Category: News and Events

BIRN Serbia Holds Evaluation Meeting

Belgrade – BIRN Serbia organised an evaluation meeting for journalists who in the last three years have participated in the Minority Media Training and Reporting Project.

24 journalists from South Serbia, the Sandzak region, Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro participated in the discussion, which is almost one third of the total number of journalists who passed through BIRN Serbia’s training programme.

The evaluation meeting with journalists from the BIRN Serbia network is part of the overall review of project results.
This is an ongoing initiative which should be completed by mid June, and includes, besides journalists, all the key participants in implementing the Minority Media Training and Reporting Project as well as its beneficiaries such as editors from the Serbian media, Balkan Insight subscribers and other relevant stakeholders.

The meeting, organised at Belgrade’s Media Centre, was moderated by Mr. Danko Cosic of ProConcept, (www.proconcept.org.yu ) who developed the methodology for the evaluation of entire project.

The Minority Media Training and Reporting Project, generously supported by the British Embassy in Belgrade since 2005, aims to improve standards of journalism in areas with substantial minority populations and to improve understanding of minority issues among the mainstream population and decision makers, thereby challenging the current mood of suspicion and misunderstanding.
In course of the last three years, 84 journalists have passed through the primary level training while 76 of them went through the advanced level on job mentoring. 159 articles and 11 investigations were produced and published in Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) as a result of the training activities and 11 public debates on the most pressing social and political topics were held in Belgrade and targeted areas.
The final report of the evaluation will assess the activities and results in the past three years and provide BIRN with ideas for future development.

BIRN Documentary Screened at goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden

Does Anyone Have a Plan?, produced by BIRN and directed by the award-winning film maker Lode Desmet, was screened at the 8th Festival of Central and Eastern European film in Wiesbaden, Germany in April.

The goEast film festival, launched in 2001, was founded by Claudia Dillmann, the Director of the German Film Institute – DIF. goEast now plays host to some 150 guests annually, among them such renowned directors and stars as Krzysztof Zanussi, Jirí Menzel, Istvan Šzabo, Hanna Schygulla, Béla Tarr, Jerzy Stuhr, Kira Muratova, and Martin Šulik.

Does Anyone Have a Plan? was screened in the “goEast Symposium” category, which focuses on documentaries from the ex-Yugoslav countries and attempts to site these works within the context of historical roots and emerging perspectives.

The documentary focuses on the dilemmas facing 17 ordinary people from Kosovo, Serbia and neighbouring countries in the run-up to final status negotiations.

Click here to buy a copy of Does Anyone Have a Plan?

IPI Congress and SEEMO Regional Conference in Belgrade in June

Gordana Igric, BIRN’s regional network director will moderate the opening session of the South East European Media Organisation’s, SEEMO, regional conference entitled “Media, Marketing and Business” which will take place on June 18 in Belgrade.

The session will be devoted to “Political influence, ownership, regulation and editorial independence: Opportunities for developing professional journalism and high quality content,” and participants will include some of the leading media professionals from the region and abroad – Veran Matic, Zeljko Ivanovic, Nadezda Gace, Sandra Bašić Hrvatin and Aidan White.

The SEEMO conference will be organised as a regional gathering on the margins of the International Press Institute, IPI World Congress and General Assembly which will take place from 14 to 17 June in Belgrade.

The IPI Congress, which this year will be hosted by Belgrade’s Media Centre, is an exceptional opportunity for Serbian and regional media experts to exchange views and experience with leading editors, managers, journalists and world opinion makers.

To register for any of these events, the SEEMO regional conference and the IPI congress, please visit www.mediacenter.org.yu or apply here.

BIRN prepares Pristina Insight

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network is finalising a new project in Kosovo – an English-language newspaper entitled Pristina Insight.

After the successful publication of Belgrade Insight, this newspaper comes as BIRN continues in its effort to promote self sustainability.

A special edition of the paper will be printed and distributed free on June 15, when Kosovo’s constitution enters into force and when the European Union’s new law and order mission, EULEX, begins speeding up its deployment in Kosovo.

The 16-page newspaper will contain Balkan Insight produced news and analysis from Kosovo and the region, accompanied with a guide of Kosovo must-sees, the best hang-outs as well as reviews, commentary and insider’s tips on how to make the most of your stay there.

This Thursday, Life in Kosovo debates on the Kosovo official holidays

The current-affairs televised show Life in Kosovo will discuss this Thursday about the official holidays and other laws that were a required part of the Ahtisaari package.

How many holidays does Kosovo have and how many does it need?
Should also November 28 be an official holiday or only February 17 – the day when Kosovo declared Independence? How do the Kosovo MP’s and civil society representatives? Why was there too much ado by the side of those deputies who initially voted pro Ahtisaari package?

Government representatives, Assembly deputies as well as members of civil society and journalists will be discussing on these and other related issues.

Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK, and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. The show is broadcast every Thursday, starting from 20:15

Romanian Fellow Awarded

Magda Munteanu, Romanian Fellow of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, on May 27 won the prize for “Best Financial Journalism” in a contest organised by the Romanian Press Club.

Magda was awarded for an investigation “Behind ARLO’s gate”, which looked into the main Romanian aluminum smelter, owned by a Russian company. The investigation was published by Romanian Business Week news magazine.

Cezar Ion, the president of the jury praised Magda’s investigation as having been written according to Anglo-Saxon journalism standards.

On her part, Magda said: “I am very proud of this prize. I believe that economic reporting is still a minor journalism genre in Romania so, there, I will continue to publish such articles and to better promote them.”

Romanian Press Club is the country’s main press organisation.

BIRN Holds Annual Network Board Meeting

The board of the regional Network held its annual meeting in Skopje between 19 to 22 May to discuss results achieved in 2007 as well as further development of the Network and its member organisations.

On the first day of the meeting, Gordana Igric, Regional Network Director, presented the regional organisation’s annual activity; directors of member organisations presented their activities and plans for the following period.

BIRN regional also presented the impact of the self-sustainability strategy launched in November 2007, with further options for development of commercial activities of the Network.

Representatives of member organisations adopted the annual report as well as several decisions on the future activities of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

BIRN Launches Belgrade Insight Newspaper

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network has launched a new project under plans to promote our self sustainability.

In order to fill in the need for an English-language newspaper in the region, we have launched a weekly newspaper entitled, Belgrade Insight.

The pilot issue was published as a special edition ahead of the Eurovision song contest held in Belgrade. The newspaper contained an overview of the Eurovision contest, the participants, as well as a guide through Belgrade sights, night life and the latest news and analysis from Serbian political and economic life.

The newspaper will be distributed free of charge in Belgrade on a weekly basis, with the first issue to be published soon.

To view and download the pilot of Belgrade Insight follow this link :
http://www.birn.eu.com/apps/Belgrade_Insight_Special_Edition.zip

BIRN held workshop on investigative reporting in Tirana

The group comprised reporters who have become regular BIRN contributors. Participants in the workshop included journalists from the dailies Koha Jone, Korrieri, Shqip, and Albania, MAPO magazine and the TV stations News24 and Top News.

The workshop was conducted by BIRN Executive Director Gordana Igric, BIRN Kosovo Editor Krenar Gashi and BIRN Albania Editor Besar Likmeta.

Special attention was given to the issues of sources and interviews – finding the right people, checking their reliability, building a network, using anonymous sources and protecting them, dealing with individuals in positions of power and confronting interviewees with relevant information and arguments.

Editors worked with journalists on the preparation of articles dealing with specific subjects, such as corruption in the health service, politicians’ declarations of wealth etc. Several investigative articles were commissioned and outlined.

The workshop was organized with the help of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, a private, not-for-profit foundation.

Fellows Start Three Months of International Research

On May 1, after an initial seminar in Berlin, ten journalists taking part in the 2008 programme of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence started their research.

Selected to pursue their own story ideas within the broad theme of ‘energy’, each of the reporters from Southeast Europe devised local, regional and European research agendas before embarking on a summer of chasing stories, sources and statistics.

Under the supervision of their individual mentors – the editors who make up the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN – they came up with a range of interesting approaches to their chosen investigations.

Fellows will have to overcome many difficulties in their pursuit for stories, and to test their organisational capabilities and adventurous spirit. This year they will travel not only to their neighboring countries and EU, but their stories will also take them to further and less known destinations such as Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia.

To learn more about their experiences and impressions read the fellows’ blogs,  and in addition you can check the fellowship gallery  for 2008.

Fellows’ reports will be published in a book and on BIRN’s Balkan Insight after the Fellowship’s Selection Committee announces the winning result in late November at a closing ceremony in Vienna.

The Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is an initiative of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the ERSTE Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.