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Fellowship Award goes to Bulgarian Journalist

Nikoleta Popkostadinova, 24, has won the first Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence award for her article on Roma employment.

Jobs Boom in Bulgaria leaves Roma Behind takes a fresh angle on the issue of Roma exclusion, highlighting economic as opposed to human rights arguments for mobilising the beleaguered community out of its poverty trap.

Members of the Fellowship’s Selection Committee – whose members are Alexandra Foderl-Schmid, editor-in-chief of Austrian daily Der Standard, Drago Hedl, editor of Croatian weekly Feral Tribune, Gordana Igrić, director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Gerald Knaus, president of the European Stability Initiative, Remzi Lani, director of the Albanian Media Institute, Christiane Schlotzer, deputy foreign editor of the Suddeutsche Zeitung, and Wolfgang Wahner-Schmidt, Editor Europe for Reuters – recognised the originality of this approach to covering Roma deprivation, as well as the quality of research and writing.

Popkostadinova, who works for the Kapital weekly, covering social affairs, receives an award of 8000 euros, to spend on professional development.

The award was presented at a seminar in Berlin, hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and attended by all ten fellows. Runners up were Milorad Ivanović, for Rich States Poach Former Yugoslavia’s Sporting Talents, and Davor Konjikušić, for Sound of Music Heals Wounds in former Yugoslavia.

The seminar also marked the launch of a book featuring all fellows’ articles. Moving On: Overcoming Balkan Barriers to a European Future shall be distributed in the coming weeks at events to be held throughout Southeast Europe, and is also available online at http://fellowship.birn.eu.com/movingon.

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, visit fellowship.birn.eu.com, or contact programme manager & editor Anna McTaggart on [email protected].

Ten New Reports Highlight Need to Ease Balkan Mobility

A series of reports by group of journalists from Southeast Europe was launched today, highlighting the need for better movement of people, goods and ideas to expedite development of the Balkan region and its European integration.

Moving On: Overcoming Balkan Barriers to a European Future provides new insight into the existence and impact of a range of obstacles on political, economic and social issues, through topics as diverse as criminal justice, environmental threats and sport and culture policy, as well as visa regimes, labour flows and the politics of transport.

The ten articles, representing the culmination of months of research within the Balkan region and European Union, were written by journalists selected from throughout Southeast Europe to participate in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.

The programme was initiated this year by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and ERSTE Foundation to provide financial and professional support for quality reporting, regional networking among journalists and balanced coverage on complex reform issues that are central to the Balkan region, as well as to the EU.

The fellows were given practical, professional support by the programme’s local partner, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, a regional network of media development organisations and publisher of Balkan Insight. Moving On is published by BIRN, online and in a special book edition. Versions of the reports are available in English, German, Albanian, Bulgarian, Bosnian/Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbian.

Link to reports: http://fellowship.birn.eu.com/movingon

For additional information, including on how to republish and cite reports, go to http://fellowship.birn.eu.com/movingon/publishing.html, or contact Anna McTaggart, Programme Manager & Editor, [email protected]

Balkan Journalism Fellows Present their Articles in Berlin

Ten journalists participating in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence travelled to Berlin on November 13 to present the results of individual research and writing projects carried out as part of the 2007 programme.

The fellows, who are from throughout the Balkan region, shall attend a five-day seminar, marking the publication of reports they produced with the programme’s financial and professional support. The series of reports, which feature topics related to the mobility of people, goods and ideas in the Balkans, is entitled “Moving On: Overcoming Balkan Barriers to a European Future.” It is to be distributed both in the Balkans and throughout Europe in a special book edition, via the Balkan Insight email newsletter, as well as appearing online – in eight languages – at fellowship.birn.eu.com/movingon/ .

On the basis of these reports, the Fellowship’s Selection Committee, comprising journalists and experts from throughout Europe, shall award one fellow with financial support to develop his or her professional skills. The award shall be announced on Friday, November 16.

The seminar’s programme also features discussions with Berlin-based experts on a variety of issues current in the Balkans and Europe as a whole, including the geopolitics of energy supply, demographic changes and religious coexistence, as well as a visit to the German foreign ministry.

The event is organised and hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, which ,with the ERSTE Foundation, initiated the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, the programme’s partner in the region, provided professional support to the fellows during their research, and produced the Moving On publication.

For more information on the programme, and to read the fellows’ articles, visit fellowship.birn.eu.com. For copies of the publication, contact Fellowship Programme Manager & Editor, Anna McTaggart, on [email protected].

Life in Kosovo analyses the last week of the electoral campaign

This Thursday the Life in Kosovo TV debate programme will host a live discussion continuing its analysis of the electoral campaign.

In the final debate before the November 17 local and parliamentary elections, analysts and publicists will discuss the various platforms that have been put forward by the political parties; they will also look at election results forecasts and likely post-election coalition scenarios, focusing on who will be in government, who will be in opposition and who will most likely be the next prime minister.

The Life in Kosovo TV debate show is a cooperative project between Kosovo public television, RTK, and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and is broadcast every Thursday beginning at 20:15

BIRN and Scoop Hold Conference on Investigative Reporting

Over 130 journalists from the Balkans and Eastern Europe attended BIRN’s conference on investigative reporting in Budapest on November 9-11.

Organised in cooperation with SCOOP, the Danish-based support structure that gives direct help to investigative reporting, the event brought together the largest gatherings of journalists in the region who specialise in uncovering difficult-to-report stories.

The conference, hosted by Hungary’ Centre for Independent Journalism, provided an opportunity for participants to meet fellow-journalists who have been involved in tracking terrorists, worked undercover in an orphanage or exposed university lecturers who issued false diplomas.

Leading practitioners from the United States and elsewhere in the world shared their experiences in investigative reporting.

Mark Schapiro, Editorial Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, California, spoke about the role of the media as a watchdog.

Professor Sheila Coronel, Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, New York, described the challenges facing investigative journalists in her native Philippines and other transition societies across the world.

Hu Shuli, Managing Editor of China’s Caijing business magazine, voted International Editor of the Year (2003) by the World Press Review, focused on the very different problems facing investigative journalists working within her country’s more restrictive media environment, but noted that 95 per cent of topics were no longer taboo.

David Kaplan of the organisation Investigative Reporters and Editors, detailed some of the ground-breaking investigations he had carried out for U.S. News and World Report, about terrorists and the war on terror around the world.

Kaplan’s presentation and a talk by Milorad Ivanovic, deputy Editor-in-chief of Blic daily in Serbia, prompted a lively discussion about the rights and wrongs of using the term „terrorist”.

The arguments pitted supporters of the principle that journalists should avoid using value-laden or emotional language against those who believe that reporters should not be afraid to “call a spade a spade”.

The former was exemplified by the editorial guidelines of the BBC and Reuters, which warn against use of the term on the grounds that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”, while the latter argued that denying that an act of violence against innocent civilians was terrorism was simply pandering to the terrorists’ supporters.

Participants had many opportunities to broaden their knowledge and improve their skills in advanced computer-assisted research, working undercover, investigating terrorism and dealing with the often sophisticated financial aspects of corruption.

“This conference was a much-needed positive contribution to promoting professional standards in investigative reporting in the Balkans and beyond”, Gordana Igric, BIRN’s director said about training event.

Over 20 journalists gave personal accounts of successful investigative reports. These ranged from the impact of gold mining on the environment in Bulgaria to the issuing of fake documents in Macedonia, from the recruitment of Balkan mercenaries for Iraq to the financial machinations of energy suppliers in Romania.

There were lively debates about the ethics of working undercover, protecting the confidentiality of sources, reporting violence and its impact both on audiences and the journalists themselves.

“Many journalists came here believing lack of resources or up-to-date technology made some forms of investigative reporting impossible”, SCOOP’s conference organiser, Henrik Kaufholz, said after the event. “They.ve gone away knowing it’s all possible.

Life in Kosovo Debates on Municipal Elections – Now Online

The Life in Kosovo TV debate series has so far staged 26 shows on the forthcoming local authority elections, while travelling to each of the 30 municipalities in Kosovo.

These shows consist of over an hour of debate each time. They give specific information about the municipality at the start of each programme, and then tackle some of the most crucial issues that each municipality faces, while also analysing the political parties’ approach to these issues.

All municipal election debates can now be watched online, if you follow this link:
http://www.rtklive.com/etc/jeta_ne_ks1.php

It was not possible to hold debates in the three municipalities in the north of Kosovo, in Zveqan/ Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq/Leposavic because the Serbian candidates in the mayoral contests in these municipalities have said they decided to withdraw from the contest.

Local and parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 17, and for the first time Kosovo’s electorate will have the chance to vote on the basis of an open-list system. In other words, they will not be voting for a party list, as in previous elections, but for competing individual candidates for the parliament, the municipal assemblies and for the mayoral posts.

The aim of the road show on the municipal elections was to bring face-to-face the audience with the candidates running in the election for mayor who were presenting their political agenda and arguments on how they would carry out their promises and meet other requirements after the elections.

Before the debates the Life in Kosovo team opened a telephone hotline and visited local media all around Kosovo in order to collect specific questions for each municipality from the citizens.

In this way people were encouraged to call in and put their questions for the candidates.

The shows were open to the public who could join the audience and contribute to the debates with their questions in written form during the first 15 minutes of each show. The questions judged to be the best were then directly addressed to the candidates running for mayor during the debate.

Over 500 people participated in each of the shows. In Lipjan/Ljipljan the audience numbered 900.

The debate on the mayoral contest for Pristina will be held on Tuesday, November 13, beginning at 14.00 in the Red Hall of the Youth Palace.

The “Life in Kosovo” shows on municipal elections are a co-production of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN Kosovo’s public TV station RTK, Advocacy Training and Recourse Centre, ATRC and Institute for Advanced Studies, GAP. These debates were supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the OSCE and the UNDP.Local organizations will contribute to the production of these debates as well.

Life in Kosovo continues road show on municipal elections

Life in Kosovo is continuing its shows on the municipal elections, and has conducted 21 debates out of Kosovo’s 30 municipalities so far. Others are planned to be filmed in the coming days.

decan audiece

During last week’s Life in Kosovo debates on the local authority elections over 500 people participated in each of the shows.

BIRN’s televised programmes consist of over an hour of debate, tackling some of the most crucial issues that each municipality faces while also analysing the political parties’ approach to these issues. Candidates running for the positions of mayor in these municipalities are invited to present their political agendas and arguments on how they will carry out their promises and meet other requirements after the elections.

This weekend, the Life in Kosovo team will be visiting the municipalities of Shterpce, Shtime, Lipjan, Vushtrri and Mitrovica.

The timetable of the debates is below:

November 2, 2007

Shterpce: 10:00h
Shtime: 14:00h
Lipjan: 18:00h

November 3, 2007

Vushtrri: 10:00h
Mitrovice: 14:00h

Life in Kosovo at a new time on RTK

Since 18 October, the “Life in Kosovo” current affairs programme has been shown by Kosovo’s public broadcaster, RTK, at a new time.

“Life in Kosovo”, which is a co-production of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN and RTK, is now broadcast every Thursday from 20:15.

The programme offers a lively debate on political, social and cultural issues, followed by an investigative reporting segment and then — the “desert” of the show – the political and social satire “Dhandrri i Kosovës” (Kosovo son in law).

During the election campaign, in addition to the regular weekly programe, “Life in Kosovo” will be broadcast each evening from 23.15.

These daily broadcasts will feature debates on the mayoral elections in 30 municipalities. BIRN and RTK`s partners, the NGOs ATRC and GAP, have joined forces to organise these debates.

Life in Kosovo roadshow on municipal elections rolls on

Over 300 people participated in each of the Life in Kosovo debates on local authority elections that have been held so far in nine of Kosovo’s 30 municipalities.

Elections

This weekend, the Life in Kosovo team will be visiting the municipalities of Gllogovc, Malisheva, Rahovec, Dragash, Suhareka, Prizren, Gjakova, Decan, Peja, Istog, Klina and Skenderaj.

The timetable and the location of the debates are below:

October 26, 2007

Gllogovc: 10:00h
Malisheva: 14:00h
Rahovec: 18:00h

October 27, 2007

Dragash: 9:00h
Suhareka: 14:00h
Prizren: 18:00

October 28, 2007

Gjakova: 10:00h
Decan: 14:00h
Peja: 18:00h

October 29, 2007

Istog: 10:00h
Klina: 14:00h
Skenderaj: 18:00h

Life in Kosovo visits local TV stations

This week, the “Life in Kosovo” team will visit local TV stations around Kosovo.

The aim of this visit is to give television viewers in these municipalities the opportunity to put their questions, to discuss the problems that their towns and villages are facing, and to explain how they see their municipalities evolve after the forthcoming local elections.

Through these visits, the team will collect information from citizens in order to raise and put the most appropriate questions, during the planned TV debates on municipal elections, to the candidates who are running for the positions of mayor in 30 municipalities in Kosovo.

The visits are intended to build and strengthen cooperation between the “Life in Kosovo” show and local TV stations.

The following TV stations are going to be visited during the week:

TV Opinioni, Prizren
TV Syri, Gjakova/ Dzakovica
TV Vali, Gjilan/ Gnjilane
TV Mitrovica, Mitrovica

The “Life in Kosovo” show is a co-production of Kosovo’s public service television, RTK, and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, beginning at 20:15