BIRN kicked off the 14th edition of its Summer School of Investigative Reporting on Monday on the Croatian coast with insight and advice shared by experienced and award-winning journalists.
The week-long summer school in Mlini, near Dubrovnik, brings together almost 35 participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland in polishing their skills in investigative journalism and mastering new ones.
Opening the event, BIRN regional director Milka Domanovic said the selection process was “becoming harder each year”.
“We would like to wish you a successful week and invite you to take this opportunity to master and learn new skills and to network with each other,” Domanovic said.
The participants began hearing from some of the 15 trainers who will present their insights into investigative journalism techniques, digital security, artificial intelligence, visual storytelling, investigating war crimes and how to take care of mental wellbeing on the job.
Lead trainer Blake Morrison, investigative projects editor with Reuters in New York, said he hoped the participants will leave the school “inspired”.
“Inspired, first of all, to do cross-border investigative journalism and master their skills,” he said. “Also, our goal is to inspire them to connect with each other, as they can learn from themselves without any trainer’s input.”
After a session with Morrison on creativity in investigative journalism, BIRN editors Ivana Jeremic and Kreshnik Gashi talked about covering online gender-based violence and how to have an impact.
Jeremic said preparation and planning is key, “as we have to provide accurate information and avoid sensationalism and victim blaming”.
The narrative, she said, should centre on “survivors’ experience, needs and perspectives”.
Gashi shared the experiences of BIRN Kosovo in reporting on gender-based violence, including the harassment endured by one of its journalists after her phone number was leaked in a Telegram group.
“She had hundreds of calls and more than 1,000 messages in less than an hour,” Gashi said.
Seven people were arrested as a consequence of a BIRN investigation into a group in which users shared derogatory videos, ‘deep fake’ images and the personal information of women.
Elena Kostyuchenko, an independent Russian journalist and civil rights activist, talked about investigating human rights abuses and the challenges of covering the events since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The first day ended with tips and tricks on digital security for journalists shared by Monika Kutri, a journalist safety specialist with the Croatian Journalists’ Association.
