Category: News and Events

Initiation of the training – How to Write for CULTURE WATCH Online Magazine

The training “How to Write for Culture Watch Online Magazine” began today in Pristina. Thirteen journalists from the region are participating in the event, part of the Balkan Initiative for Cultural Cooperation, Exchange, and Development. Their active involvement will help establish a positive environment for policy makers in-country and abroad to create policies that speed up the region’s European-oriented transition.

The training will continue tomorrow, while on the last day- March 19, 2011- the conference “Culture in the media” will be held.

The Balkan Culture Watch Strengthening Project, BCWSP, funded by European Cultural Foundation, is a “build-on” project that complements the existing 3-year BICCED programme (funded by the SCP). The project brings together different shareholders (editors, trained journalists and other cultural associates) in order to better connect regional cultural institutions and journalists, highlighting activities and main issues through analysis and disseminating the information on the regional level through local media outlets and internationally via Web sites.

This project aims to involve government officials and policy makers and work to improve the situation in the region by strengthening cultural life and cross-cultural cooperation as an important element of a participatory, open, and dynamic civil society.

Pristina Culture Watch Training

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network is organising a training session for journalists – How to write for Culture Watch Online Magazine – as a part of the Balkan Initiative for Cultural Cooperation, Exchange and Development, BICCED, project. The training will be held in Pristina, from March 17 to 18 and will involve journalists from across the region.

The training sessions, will be followed later by on-the-job training from BIRN’s experienced editorial team to help the journalists toproduce articles focusing on cultural policy throughout the region, which will be published in the dedicated culture section of BIRN’s Balkan Insight web site – www.BalkanInsight.com

The two day training programme will focus primarily on developing the journalists’ skill set, and will be led by Ana Petruseva, BIRN Macedonia Director and Gordana Igric, BIRN Regional Network Director who will guide the team through five distinct types of articles, writing style, writing tips, and the use of quotations and sources. Another session will focus on news and analytical writing,helping the journalists to define news analysis, understand the difference between news and news analysis, the composition of news analysis. The session will close with an exercise to test the journalists’ understanding.

Our web director Milos Milosavljevic will host a session looking at Online Journalism and the use of social networks where journalists will have learn the specific skills necessary for writing for the web, methods and techniques to promote their stories and the use of the web for research and collaboration.

The programme will conclude with the commissioning of articles which the journalists will work on in clooaboration  with their local editors in the weeks to come. This training represents the first step in BIRN’s programme to create positive environment for policymakers in-country and within institutions abroad to develop policies that move forward the region’s European transition.

Objective, balanced, and accurate reporting on aspects of cultural policy and other related themes including human resources in culture, transfer of ownership, heritage,the  tourist potential of culture is a key component of that process.

Professionalism in the Local and Minority Media

Experts, media professionals and civil society representatives got together for the first in a series of debates focused on media reporting in a multi-ethnic environment, organised by BIRN and OSCE in Novi Pazar:

The media and the commercialisation of state aid – ensuring the rights of minorities to information and free expression

Media focused on minority communities have special status in the country’s broader media system. Their existence is important for political and social pluralism and diversity of society, and their impact on the  preservation of minority cultures and languages and their ability foster tolerance and multiculturalism can not be over-stated.

Most minority media houses receive some sort of state aid or support  as the majority would otherwise  not be commercially viable.

The aim of the meeting was to answer the question of whether athe current climate allowed the Bosniak media to produce quality information and free expression and fostered healthy competition amongst media companies.

The roundtable in Novi Pazar therefore had to serve two purposes: 1) to map the key issues/problems local media face in providing information in minority languages and 2) devise a set of recommendations for members of the Council.

The roundtable was attended by about more than 50 participants, including representatives from  almost every media house in Sandzak.

In a very lively discussion, which lasted nearly three hours, despite the presence of a range of participants with very different viewpoints, the meeting was very constructive.

The difficult economic situation in Serbia, means that we are likely to see layoffs of journalists and the closure of newspapers, and continuing political and economic pressures on freedom of speech and all the participants agreed that local and minority media were likely to suffer disproportionately.

Special emphasis was been placed in the discussion on minorities’ rights to quality reporting at both a local to national level. Participants felt that this in area the Government seemed unwilling to respond and make the radical changes necessary to show significant results.

There was much discussion  about the transformation of ownership of the media in Serbia, which the speakers felt had, for almost ten years taken place without controls to guarantee legality and fairness, and on the Law on Public Information, adopted in 2003, which envisages the privatisation of all media, except for RTS, which was transformed into a public service broadcaster.

The speakers on this topic were Dragana Nikolic-Solomon, Head of the Media Department of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Sasa Mirkovic from ANEM, Zuzana Serences from NDNV and Goran Karadzic, from the RRA.

Dragana Solomon, expressed the hope that the participants would be able to provide the quality of news necessary  from professional media houses and that desired by the public and also “how to provide professional and objective reporting in accordance with the rights of minorities. “

She noted that the quality of content was especially crucial, given current problems, and said that an independent editorial policy and independent funding was necessary for the sustainability of the local media.

The roundtable was organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network,BIRN,  with the assistance of the British Embassy in Serbia.

Journalists selected for Pristina Culture Conference

The Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network is pleased to announce the journalists who have been selected to participate in the second round of the Balkan Initiative for Cultural Co-operation, Exchange and Development project.

The project aims to improve the situation in the region by strengthening cultural life and cross-cultural cooperation as an important element of a participatory, open and dynamic civil society

A training programme,  “How to Write for Culture Watch Online magazine?“ will be held in Pristina on March 17 and 18.

The journalists’ active involvment in the training and conference session, organised as part of  the project, will be essential to the project as it explores the coverage of cultural policy issues, the understanding of cultural policy issues and the challenges faced by the media in presenting these issues to the public.

The event will additionally serve to strengthen transnational co-operation between media and culture experts from across the region. The Balkan journalists selected are:

–    Aneta Risteska, Macedonia
–    Besiana Lushaj, Albania
–    Besiana Xharra, Kosovo
–    Ernest Zavila, Bosnia-Herzegovina
–    Gordana Andric, Serbia
–    Klimentina Ilievski, Macedonia
–    Maja Nedelkovska, Macedonia
–    Marjola Rukar, Albania
–    Milan Lisica, Serbia
–    Nejra Aganovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina
–    Nemanja Cabric, Serbia
–    Shengjyl Osmani, Kosovo
–    Zvjezdan Zivkovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Some of the journalists participating in the BICCED project will also take part in the JournArt project implemented by the Centre for Media Activities from Macedonia. The JournArt assessment and production project (JAAPP), is a partnership between TV professionals, workers in the culture sector, and artists from Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia that aims to enhance the quality and the quantity of media coverage of culture and the arts.

Life in Kosovo Discusses High Interest Rates for Loans

Tonight, representatives of banks and local institutions in Kosovo will discuss what is stopping interest rates for loans falling.

Are banks really a success story in Kosovo? What do bank leaders need from the state to lower rates? Why do Kosovars have to pay higher interest rates compared to others in the region? Is there any agreement between banks in Kosovo to keep this rate?

 

Why did the Kosovo Competition Commission begin an investigation concerning banks\’ interest rates? Is there space for involvement of new banks in the market which would offer lower interest rates?

To discuss these and other issues related to the banks, Jeta Xharra has invited the following guests in the studio:

Florin Lila, from ProCredit Bank ,
Robert Wright, from Raiffeisen Bank,
Vullnet Latifi, from the Bank for Business
Bedri Hamza, Minister of Finance
Lavdim Hamiti, economics journalist at the daily newspaper Zëri,
Ahmet Krasniqi, from Kosovo Competition Commission.

After the debate, journalist Muhamet Hajrullahu reveals how tenders are given by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

 

Who has tried to give an 800,000 euros tender at the TRA without following all legal procedures? What does the Procurement Review Body, the TRA, and the senior procurement official who was suspended by TRA for this tender say about this issue?

 

At the end of the show, journalist Alban Selimi looks at the measures taken against the doctor Haqif Sadiku, who has not respected the work schedule at the Family Medical Centre, whose case was discussed in the last Life in Kosovo show.

 

The report also investigates the reasons why the health inspectorate has not noticed this irregularity earlier.

Initiation of Balkan Culture Watch Strengthening Project

Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network has launched its Balkan Culture Watch Strengthening Project, funded by the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). The BCWSP project is a “build-on” project that complements the existing three-year “Balkan’s Initiative for Cultural Cooperation, Exchange and Development Project” (BICCED, funded by the SCP), which aims to support a constant production of analytical reporting on culture-related developments in five countries (Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo) through a monthly newsletter (Culture Watch / CW), and support the media in the region with coverage of culture by offering analytical reports free of charge.

This project aims to involve government officials and decision makers and work to improve the situation in the region by strengthening cultural life and cross-cultural cooperation as an important element of a participatory, open, and dynamic civil society.

The project’s first event will comprise Advisory Board meeting, conference and training “Culture in the Media”, which will be held in Pristina from March 17 to 19 2011. The participants in the conference will include editors, journalists, and experts in culture from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia.

The conference aims to explore the coverage of cultural policy issues by the media, as well as the understanding of cultural policy and the challenges in presenting these issues to the public. Furthermore, the conference will include working sessions which will provide the opportunity for an exchange of opinions between the 15 editors and 15 journalists participating in the gathering, as well as a number of cultural experts. The conference is organised by BIRN and the Centre for Media Activities, CMA, from Macedonia.

Following the conference, the project will continue to provide support to media outlets through the sharing of analyses produced as part of Culture Watch, the collection of feedback from relevant ministries and cultural organisations, and analysis.

BIRN Team at Youth Conference in Becici

A conference ‘LinKS’, which brings together young people from Kosovo and Serbia, will be held in Becici, Montenegro, March 4-6. 2011. Three BIRN members: Kaltrina Hoxha,a Project assistant, Shengjyl Osmani a researcher for Prishtina Insight and Balkan Insight  and Elizabeta Murati an intern at BIRN Kosovo will participate in the debates at the conference.

The conference will examine the responsibility of politicians, the media, civil society and youth in developing better relationships between Belgrade and Pristina; freedom of movement; the status of minority communities in both countries; cooperation among youth groups; prejudices that prevent positive relations between the two communities. About a hundred young people from Serbia and Kosovo (members of political parties, civil society, journalists, and students) will take part in the March conference.

The goal of the conference, organised by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights from Kosovo and Serbia, is to show that a constructive dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is not only necessary but possible.

The organisers hope that dialogue will create new bonds among the young people of the region, and offer up new ideas and topics that the governments in both Kosovo and Serbia can include in their own programmes.

Life in Kosovo Debates the Quality of Teaching in Secondary Schools

Tonight, Life in Kosovo discusses the quality of teaching in primary and secondary schools, the frequent suspension of students and the large number of students with poor grades.

Why are students being suspended so regularly? What are the reasons for the large number of students who achieve poor grades? Can we overcome this crisis in the education system? How concerned are parents of students about this phenomenon? Who is responsible for the students’ lack of interest in learning?

To discuss these and other concerns about primary and secondary education, host Muhamet Hajrullahu has invited the following:

Ramush Lekaj, official at the Ministry of Education,
Zef Osmani, Head of the Regional Inspectorate in Gjakova,
Nazim Haliti, from the Forum for Civic Initiatives,
Elizabeta Murati, student of Xhevdet Doda high school in Prishtina,
Shkumbin Arifi, both a parent and an expert in educational issues.

Before the debate, journalist Edona Musa looks at problems in the education system. The reportage looks at the case of 30 suspended students from Ratkovc, a village in Rahovec, and problems in the municipality of Malisheva, where a large number of students have received poor grades.

After the debate, journalist Alban Selimi reveals how Dr Haqif Sadiku has been working for many years in the private clinic “Galaksia” during his work hours for public health institutions.

BIRN Serbia trains NMC members

Communication Training for the members of National Minority Council of ethnic Albanians was held in Belgrade on the 25th and 26th of February.

BIRN and the OSCE mission to Serbia, brought together six representatives of different boards of the  NMC in order to strengthen their media communication skills with local and national media and to connect them with Belgrade based media.

On the first day of training, NMC representatives were introduced to the overall situation in the media industry in Serbia, noting the positions of local media – their weaknesses and their importance to local communities. 

The mandate of the NMC in the media sphere was also discussed. Dragana Nikolic-Solomon, head of media department of the OSCE mission gave a presentation.

“The NMC should not manage the editorial policies of any media, it should simply promote the most important things the ethnic group it represents and advocate for that” stressed Solomon.

<!** Image 3 align=”right” >Later, trainees were introduced to the results of a survey undertaken by BIRN Serbia on perception of the media in Bujanovac and Presevo.

The survey showed that the community viewed the local media as a tool of the ruling party and that they were not interested in watching such programming.

After two further  presentations and debate on the issues raised, a working dinner was held with journalists and editors from major Belgrade based media.

It proved to be a good platform for sharing information and establishing better communication with national media representatives.

Day two was organised as a workshop. Guided by two experienced RTS journalists and editors, Goran Sinandinovic and Bojan Brkic, NMC representatives were trained how to communicate in different situations.

They were recorded and their statements to camera were analysed. They had a chance to learn how to formulate statements, how to stand and how to deliver their messages in a positive manner.

“It was very useful training for us” said Baki Rehxepi, president of the media board of the NMC.

BIRN Holds Investigative Journalism Training

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network is holding a two-day training event on investigative journalism for print and television reporters, as well as civil society organisations which work to promote access to official documents.

During the training, BIRN unveiled its manual to document-based investigative reporting, Follow the Paper Trail, which sets out how to use Kosovo’s freedom of information laws, practical tips on how to use search engines to trawl Kosovo government websites and internationally sources of information.

Training sessions offered practical investigative techniques used by BIRN journalists on writing a number of hard-hitting investigative stories, some of which have sparked probes by authorities into suspected corruption.

At the end of training, five print and there television journalists will be provided with funds to write an investigative story using these techniques, while being supervised by BIRN journalists to get first-hand experience on investigative journalism.  This project is funded by the United States of America Embassy in Pristina.

Download the manual of investigative journalism