A group of 38 journalists from six countries across the Balkans have been trained in data analysis and visualisation by BIRN.
Between September 23-30, the journalists, from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, took part in three online training sessions.
Run by BIRN as part of the Western Balkans Media for Change project, the training focused on sessions to enhance journalists skills in data analysis and visualisation – key skills required in today’s evolving newsrooms.
Training sessions on data analysis were led by Besar Likmeta, editor-in-chief of BIRN Albania, in the Albanian language, and by Milica Stojanovic, an investigative journalist with Balkan Insight, in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian.
These sessions focused on showcasing ways to analyse crowdsourced data collected via BIRN’s Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) tool using spreadsheets. The ECR tool, developed by BIRN through the Media for All project, allows citizens to contribute with their testimonies, forming a valuable data source for journalistic stories.
Additionally, Azem Kurtic, also an investigative journalist with Balkan Insight, provided insights into data visualisation techniques. Kurtic introduced participants to various data visualisation tools, including Knight Lab, Flourish, and Datawrapper, which help enhance storytelling through interactive and visually engaging elements.
This training complements a previous session held in June by Jonathan Stoneman, a data journalist and trainer with extensive career in BBC.
The Western Balkan Media for Change project is funded by the UK government and implemented by the British Council in partnership with BIRN, the Thomson Foundation, and INTRAC. The project supports the work of media outlets and individual journalists across the Western Balkans.