,856,457,000 dinars.

The project of participatory budgeting, carried out by BIRN Serbia and Pro Concept, is funded by the European Union, the Swiss Government and the Serbian Government and is implemented under the European Partnership with Municipalities, Progress.

Documentary about life Sandzak

BIRN Serbia, in cooperation with Radio Television Serbia`s TV magazine programme “Oko”, has produced a thirty minute documentary on life in the south Serbian city of Novi Pazar.

The film, which is a sequel to the first feature on the life of Albanian people in Presevo, was broadcast on December 7 on Radio Television Serbia.

The documentary looks into the daily lives of local Bosniaks and the social problems facing this population, including interethnic tension and years of economic struggles.

Local representatives of the NGO sector, youth, and the economy, as well as the mayor of Novi Pazar, Meho Mahmutovic, were interviewed during the three days of filming in search of stories about everyday life in this part of Serbia, and the cultural and religious heritage of the region.

The third and final part of the series is scheduled to be completed within the next several months.
The three-part documentary is part of BIRN Serbia’s project “Building public awareness and political dialogue in multiethnic areas as a conflict prevention tool”.

BIRN In Southwest Serbia

BIRN Serbia and RTS’s (Serbia’s state broadcasting company) ‘Oko
magazine’ programme have joined forces once again, this time in
pursuit of an answer to questions about why the Sandzak region has
failed to adjust to the changing business environment, and if its
deteriorating economic situation is linked to the rising ethnic
tensions in Serbia’s majority Bosniak southwest.

Local businesspeople, experts and citizens have offered their view on
this issue, revealing how  the “Novi Pazar economic miracle”  has
failed to materialise, and how today’s tough social climate influences
growing nationalistic voices in the region.
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During the1990’s, when Milosevic’s Yugoslavia was under international
sanctions, the Sandzak region flourished thanks to businesspeople who
seized opportunities in the ‘grey market’, importing scarce goods and
avoiding administrative barriers.

Counterfeit international jeans brands made Novi Pazar famous in
Serbia and  all around Europe, where “Pazar jeans” found their way
through to the local market.

But following the overthrow of Milosevic in 2000, and the state’s
shift towards a more  regulated market the clouds gathered in the once
sunny Sandzak sky. Some 300 companies have closed since then and
official statistics record an unemployment rate of 54 per cent.

 ‘Oko magazine’ will be broadcast on Tuesday, December 7th at 18.25 pm.