Category: News and Events

AP Journalist Takes Over as BIRN Editor in Belgrade

Aleksandar Vasovic, the Bratislava-based Associated Press correspondent, has been appointed Belgrade-based BIRN editor-trainer.

Prior to his Bratislava post, Vasovic was AP correspondent in Kiev, Ukraine. Between 2004 and 2006, he covered developments there, including the so-called Orange Revolution.

Since joining AP in 1999, he has also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Macedonia, the insurgency in southern Serbia, the Kosovo war and Slobodan Milosevic’s ousting and arrest, as well as other key developments in the Balkans and the rest of Europe.

Vasovic’s career began in the late 1980s with Radio Beograd. He then moved to Radio B92 in 1991, where he worked as a journalist, editor and foreign desk editor, covering the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.

He has also produced two B92 TV documentaries about the Northern Ireland peace process and the Middle East conflict.

Vasovic’s will be responsible for monitoring local and regional trends, overseeing contributors, implementing regional projects in Serbia, including the training of journalists enrolled in BIRN Serbia local projects.

Vasovic will take formally take up his post on April 1.

Life in Kosovo Focus on Returnees

RTK, Pristina
The BIRN-organised TV show Life in Kosovo on January 26 will turn its attentions on the people who have returned to live in Kosovo.

This programme aims to raise public awareness about issues related to the return and reintegration process, looking primarily at groups of ethnic minorities living in Kosovo.

The programme will include field interviews with some families that returned to live in their rebuilt homes, key stakeholders who have been involved in the process of return, representatives of local government, international organisations and also religious representatives.

The edition of the programme will be broadcast at 20:30 on Kosovo’s public television channel, RTK.

Life in Kosovo Documentary on Gender Issues

The BIRN-organised televised show Life in Kosovo will present “Whose Security?”, a documentary exploring how women in Kosovo have been affected by war and how they now perceive the notion of peace and security in their day-to-day lives.

The documentary includes interviews with Kosovo’s prime minister, head of UN Mission in Kosovo, and many female activists, politicians and citizens, attempting to reveal how the successful integration of women’s perspectives and participation into democratic society is an uphill struggle, and how international resolutions are much easier to ratify than to enforce.

BIRN Serbia Director Dragana Nikolic Solomon Takes Up OSCE Post

Dragana Nikolic Solomon, BIRN Serbia director and editor, is to take up a new
post as Chief of the Media Department at the OSCE mission in Belgrade.

Dragana moved from London to Belgrade over three years ago at a crucial time
in the development of the BIRN network in Serbia, overseeing its evolution
into an effective, high-profile organisation.

She played a leading role
in the establishment of the BIRN Serbia network of journalists, from
recruitment and training to publishing their output in BIRN’s publication
Balkan Insight.

Nikola Lazic, a journalist from South Serbia, said,
"Since I have met Dragana, two years ago, I have advanced professionally very
much, thanks to her support. New opportunities have come my way, and in that
respect working with her has been tremendously important."

BIRN Serbia
is today in a unique position of having over forty trained journalists
throughout Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro who are becoming an important part
of our information network.

With her energy and enthusiasm, Dragana was
a dynamic member of the BIRN network and her colleagues will miss her
greatly.

In her farewell note, she said the experience she gained through
working in BIRN was invaluable. "I would like to thank my colleagues for
their support. Working with you, I have been given an opportunity to learn
a lot. I will continue to follow BIRN’s activities and to read
BIRN’s articles with great interest."

Vacancy for an editor/trainer at BIRN Serbia

Vacancy for an editor/trainer at BIRN Serbia

Requirements:

– Extensive experience in print and/or internet journalism – in particular editing – with an international news focus
– Knowledge of international standards of journalism
– Excellent knowledge of English and ability to edit in English
– Interest in investigative journalism
– Experience in training journalists is an asset

If you are interested in the post, please send your CV and
two references by 25 January 2007 to [email protected], or by post to:

Balkanska istrazivacka mreza, BIRN
Gospodar Jovanova 81/2
11000
Beograd

BIRN Romania debate on Hadareni region

A BIRN-Romania organised TV debate on the future of the multi-ethnic region
of Hadareni was broadcast on Romanian public television, TVR, on January 4.

The debate looked at development work in the central Transylvanian region,
where three people were killed, two of them ethnic Roma, in
inter-ethnic violence in 1993.

During the unrest, the homes of Roma
were set ablaze, forcing many inhabitants to flee.

Twelve residents
of Hadareni – including Roma, Hungarians and Romanians took part in the
debate.

Also present were representatives of the National Agency for
Roma, a governmental body which is now implementing a programme for
reconciliation and the improvement of social conditions in the region;
several NGOs (Freedom House Romania and the Center of Resources for Ethnic
Roma Communities); and the Local Initiative Group.

BIRN Debates Big Hit with Viewers

In its special New Year’s edition, Koha Ditore, Kosovo’s daily newspaper, ran a short review of the Life in Kosovo debates, saying the show is the “most watched TV programme in Kosovo after the Latin-American soap-operas”.

“Life in Kosovo” is a weekly TV debate show that is organised by BIRN Kosovo and broadcast on RTK, Kosovo’s public TV station.

The programme deals with current political and social affairs and was launched in October 2005 as a bi-weekly show. Since September 2006, it’s gone weekly and is broadcast on prime time, every Friday evening from 20:30 hours.

Reactions to BIRN Debate on Religion

A storm of comment was provoked by the BIRN-organised “Life in Kosovo” debate on Islam. Over 70 emails were sent to BIRN after the television show was aired on December 8.

“I was waiting for your show to be transmitted as I was told it tackles a very taboo topic of our Islamophobic society. I encourage you to go on, as other media are avoiding such topics, especially those about gender discrimination within religion”
Sadat, Pristina

“I feel sorry for those who support fundamentalist Islam. We inherited this religion from our conqueror, the Ottoman Empire and we still suffer from the consequences. For example, my mother is illiterate because at that time it was said that Muslim girls should not go to school.”
Ramush, Pristina

“How can somebody say that it is forbidden for a woman to shake hands with man? If this is correct than I don’t want to be a part of it. This is in direct conflict with our traditions as Albanians. We don’t need Saudi traditions as we have our own.”
Adelina, Sweden

The full report on the debate can be found at: https://birn.eu.com/en/63/50/1963/

BIRN Contributor Commended for Reporting on Corruption

Arbana Xharra, a BIRN contributor, won first prize in a journalism competition organised by Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency, AKA, the UN Development Programme, UNDP, and the OSCE mission in Kosovo, on December 11.

The jury, which consisted of seven members, selected Xharra for her numerous articles on corruption published in the daily Koha Ditore and BIRN’s online publication Balkan Insight.

Xharra, a senior journalist with Koha Ditore, has been a regular BIRN contributor since January 2006. She has published a number of investigative and analytical articles for BIRN, mostly regarding mismanagement of public funds in Kosovo’s institutions.

Justice Report Editor Receives Recognition

BIRN Justice Report editor Nidzara Ahmetasevic was honoured at an Italian journalism award ceremony in Rome on December 12.

The Italian association Claudio Accardi awarded her story “Crime Not Spoken About”, which deals with rape and sexual abuse of men in detention camps during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the special recognition prize.

The five-member jury, consisting of eminent Italian journalists and publicists, said she deserved the award for writing about an almost unknown subject.

They also said that the story stood out from many of the 79 entries from around the world for the category because of its approach to such “a difficult topic”.

Nidzara Ahmetasevic is the first non-Italian recipient of Claudio Accardi special recognition award. It’s the third year in a row that it has been handed to journalists who write about wars and consequences of wars on societies.

The association was founded in 2003 in memory of the famous RAI correspondent from war-torn parts of the world, Claudio Accardia.

“Crime Not Spoken About” was published in the 8th edition of Justice Report. You can read it in Bosnian here.