BIRN Hub News and Events

Tamara Opačić, 35, is editor-in-chief at Nada magazine and a journalist at Novosti weekly in Zagreb, focusing on human rights, social issues and civil society. In 2017, she took part in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.

Each month, BIRN introduces you to a different member of its team. For February, meet Milica Stojanović, journalist at Balkan Insight.

BIRN invites journalists, Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representatives, legal professionals and IT experts with an interest in the issues where media and technology intersect to apply for a five-day digital rights capacity-building programme. Applications are welcomed from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

We are awarding 10 fellowships to journalists from Central and South-Eastern Europe who have an idea for a story that needs dedicated on-the-ground reporting, in-depth research, generous funding and sustained editorial attention to do it justice.

BIRN and the Srebrenica Memorial Centre opened a new memorial room containing the video testimonies of 100 Srebrenica genocide survivors and personal items that they donated for safekeeping.

A new report by the International Press Institute, IPI, offers insight into the ways Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has expanded his influence in the Balkan and European media.

Belgrade-based NGO Atina, together with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, is organising an online training courses focusing on gender-sensitive reporting on human trafficking and violence against women.

New database will give the public essential information about the media on which they rely for current events and developments in the country and worldwide.

Learning and incorporating experiences from journalists from the region and beyond will help local media overcome difficulties they face that would otherwise be insurmountable, panelists told a BIRN debate.

Together with our partners, BIRN is continuing its series of online and offline events aimed at amplifying the voices of strong and credible individuals and organisations in the region that promote the core values of democracy, such as civic engagement, independent institutions, transparency and rule of law.

BIRN Platform B debate on Friday heard that, in a context of very diverse experiences, taking a “one-size-fits-all approach” towards fixing the issues women journalists face in the region is not practical.

Event series by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and partners

Winning stories focused on respirators’ scandal, a vote-selling scam in Brcko and fake charities soliciting money for non-existent humanitarian work.

Women who work in the public arena in the Western Balkans are regularly targeted by online threats, insults and false accusations, and existing laws must be enforced to protect them, said panelists at a BIRN debate.

BIRN’s new interactive map pinpoints China’s growing business presence in the region – which experts say media and civil society need to focus on more.