Category: News and Events

‘Predators’ Documentary: Serbia’s Fishy Problem

New documentary produced by award-winning environmental film maker looks at the damaging consequences of over-fishing and illegal fishing in Serbia.

A new film, Predators, which will have its premiere in Velgrade on November 1, deals with the problem and consequences of over-fishing in Serbia, following the activities of fishermen and nature protection activists in their effort to prevent illegal fishing in the country, and its consequences.

The film highlights the uncontrolled and unregulated nature of the fish market, which is why both state and legal fish producers are being financially disadvantaged.

The film documents the open sale of strictly protected species that are on the verge of extinction, as well as the sale of fish in places that do not meet basic sanitary conditions.

The film is based on a BIRN investigation published in July 2018 that dealt with the problem of the extinction of starlets due to overcrowding and illegal catches.

One of the authors of the investigation is the author of the documentary, journalist Dragan Gmizic, founder of the Greenfield production company, from Novi Sad.

Gmizic is also known for his earlier films dealing with environmental issues in Serbia, such as Flatland without Birds? and Dark Shadow of Green Energy, which were both awarded at local and regional festivals.

Predators was produced by Greenfield Production in collaboration with Balkan Investigative Network – BIRN Serbia, WWF Adria and AWP – Association for Widlife Protection.

After the film projection, there will be a discussion on the topic of fish theft with the film actors.

The environmental documentary will be premiered on Friday, November 1 at 7pm in Nova Iskra, in the Dorcol district of Belgrade

Winners of EU Investigative Awards in Kosovo Announced

The EU Awards for investigative journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey 2018 cycle closed in Pristina, where three journalists won awards for their stories on Wednesday.

Journalist Saranda Ramaj won first prize for the best investigative story in 2018 in Kosovo for her investigation, “Warehouse of Pharmaceutical Abuse”, which the jury described as “a topic of huge public interest”, and her work as “very brave, thorough and persistent”.

Second prize went to Serbeze Haxhiaj for her investigative article “Kosovo’s Political Murders: Unpunished, Not Forgotten”. In its decision, the jury underlined Haxhaij’s ability to “give a voice to those who will be otherwise not heard”.

Third prize went to Ardiana Mehmeti for the story “Exploitation in Telecom” (link, link).

The jury composed Albana Kasapi, a BBC World Service Radio programme editor, as head of the jury, and Lirim Duvolli, from the daily Koha in North Macedonia and president of the North Macedonian Association of Print Media, and Arion Sulo, editor-in-chief of Mapo newspaper.

The jury had a challenging task in picking the best stories from a number of excellent applications. Jury head Kasapi underlined the high quality of the applications – and the fact that half of the applicants were women.

“I am very proud of my female colleagues and their courage,” she said. “They are reporting on important issues in adverse circumstances, taking on under-reported stories from minority rights to war crimes and corruption. I commend their bravery and hope they will be an inspiration to many of our colleagues.”

Riccardo Serri, Deputy Head of the EU Office/EUSR in Kosovo, noted that while all the awarded investigative stories are important topics for Kosovo, they are also important for every other country in the region, and beyond.

“It is important to realise how crucial journalists are for society. Without journalists, there is no free society,” Serri said, underlining the importance of a free media for the EU as a whole.

Following the awards ceremony, a panel discussion on investigative journalism in Kosovo and the challenges journalists face took place.

The panel was moderated by Eraldin Fazliu, editor at BIRN. Among the other panelists were Albana Kasapi and the EU award winner for 2017, Leonard Kerquki, of Gazeta Express.

In the discussion, this year’s winners stressed both the importance of their work and challenges they faced.

Ardiana Mehmeti spoke of the struggles she faced while writing her investigation on Telecom. “They asked me directly ‘how much [money]’ I needed to stop my work. They sliced my tires. The police did nothing,” she recalled.

The EU award for investigative journalism is awarded through the EU-funded project “Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey” in 2019, 2020, and 2021 in the following EU candidate and potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

It is for investigative stories published between 2018 and 2020. In total, 63 awards will be awarded over the three-year period.

The awards in Kosovo are coordinated by BIRN Hub, and the regional consortium is led also by the Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network, the BIRN Hub.

BIRN Kosovo Trains Journalists in Fact-Checking Public Finances

BIRN Kosovo on October 30 provided training to journalists on monitoring, fact-checking and reporting on day-to-day issues related to public finances in Kosovo.

At the training session, journalists were further informed on how to fact-check and report on cases related to public finances, how to read audit reports and how to combat informality in the Tax Administration of Kosovo.

The training session was attended by journalists from various media, including those from the Serb community in Kosovo.

Visar Prebreza from BIRN Kosovo addressed the topic of fact-checking related to the economy, procurement and public spending, while Kreshnik Gashi, anchor of the ‘Justice in Kosovo’ TV programme, provided more information about fighting informality in the Tax Administration of Kosovo.

At the end of the session, the journalists were certified by BIRN Kosovo for their successful completion of the training.

The training session was held within the framework of the “CSOs as Equal Partners in Monitoring Public Finance” project.

BIRN Albania Marks Five-Year Anniversary of Reporter.al

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania marked the five-year anniversary of its online award-winning publication Reporter.al on October 24.

To celebrate Reporter.al’s fifth birthday, BIRN Albania held a reception at the Destil Co-Working Space in Tirana, which was attended by journalists who have contributed to the publication over the past five years, as well as civil society activists and donors.

BIRN Albania Editor-in-Chief Besar Likmeta said that when the publication was launched in 2014 with the aim to create a space to cultivate independent, hard-hitting, investigative journalism, “many were skeptical”.

“Five years on, with more than 250 investigative stories published, which have defined the news agenda, I am glad we have proved the sceptics wrong,” he said.

Since it was established in September 2014, Reporter.al has become a prominent force in investigative journalism in Albania, primarily covering the war against corruption and impunity in the country.

Over the past five years, it has earned a number of awards for its journalists and stories, including the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism, the EU Award for Investigative Journalism in Albania, and the Free Speech Award by the South East Europe Coalition of Whistleblower Protection.

“We are proud to have collaborated with dozens of reporters in the four corners of the country, creating an enabling environment for excellence in journalism,” Likmeta said.

The online publication was accompanied one year after its launch by a monthly print version in Albanian and English, distributed to more than 400 institutions in Albania, including foreign embassies, government departments, ministries, media house and civil society organisations.

Also to mark the anniversary, BIRN Albania published a book featuring a collection of more than 250 hard-hitting investigations published on Reporter.al over the last five years.

Reporter.al is part of BIRN Albania’s programme ‘Exposing Corruption in Albania’, supported by the Open Society Foundation in Albania (OSFA), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD).

BIRN Kosovo Holds Reporting Training in Ferizaj

Twenty-one students from Kosovo’s Ferizaj municipality took part in a training course on media law and extremism organised by BIRN Kosovo on October 28.

The training course was held at AAB college in the Ferizaj municipality.

The course was divided into two sessions, one led by Drita Hajdari, a prosecutor at the Kosovo Special Prosecution, and the second by Kreshnik Gashi, editor of the TV programme ‘Justice in Kosovo’.

Hajdari described the history of Islamic extremism over the years and how extremist Islamic ideology made its way to Kosovo. She further described Kosovo’s national strategy for the years 2015-2020 and how the prosecution continues to do a lot of work within the framework of the national strategy to prevent and counter violent extremism.

She pointed out the importance of youth cooperation in reporting suspected cases of radicalisation, and the importance of regional cooperation for preventing violent extremism.

Gashi engaged in a more in-depth conversation with the participants and addressed questions on radicalisation through social media, monitoring of debates on social media, and the methods of reporting cases of terrorism.

According to Gashi, in order to prevent radicalisation through social media, a debate around extremist ideologies should be fostered in order to provide a counter-narrative to extremism.

The course was organised as part of the project ‘With Participatory Democracy for a Kosovo without Radicalisation’, funded by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, GCERF.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Debate on Audit Report in Podujevo

Discussion of compliance with reports issued by Auditor General confirmed that country’s municipalities are lagging behind.

In the Kosovo municipality of Podujevo, BIRN Kosovo held the third segment of its series of debates discussing the findings of BIRN Kosovo’s audit report monitoring project on Monday, October 28, analysing reports published by the National Audit Office concerning the country’s municipalities.

The results of BIRN’s monitoring and analysis were published and discussed in an open debate with more than 30 participants from the municipality, the National Audit Office and civil society. The debate was streamed live on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Visar Prebreza, BIRN Kosovo’s Managing Director, gave a brief presentation on the project and the findings.

According to Prebreza, the procurement sector has seen continuous violations during the last four years of audit reports. He recalled that the municipality received a large number of recommendations, but its level of implementation of these recommendations was not satisfactory.

Compared to other ministries or independent agencies, he said, municipalities are less successful in their implementation of the Audit Office’s recommendations.

Prebreza highlighted the positive opinion issued by the Audit Office in its emphasis of what mattered for the Municipality of Podujevo. However, he added, there have also been cases of failure to register municipal property.

Deputy Mayor of Podujevo Nexhmi Rudari said they were aware of the recommendations of the Audit Office, but circumstances faced by the institution had prevented their implementation.

“Many of the recommendations have been partially implemented, some of them fully implemented – but we have to say that a large part of them have not been implemented,” Rudari said. “It is not a lack of will but rather circumstances that have made their implementation impossible,” he added.

During the debate, a representative from the National Audit Office, Ilir Salihu, discussed the importance of this kind of meeting, saying that they help address the unsatisfactory standards of implementation of recommendations by Kosovo municipalities.

“The overall level of implementation of the Audit Office’s recommendations at Kosovo institutional level is around 40 per cent – while municipalities are around 10 per cent. Audit reports aim to present the most accurate picture of public spending,” he said.

Following keynote speakers and discussion of the analysis from BIRN Kosovo, time was devoted to an open discussion and participants answered questions from the audience.

Beside providing an avenue to discuss implementation of recommendations by the Audit’s Office, the debates are also an opportunity for BIRN to record promises made both by the General Auditor and the Municipality of Podujevo – to be followed-up through Kallxo.com’s fact-checking platform, Krypometer.

The debate was organised within the framework of the project, “Support civil society to increase public oversight and accountability of Kosovo public institutions”, which 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 the recommendations of the Auditor General’s Reports.

Similar debates will be held across other municipalities in Kosovo, with the aim of presenting BIRN Kosovo’s analysis of the success of the implementation recommendations made by the Auditor. Every debate will be held during municipal assemblies of the municipalities in question, and will be live streamed by BIRN Kosovo.

BIRN Albania Launches Judicial Vetting Database

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania launched a new online database on October 29 that compiles and classifies its coverage of the vetting process of judges and prosecutors in Albania.

The database (reporter.al/vetingu), which is updated daily, contains news, analysis and asset evaluation reports of all the judges and prosecutors who have undergo through the vetting process from January 2018 to the present, in the vetting commission and the College of Appeals – the special chamber of the Constitutional Court.

The database compiles daily and in-depth reporting from BIRN Albania journalists focusing on all the three vetting institutions, organised in an easily accessible database, searchable based on the institution or the assessee who has undergone the vetting process.

The database aims to become an historical archive of the vetting process, which will be used now and in the future by journalists, researchers and academics interested to study and report on this key reform for Albania’s justice system.

Apart from the reports on the vetting process, the webpage also includes six studies published by BIRN Albania on the assets declarations of judges and prosecutors at all the levels of the judiciary in Albanian and English.

The database has been funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA and USAID’s Justice for All Project and the Open Society Foundation in Albania, OSFA.

Second Call for Resonant Voices Fellowship

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Commission for International Justice and Accountability and the Foundation Propulsion Fund are encouraging journalists, researchers and writers from across Europe to apply for the second Resonant Voices Fellowship programme. The call will last until November 25, 2019.

It offers fellowships consisting of 3,000-euro bursaries and mentoring to explore related difficult questions at the intersection of identity, migration, democracy, human rights, radicalisation and violent extremism.

What does the future of the European Union and of European identity look like? What do the proponents of both open and closed societies and borders within the EU want and what tactics do they use to promote their vision? What role do propaganda and disinformation campaigns play in the radicalisation and polarisation of our societies and who is most susceptible? How successful are online platforms’ content policies and government regulation in curbing dangerous online narratives? What strategies are employed by those pushing back against radicalising, polarising and inflammatory narratives and what challenges do they face?

The Resonant Voices Fellows map evolving radicalising influences eroding the fabric of our societies and undermining our values. They expose and challenge extremist [1] messaging targeting vulnerable audiences in the European Union, particularly online. Their work also contributes to developing communication strategies and targeted outreach as a means to combat these threats.

Examples of topics the Fellows could explore include:

  • Far-right networks operating in Europe with links to the Western Balkans
  • Religious radicalisation in Europe with links to the Western Balkans and Turkey
  • The impact of EU enlargement policy on the polarisation of national debates in the EU member states and (future) candidate countries
  • Political attitudes and the influence of Western Balkan diasporas within the European Union and in the Western Balkans
  • Nexus between Balkan-linked networks of organised crime and terrorism within EU borders
  • Links between political discourse and disinformation in the context of migration, security and terrorism and the political violence within the EU
  • The role of media in countering disinformation and propaganda in connection with migration
  • Grassroots activism and local initiatives to defend human rights and democratic values and their online strategies with a specific focus on distribution of messages across language and geographic communities
  • Online battlefield – techniques and methods of confrontation, intimidation and suppression of free speech online and offline
  • The impact of content regulation and online platform policies and their enforcement on activism, journalism and counternarrative campaigns across the EU
  • Life of Western Balkans diaspora communities in Austria, Croatia, and Germany.

Journalists, researchers, and writers will be chosen through open competition to receive funding and professional support to conduct in-depth research and investigation of a topic of EU and regional significance. Chosen applicants will attend a three-day workshop in Berlin in January 2020.

Successful applicants will be mentored by BIRN editors, benefitting from their practical experience, as well as from on-the-job learning. The stories they produce will be published on BIRN’s flagship website, Balkan Insight, and by prominent regional and international media outlets.

Fellowship Structure

  • The Resonant Voices Fellowship includes the following elements:
  • Fellowship bursary of 3,000 euros per selected fellow or team;
  • A three-day workshop in Berlin (Germany), with European and regional trainers in January 2020;
  • Ongoing, on-the-job mentoring and support from BIRN’s editor and visual communications mentor;
  • Publication of in-depth investigation on BIRN’s flagship website Balkan Insight and in other media outlets.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Individuals or teams with residence in the EU, Western Balkans or Turkey.
  • Applicants should be proficient in English (speaking, reading and comprehension).

How to Apply

To apply, send the completed application form, resume (CV) and signed declaration of the applicant to [email protected] with the subject “Resonant Voices Fellowship” by 23.59 on November 25, 2019.

Download files:

APPLICATION FORM

DECLARATION

More information regarding the application process may be found in our: APPLICATION GUIDELINES

In case you have additional questions or need further clarification regarding the Fellowship programme, please refer to [email protected].

Find out more about the Resonant Voices Initiative and our previous Resonant Voices Fellowship’s stories:

Website: https://resonantvoices.info/resonant-voices/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantvoices?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantvoices/

 

17 applicants benefit from BIRN Kosovo’s EU funded Grant Scheme

After two successful phases of grants from which 31 applicants were awarded, the jury selected 17 beneficiaries for the third and final phase of the project “Contribute to strengthening independent, investigative and publicly beneficial journalism and freedom of expression in Kosovo” a project implemented by BIRN in cooperation with AGK, and funded by the EU.

With the third phase of the grant scheme, BIRN aims to provide opportunities for Kosovo’s public broadcaster, as well as other national and local televised media, print and online media who operate and work in Kosovo, in order to implement actions to produce new content for their respective outlets.

The project seeks to develop independent, investigative, impartial, unbiased and publicly beneficial journalism, and equip the beneficiaries with the required skills and resources to implement creative, investigative, legally sound and publicly beneficial journalism.

The applications and the selected grantees were evaluated by a professional jury, which met for the first time on September 12 to evaluate 44 applicants. The jury evaluated 39 applications that fulfilled the eligibility criteria, and during the meeting, each member of the jury presented their evaluations on each individual application, before discussing their merits.

The applications were evaluated by the jury based on the relevance of the proposed actions and activities, their creativity, the quality of the financial offer, the project team’s potential and the previous experience of the applicant.

In this regard, 15 applicants were provided with small grants of 5,000 euros or less, and two applicants with medium-sized grants, which range from 25,000 to 30,000 euros. The total amount of money awarded to the grantees as part of the scheme reached 124,073.70 euros.

The main objective for the selected applicants will be to contribute to the development of investigative journalism and freedom of expression, increasing the skills of media professionals in monitoring, fact-checking and accountability across Kosovo for the public’s benefit.

All applicants received individual replies about their application, including an evaluation form with points and comments from the jury.

Click here to see the list of awarded grantees  

17 aplikantë përfitojnë nga Skema e Granteve të BIRN, financuar nga BE

 

Pas dy fazave të suksesshme të granteve nga të cilat 31 aplikantë janë shpërblyer, juria ka përzgjedhur 17 përfitues për fazën e tretë dhe të fundit të projektit “Kontribut në forcimin e gazetarisë së pavarur hulumtuese dhe të dobishme për publikun, si dhe lirinë e shprehjes në Kosovë”, projekt ky i implementuar nga BIRN në bashkëpunim me AGK, dhe i financuar nga BE.

Përmes fazës së tretë të Skemës së Granteve, BIRN synon të sigurojë mundësi për transmetuesin publik të Kosovës, si dhe mediat e tjera televizive kombëtare dhe vendore , mediat e shkruara dhe ato online që veprojnë dhe punojnë në Kosovë, me qëllim të zbatimit të veprimeve që synojnë të prodhojnë përmbajtje te reja për mediat e tyre përkatëse.

Projekti synon të zhvillojë gazetari të pavarur, hulumtuese, të paanshme, dhe të dobishme për publikun, dhe të pajisë përfituesit me aftësitë dhe burimet e nevojshme për të zbatuar gazetari kreative, hulumtuese, juridike dhe të dobishme për publikun .

Aplikantët dhe përfituesit e përzgjedhur janë vlerësuar nga një juri profesionale, e cila u takua për herë të parë më 12 shtator për të vlerësuar 44 aplikantë. Juria vlerësoi 39 aplikime që plotësonin kriteret e pranueshmërisë, dhe gjatë takimit secili anëtar i jurisë prezantoi vlerësimet e tyre për secilin aplikim individual, ku më pas diskutuan edhe për meritat e kandidatëve.

Juria ka vlerësuar aplikantët në bazë të rëndësisë së veprimeve dhe aktiviteteve të propozuara, kreativitetit, cilësisë së ofertës financiare, potencialit të ekipit të projektit dhe përvojës së mëparshme të kandidatit.

Në këtë mënyrë, 15 aplikantë  janë pajisur me grante të vogla prej 5,000 euro ose më pak, dhe dy aplikantë me grante të mesme, më një shumë prej 25,000 deri në 30,000 euro. Shuma totale e fondeve të ofruara për përfituesit e granteve si pjesë e skemës arriti në 124,073.70 euro.

Qëllimi kryesor i aplikantëve te përzgjedhur do të jetë kontributi në zhvillimin e gazetarisë hulumtuese dhe lirisë së shprehjes, rritjen e aftësive të profesionistëve të mediave në monitorimin, kontrollimin e fakteve dhe përgjegjshmërinë në të gjithë Kosovën për të mirën e publikut.

Të gjithë kandidatët pranuan përgjigje individuale rreth aplikimit të tyre, ku po ashtu përfshihej edhe një formular vlerësimi me pikët dhe komentet nga juria.

Klikoni këtu për të parë listën e të përzgjedhurve.

17 dobitnika grantova BIRN Kosovo kroz projekat koji finansira EU

 

Nakon dve uspešne faze grantova sa kojih je 31 nagrađenih aplikanta, žiri je odabrao 17 korisnika za treću i poslednju fazu projekta „Doprinos jačanju nezavisnog istraživačkog i korisnog novinarstva za javnost, kao i slobodi izražavanja u Kosovo “, projekat koji je BIRN realizovao u saradnji sa AGK, a finansirao EU.

U trećoj fazi, cilj BIRN-a je da pruži mogućnost javnom servisu Kosova, kao i drugim nacionalnim i lokalnim televizijama i štampanim i onlajn medijima koji rade na Kosovu, da proizvedu nove, kvalitetne sadržaje.

Projekat ima za cilj razvijanje nezavisnog, istraživačkog, nepristrasnog, objektivnog i javno korisnog novinarstva i obučavanje korisnika grantovim potrebnim veštinama i resursima za implementaciju kreativnog, istraživačkog, pravno dobrog i javno korisnog novinarstva.

Aplikacije i izabrane dobitnike grantova je ocenio stručni žiri, koji se prvi put sastao 12. septembra kako bi ocenio 44 aplikanta. Žiri je ocenio 39 aplikacija koje su ispunile predviđene kriterijume, a tokom sastanka svaki član žirija predstavio je svoje ocene o svakoj pojedinačnoj aplikaciji, pre nego što su se upustili u diskusiju.

Aplikacije je ocenjivao žiri na osnovu relevantnosti predloženih aktivnosti, njihove kreativnosti, kvaliteta finansijske ponude, potencijala projektnog tima i prethodnog iskustva aplikanta.

Tako je 15 aplikanata  dobilo male grantove od 5.000 evra ili manje, a dva aplikanta srednje grantove, koji se kreću od 25.000 do 30.000 evra. Ukupan novčani iznos dodeljen dobitnicima u okviru šeme dostigao je 124,073.70 eura.

Glavni cilj odabranih grantova biće doprinos razvoju istraživačkog novinarstva i slobode izražavanja, jačanje veština medijskih profesionalaca u proveri činjenica i odgovornosti medija širom Kosova, a u svrhu dobrobiti javnosti.

Svi aplikanti dobili su pojedinačne odgovore o njihovoj aplikaciji, uključujući obrazac za ocenu sa bodovima i komentarima žirija.

Lista uspešnih aplikanata je priložena ispod.

BIRN Kosovo Holds Debate on Audit Report in Ferizaj

BIRN Kosovo held the second of its series of debates discussing the findings of its audit report monitoring project on October 22 at the municipal assembly building in Ferizaj.

The project analyses reports produced by the National Audit Office on the country’s municipalities.

Results from BIRN’s monitoring and analysis were discussed in a debate, with more than 50 participants from the Ferizaj municipality, the National Audit Office and civil society. The debate was livestreamed on BIRN’s anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com.

Visar Prebreza, BIRN Kosovo’s managing editor, said that of the 29 recommendations given to municipal officials by the National Audit Office, only five have been implemented by the Ferizaj municipality.

“In 2016, 29 recommendations were given, and in 2017 only five out of the 29 were addressed,” Prebreza said.

“The auditor’s recommendations should be taken more seriously by the municipality of Ferizaj, starting with the mayor,” Prebreza added.

Deputy mayor Naim Ferati acknowledged that there have been delays in implementing the recommendations but stated that “after this meeting, I will address all of the recommendations from BIRN and the National Auditor to see where we are”.

Following the discussion of the analysis, there was an open discussion and questions from the audience.

The debate was organised as part of a project entitled ‘Support Civil Society to Increase Public Oversight and Accountability of Kosovo Public Institutions’, funded by the British embassy in Pristina.

Similar debates will be held in other municipalities in Kosovo to present BIRN Kosovo’s analysis of the implementation of the auditor’s recommendations.

Each debate will be held in municipal assembly buildings and will be livestreamed by BIRN Kosovo.

At the debates, promises made both by the General Auditor and the municipal will be recorded and then followed up and fact-checked by BIRN Kosovo’s fact-checking tool Krypometer.