Category: News and Events

BIRN Albania Launches New Database on PPP Contracts

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania on December 21st published a comprehensive database on Public Private Partnership Contracts in Albania.

The database contains the records of 220 projects with a total investment value of 4.2 billion euros, as well as hundreds of documents related to concessionary companies.

The database was published as part of the project “Following the Money Trail of Public-Private Partnership Projects in Albania,” supported by the Democracy Commission Small Grants of the US embassy in Albania.

The project’s goal is to support increased transparency on Public-Private Partnerships in Albania through open source databases and data-journalism.

In order to achieve its goal, the project conducted a systematic review of the PPP projects, collecting fiscal data and documents in order to aggregate them in this online database, which will enable journalists, researches and the public to understand and evaluate the true costs and benefits of more than 220 PPPs over the last 15 years.

Through this project BIRN Albania has also raised the capacity of local journalists to analyze and visualize this data in order to inform the public on the hidden costs of PPPs through indepth articles, investigations and videos reports.

The database is accessible online in Albanian and English at: ppp.reporter.al

BIRN Continues Discussions on Online Media Regulation in Southeastern Europe

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network will hold a second public debate on December 22 with group of experts from across the region who will discuss case law and legal challenges of online media regulation.

Disinformation, hate speech and discrimination continue to be major challenges in the digital space in the Western Balkans region, particularly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a surge in fake news. In order to avoid those negative phenomena, digital media need adequate regulation, which ensures a high level of professionalism and objectivity, but at the same time prevents any form of censorship or influence on media independence or freedom of expression. Special contributors in re-shaping digital media regulation and self-regulation are international treaties, domestic legislation, and case law of various courts, including the European Court of Human Rights.

The debate “Case Law and Online Media Regulation in the Balkans” will be moderated by Montenegrin media expert and BIRN consultant Vuk Maras and will focus on existing national regulation and its effectiveness, as well as the question of ensuring a clear line of division between regulation and censorship. The debate should also discuss international standards and practices and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in this field. A special focus will also be put on the legal knowledge and capacities of media to uphold regulatory standards and obligations.

Panelists that will take part in the discussion include:

  • Edina Harbinja – PhD in Media / Privacy Law (Senior Lecturer at Aston University / Aston Law School, UK)
  • Lazar Sandev – Attorney at law (Law Office Filip Medarski, North Macedonia)
  • Jelena Kleut – PhD in Communication Science (Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia)
  • Elvin Luku – PhD in Communication Science (CEO at Albanian Center MediaLook, Albania)
  • Milan Radovic – Graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy (Program Director of Civil Alliance and Member of the Council of the Montenegrin Public Broadcaster)
  • Snezana Trpevska – PhD in Sociological Sciences (Research Expert at RESIS, North Macedonia)

To join the second debate in a series of discussions on online media regulation with different stakeholders, organised as a part of the regional “Media for All” project, connect with us on the platform ZOOM on Tuesday, December 22, at noon CET.

Save the date and register HERE.

BIRN Albania and Swedish Embassy Hold Digital Integrity Debate

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania, together with the Swedish Embassy in Tirana, organised an online debate on December 11 that brought together together local, regional and international experts to discuss digital rights violations.

The debate was organized as part of Integrity Week in Albania and was addressed by the Swedish ambassador to Tirana, Elsa Hastad.

“Media, meaning you here today, your role is exceptional in promoting transparency and really demanding accountability,” Hastad said.

“I know that during the pandemic journalists have made sure that citizens receive care, or that procurement of medical equipment is done in a proper way and disinformation is met with facts,” she added.

The panel discussion was moderated by Albanian journalist Blendi Salaj and included Michael J. Oghia, Advocacy and Engagement Manager at the Global Forum for Media Freedom, the investigative journalists Driton Salihu and Marja Grill from Swedish Public Television, BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic, BIRN Albania editor Besar Likmeta, civil rights lawyer Megic Reci from CRD and the chairman of the Albania Media Council, Koloreto Cukali.

The panel was joined by 70 participants from civil society and media and was broadcast live on Facebook.

Integrity Week is a week-long series of activities held in December, organised by the Chamber of Commerce in Albania as a national awareness-raising campaign to draw attention to the importance of integrity and to promote ethical behaviour not only in business, but also in governmental bodies and academia and among NGOs.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Training on “Fact-checking and Tackling Misinformation”

On December 9 and 10, BIRN Kosovo, in partnership with the International Press Institute, IPI, held its first two-day training course on tackling disinformation and establishing fact-checking methods.

The course was held as part of the “Solidifying the Resilience of Kosovo’s Current and Future Journalists” project, which is supported by the EU.

During the two-day course, participants interacted via video call with specialists from two organisations known for their innovation in fact-checking.

On the first day, Stephane Grueso from the leading Spanish NGO tackling disinformation through fact-checking and data journalism, Maldita.es, introduced the topic of disinformation and revealed current trends within the International Fact-Checking Network.

Grueso also outlined methodologies, examples and case studies, as well as how to debunk misinformation through basic tools like tweets, photos, video and geolocation, among other topics.

The second day was covered by four trainers: Kansu Ekin Tanca, Gülin Çavuş, Öyküm Hüma Keskin and Emre İlkan Saklıca, who are part of Teyit, Turkey’s premier independent fact-checking social enterprise.

The training session covered various topics including the importance of technology and building a community of fact-checkers as well as the roots of online misinformation, the challenges it presents and solutions to it. The trainers also outlined advanced search techniques, digital news tracking, and how to use domain information and visual clues.

A total of 36 participants were part of the training, including 24 journalists and six students of journalism, 20 of whom were women.

BIRN and IPI believe the training will help young journalists tackle fake news and unverified reporting by helping them to spot fake news and provide verified information that adheres to journalistic standards. The delivered knowledge was practical, and will help journalists develop these skills further.

The project aims to organise two additional two-day training courses on the topic of false information featuring different international experts, so that both junior and professional journalists have the opportunity to participate in similar training courses in 2021.

Human Rights House Award BIRN’s Natalija Jovanovic

Human Rights House in Serbia, marking International Human Rights Day on December 10, awarded BIRN journalist Natalija Jovanovic for her outstanding commitment to the protection, respect and promotion of human rights.

Jovanovic authored an important exposé of data concealment in Serbia on the real COVID-19 death toll.

The article, Serbia Under-Reported COVID-19 Deaths and Infections, Data Shows, published on June 22 this year, showed that the COVID 19 death toll from March 19 to June 1 was significantly higher than was officially reported.

Human Rights House in Serbia said it wanted to encourage journalists’ work that does not accept censorship and always questions official truths, which is why it awarded this journalist this year.

“One of the foundations of the democratic order of every community, which the government and centres of power in Serbia have for years tried to silence and overthrow is freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

“There are no free peoples or free society without freedom of speech. The right to freely express one’s opinion without the fear of retaliation or sanction, is, as well, the right to objective and timely inform,” it said.

Human Rights House Foundation is an Oslo-based network of 17 CSOs across Europe in 11 countries dedicated to building democratic and open societies founded on unconditional respect for human rights and the rule of law. Network members in Serbia are Civic Initiatives, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Helsinki Committee, YUCOM – Lawyers’ committee for human rights and Policy Center.

BIRN Albania Wins Integrity Award from Chamber of Commerce

The International Chamber of Commerce in Albania has recognized BIRN Albania for its media and journalism as part of its “Integrity Week” activities.

It bestowed this recognition on BIRN Albania for “enabling high quality investigative journalism, full coverage and neutrality of current events in the country related to the implementation of the rule of law, and for contribution to the further development of democracy in Albania by encouraging the accountability of policy makers towards citizens”.

The Integrity Week is a national awareness-raising campaign whose goal is to draw attention to the importance of integrity and promote ethical behaviour, not only in business but also in the government bodies, academia and NGOs.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Debate on Audit Report in Peja/Pec

On December 9, BIRN Kosovo held the fifth in its series of debates on the findings of its audit monitoring project, which analyzes reports on Kosovo municipalities published by the National Audit Office, NAO.

The debate was held in the municipality of Peja/Pec, with the results of BIRN’s monitoring and analysis discussed.

Due to circumstances caused by COVID-19, the debate was followed by a limited number of participants from the municipality, the NAO and civil society. It was streamed live on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

KALLXO.com’s Managing Editor, Visar Prebreza, gave a brief presentation on the project findings, stating that the municipality had made progress in some fields, but there were still weaknesses in others.

“We did this two years ago and analyzed the findings, presented the analysis and published four audit reports,” Prebreza recalled.  “The aim was to identify weaknesses that were appearing in certain areas,” he added.

Gazmend Muhaxheri, Mayor of Peja/Pec, defended budget planning at the municipality, and pledged that 50 per cent of the recommendations of the auditors would soon be implemented.

“We never got budget planning wrong,” he said, adding that the municipality always set its budget categories correctly, and had not paid for items that were not planned.

Emine Fazliu, Assistant Auditor General at the NAO, outlined the advantages and disadvantages that Peja/Pec has in terms of financial management.

“The Municipality of Peja for 2019 realised 97 per cent of the final budget, it is a good level; if we compare it with last year, there is a reduction of 1 per cent,” she said.

“However, the municipality has weaknesses in managing expenditures, especially those made through procurement.”

Alongside providing an avenue to discuss the implementation of NAO recommendations, the debates have given BIRN the opportunity to record the promises made both by NAO officials and by the Municipality of Peja/Pec, which can later be followed up through KALLXO.com’s fact-checking platform, Krypometer.

The debate was organised within the framework of the “Support civil society to increase public oversight and accountability of Kosovo public institutions” project.

This is funded by the British Embassy in Pristina. This specific activity is organised as part of the component looking into the compliance of targeted institutions with recommendations from the Auditor General’s reports.

BIRN BiH Journalist Wins Srdjan Aleksic Award

Emina Dizdarevic, a journalist with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH, has won the Srdjan Aleksic Journalist Award in the category of nominations by journalists, for her three articles on the challenges facing marginalized groups in Bosnian society.

“Dizdarevic has won the award for shedding light, in a special, analytic and creative manner, on topics already addressed by many other journalists, but she did it in a different way and from a different angle.

“The judges were most impressed with her article on the special ‘obstacles’ placed before the Sarajevo Pride Parade organizers, to prevent the LGBT population from realizing its right to hold peaceful protests,” the announcement said.

Her first awarded article dealt with the rights of LGBT persons in Bosnia. Dizdarevic noted systemic shortcomings that force those citizens to pay a higher price than other Sarajevo citizens to exercise their freedom of assembly.

In the second awarded article, Dizdarevic addressed online radicalization through the example of a 23-year-old man, and the systemic problems of online content, which leads to radicalization. This topic does not receive much attention in Bosnia but is of great importance in its post-conflict society.

The third award-winning story pointed to problem of holding trials during the coronavirus pandemic. Many crime victims have been awaiting justice for years, but Dizdarevic warned of the extent to which COVID safeguards will further slow down the prosecution of complex cases.

Second prize in the category of nominations by journalists went to Hilma Unkic and Ajdin Kamber of Diskriminacija.ba portal, while third prize went to Alema Kazazic of Federation TV.

In the category of nominations made by civil society organisations first prize for professional reporting went to Minela Jasar-Opardija of N1 TV. Second prize went to freelance journalist Kristina Ljevak, while Lidija Pisker of Media.ba portal was awarded a special plaque.

Dizdarevic has worked with BIRN BiH since 2014. Over more than six years she has published over 1,600 researches, analyses, interviews, footages and news on judicial topics, war crimes, corruption and terrorism on Detektor.ba portal.

She graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, where she also obtained her master’s degree.

In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Fetisov international journalist award for articles on transitional justice processes and rights of war crime victims, as well as their families in Bosnia.

As a member of BIRN BiH team, she won a special award of the European Press Prize for 2020 for “efforts and success in securing justice for war crimes victims” and for continuous professional reporting on sensitive issues over many years.

Last year, BIRN BiH’s director, Denis Dzidic, was honoured with a special plaque at the Srdjan Aleksic Journalist Award ceremony for continuous professional reporting on sensitive issues by BIRN BiH over many years.

Dizdarevic’s award-winning articles can be found on the following links: Pride Parade Put in Unequal Position by Additional Security Requests, No Response by Authorities to Online Radicalization, Coronavirus Safeguards Stop Large-Scale Bosnian War Trials Resuming.

The journalist award is presented for professional and continuous reporting on marginalized and vulnerable groups in Bosnian society and development of socially responsible journalism.

This year’s presentation was organised by the Helsinki Parliament of Citizens of Banja Luka and Peace Building Network with support from Civil Right Defenders. The official ceremony will be held in spring next year.

Open Call for Energy Efficiency and Environmental Reporting Workshop

On December 23, 2020, BIRN Kosovo and TV Mreza will organize a workshop for journalists that focuses on improving knowledge and reporting on energy efficiency, as well as the health benefits of using renewables and creating a clean environment.

The workshop will directly increase the capacities of local journalists and help deliver professional and unbiased reporting on energy efficiency, renewables, health and the environment.

It will be designed to contain both theoretical and practical elements, so participants will not only learn theory but immediately implement it in practice.

This workshop is organised within the “Europeanization of Kosovo’s Environmental Agenda” project, which is supported by the European Union in Kosovo and implemented by BIRN Kosovo, TV Mreza, ERA Group and Bankwatch.

Journalists attending the workshop will be equipped with the necessary skills to cover the sustainable development agenda, with a particular focus on energy efficiency and the environment.

Trainers in this workshop will be:

Jeta Xharra – BIRN Kosovo’s Country Director
Visar Prebreza and Kreshnik Gashi – BIRN Kosovo’s Managing EditorsFatmir Gërguri – Environmental Expert and former Chief Inspector at the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals
Aleksandar Djordjevic – Environmental journalist at BIRN Serbia
Dragan Gmizic – Journalist and award-winning environmental film maker in Serbia

Requirements to participate in the workshop: Participants must have been an active journalist for at least one year, either freelance or connected to a media outlet, and must have published or broadcast a minimum of 7-10 stories.

The deadline to apply for participation is 11.59pm on December 22, 2020. The maximum number of participants is 20. The workshop will be held via ZOOM and is the second and final workshop organised within the “Europeanization of Kosovo’s Environmental Agenda” project.

If you are interested in participating in the workshop, please click on the link/s below to register in:

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Thirrje e hapur për pjesëmarrje në punëtorinë mbi efiçiencën e energjisë dhe raportimin në fushën e ambientit

Më 23 dhjetor 2020, BIRN Kosova dhe TV Mrezha do të organizojnë një punëtori për gazetarë të fokusuar në rritjen e njohurive dhe raportimit mbi efiçiencën e energjisë si dhe përfitimet e të përdorurit të energjisë së ripërtërishme. Gazetarët që do të marrin pjesë në këtë punëtori do të pajisen me aftësitë e nevojshme për të mbuluar agjendën e zhvillimit të qëndrueshëm, me fokus të veçantë në efiçiencën e energjisë dhe mjedisin.

Kjo punëtori është dizajnuar të përmbajë elemente teorike dhe praktike në mënyrë që pjesëmarrësit jo vetëm që përvetësojnë anën teorike por edhe ta kthejnë atë në rezultate të prekshme. Kjo punëtori organizohet brenda projektit “Europeanization of Kosovo’s Environmental Agenda”, mbështetur nga Zyra e Bashkimit Evropian në Kosovë dhe implementohet nga BIRN Kosova, TV Mrezha, ERA Group dhe Bankwatch.

Gazetarët që do të marrin pjesë në këtë punëtori do të pajisen me aftësitë e nevojshme për të mbuluar agjendën e zhvillimit të qëndrueshëm, me fokus të veçantë në efiçiencën e energjisë dhe mjedisin.

Trajnerë në këtë punëtori do të jenë:

Jeta Xharra – Drejtoreshë Ekzekutive e BIRN Kosova
Visar Prebreza dhe Kreshnik Gashi – Redaktorë Menaxhues në BIRN Kosova

Fatmir Gërguri – Ekspert i Mjedisit
Aleksandar Gjorgjeviq – Gazetar në BIRN Serbia
Dragan Gmiziq – Gazetar dhe producent i filmave mjedisorë me çmime të fituara në Serbi

Kriteret minimale për të marrë pjesë në këtë punëtori

Pjesëmarrësit duhet të jenë gazetarë aktivë për të paktën një vit, qoftë i/e pavarur apo i/e lidhur me media, dhe të ketë të publikuar apo transmetuar të paktën 7-10 storie.

 Afati i fundit për të aplikuar për pjesëmarrje në këtë punëtori është 22 dhjetor 2020, 23:59, ndërsa numri maksimal i pjesëmarrësve është 20. Punëtoria do të mbahet përmes aplikacionit ZOOM dhe është punëtoria e dytë dhe e fundit e organizuar në kuadër të projektit “Europeanization of Kosovo’s Environmental Agenda”.

Nëse jeni të interesuar të merrni pjesë në punëtori, ju lutemi klikoni në linkun më poshtë për t’u regjistruar:

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Otvoreni poziv za radionicu o izveštavanju o energetskoj efikasnosti i životnoj sredini

BIRN Kosovo i TV Mreža organizuju 23. decembra 2020. godine radionicu za novinare koja se fokusira na unapređenje znanja i izveštavanje o energetskoj efikasnosti, kao i zdravstvenim prednostima korišćenja obnovljivih izvora i stvaranja čiste životne sredine. Ovo će neposredno uvećati sposobnosti lokalnih novinara i pomoći im da na profesionalan i nepristrasan način izveštavaju o energetskoj efikasnosti, obnovljivoj energiji, zdravlju i životnoj sredini.

Radionica će biti osmišljena da sadrži i teorijske i praktične elemente, tako da učesnici neće samo steći teorijska znanja, već će odmah  početi i da ih primenjuju. Ova radionica je organizovana u okviru projekta „Evropeizacija kosovske agende za zaštitu životne sredine“, koji podržava Evropska unija na Kosovu, a sprovode BIRN Kosovo, TV Mreža, ERA grupa i Bankwatch.

Novinari koji prisustvuju radionici biće osposobljeni  veštinama potrebnim za izveštavanje, odnosno pisanje o agendi za održivi razvoj sa posebnim fokusom na energetsku efikasnost i životnu sredinu.

Predavači na ovoj radionicu biće:

Jeta  Džara –  direktorka BIRN Kosovo

Krešnik Gaši i Visar Prebreza – glavni urednici BIRN Kosovo

Fatmir Gerguri – ekspert za zaštitu životne sredine

Aleksandar Đorđević – istraživački novinar u  BIRN  Srbija

Dragan Gmizić – novinar i nagrađivani filmski reditelj o životnoj sredini/ekologiji

Minimalni uslovi za učestvovanje na ovoj radionici: Učesnici moraju da budu aktivni novinari najmanje godinu dana, bilo novinari slobodnjaci ili koji rade za medijsku kuću i da su objavili ili emitovali najmanje 7-10 priča.

Rok za prijavu za učešcće na ovoj radionici je 22. decembar 2020. godine, do 23.59 časova dok je maksimalan broj učesnika 20. Radionica će se održati putem ZOOM-a i druga je i poslednja radionica organizovana u okviru projekta „Evropeizacija kosovske agende za zaštitu životne sredine“.

Ako ste zainteresovani za učešće na radionici, kliknite  link/ove u nastavku da biste se registrovali:

BIRN Investigations Editor to Talk on Prague Media Forum

Ivan Angelovski, an investigative reporter and editor working on long-term international projects for BIRN, will talk at this year’s Prague Media Point.

Prague Media Point 2020 is a virtual conference for journalists, media professionals, and scholars taking place on December 1-11, 2020 with workshops on December 12-13.

“This year’s program, under the theme ‘What’s Working’, will again take stock of success stories in the media industry – so important amid all the normal doom and gloom in the profession and society at large,” the organisers said.

“Held exclusively online, this year’s event presents a unique opportunity to learn from and engage with media leaders, no matter where you are,” they added.

The online conference will tackle issues of media freedom, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, diversity issues, organised crime, China’s influence, and engaging audiences in long-term investigations.

Angelovski will speak at the session entitled: “How to Expose an Illegal Arms Business in Your Pajamas” on Friday December 11 at 5.25pm CET.

Angelovski was a member of a team of reporters that won the 2017 Global Investigative Journalism Conference’s citation of excellence 2017 Investigative Reporting Award with the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, and won second prize with the EU investigative journalism award in the Western Balkans and Turkey in 2016.