Category: News and Events

Life in Kosovo Discusses Justice

During this Life in Kosovo show, panellists will debate the justice system in Kosovo.

Do we have justice in Kosovo? Who has more competences in Kosovo’s field of justice, local or international authorities? Why are cases of custody like Albin Kurti’s case being prolonged? Is Albin Kurti a political prisoner?

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The following panel will discuss these and other issues concerning Kosovo’s justice system:

Kujtim Kërveshi – First Advisor of the Minister of Justice;
Julie Chadborune – International Federation of Helsinki for Human Rights;
Gjylbehare Murati – lawyer from the institution of the Ombudsperson
Ismet Kabashi – prosecutor in the supreme court and also a representative and member of the Judicial Council
Valon Murati – Human Rights Center

And Albin Kurti – leader of the “Vetevendosje!” movement, who is under house arrest, will participate in the debate live via internet connection.

Live in Kosovo is a BIRN organised TV debate, which is broadcast on Kosovo public television, RTK, every Friday beginning at 20:15.

Life in Kosovo Interviews Members of Unity Team

This Friday’s Life in Kosovo show will broadcast interviews with two members of the Unity Team, the prime minister Agim Çeku and the head of Democratic Party of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, who will talk about the resolution of Kosovo’s future status.

The following questions will be raised in the programme: Should Kosovo independence be declared unilaterally? What advice did Kosovo leaders get from the Bush administration? What did US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tell Kosovars and what have Kosovars told her? When will Kosovo declare its independence? What’s the date of Kosovo’s independence? Is there still unity amongst Kosovar leaders? Will Kosovo hold elections this November?

Life in Kosovo is a BIRN-organised TV debate, which is broadcast on Kosovo public television, RTK, every Friday beginning at 20:15.

Balkan Journalism Fellow Participates in Exit Debate

Davor Konjikusic, one of the ten journalists engaged in this year’s Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence participated in a panel discussion on Friday, July 13, at Novi Sad’s Exit Festival. The debate, which addressed issues such as student travel in EU and the Western Balkans and the availability of EU educational programmes for Balkan countries applying for EU membership, was organised by the Citizens’ Pact for Southeast Europe, EXIT and the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe.

Other speakers at the Friday night event, which was moderated by Goran Svilanovic of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, included:
Janez Potocnik, EU Commissioner for Science and Research
Marijana Grandits, Stability Pact for Southeast Europe
Ana Pesikan, Minister of science in the Serbian government
Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad

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. To find out more about the programme and to read the fellows’ blogs, visit [email protected], or contact programme manager Anna McTaggart on [email protected].

Fellows Start Blogging

Research on aspects of Balkan mobility, conducted by ten journalists participating in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, can be tracked via a new blog section on the programme’s website. As the fellows report at home and abroad, they are to write about their experiences and impressions on their individual pages, posting also photographs and short films. Journalists interested in applying in future years for the Fellowship should find these accounts particularly interesting and informative.

2007’s fellows’ reports, to be completed later this year, will form the basis for selecting one fellow to receive a further award of an opportunity for professional development.

For more information about the fellowship programme, and to read the latest blogs, please visit its website, fellowship.birn.eu.com.

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.

Life in Kosovo Discusses Symbols

This Friday, the Life in Kosovo show will discuss one of the most emotive issues in Kosovo – national symbols.

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When will Kosovo have new national symbols? Who will decide on the issue? Will the symbols have to have a multi-ethnic character, as the Ahtisaari package foresees it? When will we use the new symbols?

The show will provide answers to these and many other questions.

Over 40 flag proposals, which have been submitted to the Life in Kosovo audience, will be analysed during the show.

Panelists in the studio will be:

Muhamedin Kullashi – Philosophy professor from France;
Shkëlzen Maliqi – analyst;
Lirijon Kadriu – designer; and
Nita Luci – anthropologist.

Life in Kosovo is a BIRN-organised TV debate, which is broadcast every Friday, beginning at 20.15 on RTK, Kosovo’s public broadcaster.

BIRN Receives Grant From National Endowment for Democracy

The
National Endowment for Democracy has generously supported BIRN’s
investigative training and publishing project in Albania.

With
this grant BIRN will strengthen the capacity of journalists in
Albania to produce high quality reports on key issues in the country
and the region. BIRN will also be able to help expand the reach and
impact of local reporting on important issues affecting citizens in
Albania.

The
project is to run from September 2007 until July 2008.

Norway to Fund BIRN Regional

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has generously provided BIRN with funding to support its regional programme aimed at consolidating and strengthening teams of investigative journalists across the Balkans during 2007 and 2008.

This significant grant will also help BIRN to develop other network activities to become income generating, with a view to achieving sustainability in the medium term.

The Norwegian foreign ministry supported the evolution and launch of BIRN through 2004 and 2005, and in 2006 supported our first year of regional activities as an independent local civil society initiative.

BIRN Kosovo TV Program Stirs Discussions

In June, “Life in Kosovo,” BIRN Kosovo’s weekly TV program hosted by country director Jeta Xharra, broadcast five debates on social, economical, religious and political issues. Two of the programs stirred fierce debates in the wider public.

After the broadcast of the debate on “Woman and Islam” aired on 1 June, BIRN received over 70 emails from the audience concerning the show and the overall issue.

The definition of Kosovo’s status, which seems to affect the region’s whole population, was discussed during the “Life in Kosovo” program on 8 June.

This debate was broadcast live in order to give the audience a chance to address their questions to a panel, which included politicians, political analysts and foreign diplomats.

Over 150 people phoned up with questions during the show, some of which were read on the air.

The “Life in Kosovo” investigative team prepared field reportages concerning the issues, which were shown during the debates.

Second phase of Reporting on Minorities Project Underway

BIRN
Bulgaria started the second phase of its Reporting on Minorities
project in June. The first phase, which included a three-day workshop
in which majority and minority journalists from national, regional an
international media discussed standards, practices and ideas for
media reports on minorities, was successfully completed. The second
phase involves the commissioning and research of seven articles on
the issues faced by ethnic minorities in Bulgaria.

With the
assistance of BIRN Bulgaria’s editorial team, six journalists from
BIRN’s local network are in the process of producing feature
articles that, through personal stories, present the broader
situation of some of Bulgaria’s traditional ethnic minority groups
– the Roma, the Turks, the Pomaks. One article told the story of
refugees, while another analysis summed up the general situation of
those groups in the country.

The
articles will be published on BIRN’s website in Bulgarian. After
that, they will be translated in English and
all Balkan Insight languages and
distributed among Balkan Insight’s subscribers.

In
addition, the articles, together with other training materials and
information on the project, will be printed in a booklet. Available
in Bulgarian and in English, it will be distributed among those who
participated in the project, as well as other interested media and
NGO organizations. Albena Shkodrova, BIRN Bulgaria’s director, will
present the booklet to editors in regional media.

The
project is supported by the US Department of State.

American Students Visit BIRN BiH

A group of American students on a work and study visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina visited BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of their programme.

Around 15 girls from the San Domenico School in California talked to BIRN
BiH director Nerma Jelacic about Bosnia’s struggle to deal with the legacy of the 1992-1995 war.

The students – who have read a number of Jelacic’s articles “as a core component of curriculum” – also discussed the role of the media in conflict  and reconciliation.