BIRN Hub News and Events

Applications are being invited for the Serbian part of the EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey, which is being administered by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Hub) and local partners.

We are pleased to announce the names of the journalists chosen for this year’s Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. Over the coming months, they will work on investigations, in-depth analysis and features on the theme of the Rule of Law.

To mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, BIRN joined more than 125 journalism support, media development, and press freedom organisations and networks making an emergency appeal for action, support, and assistance to journalism organisations and independent media during the COVID-19 crisis.

To mark World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, campaign group Reporters Without Borders Austria awarded the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network with its annual Press Freedom Award – A Signal for Europe.

More than 70 organisations, including BIRN, have signed a letter urging tech companies to preserve all data on content removed in the pandemic, as it’s important for future research.

Reporting Democracy is inviting proposals for stories that reveal how the Covid-19 crisis is reshaping politics and society in Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. Successful proposals will receive a grant of between 500 and 2,500 euros.

Journalists in Europe face intimidation, social networks are flooded with disinformation, media lack financial support – we want to hear from media workers about the challenges you are facing while reporting about the pandemic.

BIRN and SHARE Foundation are bringing you the latest updates and cases of arbitrary arrests, surveillance, phone tapping, privacy breaches and other digital rights violations as countries of Central and Southeast Europe impose emergency legislation to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

Thank you to everyone who applied for this year’s Fellowship.

Serbian feminist cultural centre BeFem on March 8 gave BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic a feminist achievement award for 2019.

Investigative stories published from January 1 to December 31, 2019, and related to freedom of expression, rule of law, transparency, abuse of power and fundamental rights, corruption and organised crime are welcome to apply.

If you have an idea for a big story and want to report it to the highest standard, with top-notch editorial support and a generous expenses budget, apply for the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. The deadline for applications is March 10.

Wojciech Ciesla, a prominent Polish investigative journalist and editor, has joined the Selection Committee of the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, the flagship programme of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and Erste Foundation.

As the March 10 deadline looms for applications to the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, we asked past participants why journalists should apply to this year’s programme.

Applications are now open for the 2020 edition of our flagship Fellowship programme. The deadline is March 10.