Tag: Albania

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Albania (BIRN Albania), as part of the project ‘Exposing Illicit Wealth in the Albanian Justice System’ supported by the Democracy Commission Small Grants Programme of the US Embassy in Albania, will organize one training session in investigative journalism techniques in the field of assets declaration in the country.

BIRN Albania is seeking 10-12 mid-career journalists from all the regions of Albania to attend the investigative journalism training workshop on March 9^th 2016, in Tirana.

 

Introduction to the training:

The training serves to provide a guide to the basic methods and techniques of investigative journalism as well as an overview of the asset declaration system and procedures in Albania. It aims to strengthen the skills and training of mid-career journalists to look closely at systemic issues of illicit wealth and conflict of interest, with a special focus on the red flags raised by the audit of asset disclosures by judges and officials of the justice system.

 

Who should attend:

The training targets mid-career journalists in Albania who are interested to deepen their knowledge of investigative journalism techniques and asset declaration procedures. Journalists from other regions outside Tirana are encouraged to apply. BIRN Albania will cover travel costs for journalists outside Tirana.

 

Training objectives:

The outcome for participants will be:

1. Improved understanding of Albania’s asset declaration system;

2. Improved applied methods and techniques of investigative journalism.

 

Application procedure:

Interested candidates must send a CV and letter of interest to [email protected]. Applications for this training close on Sunday, March 6. Successful candidates will be informed shortly thereafter.

 

Bursaries:

The journalists who take part in the training will participate in a competition from which BIRN Albania through an independent jury will select story ideas for five investigations and five in-depth analyses related to judges’ asset declarations that will be funded from the project and published with the help of BIRN editors via the online publications BalkanInsight.com and Reporter.al.

The call is part of the programme on the transparency of the energy sector in Albania, supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Five journalists will be awarded grants to cover their expenses while doing their investigations and writing their stories on corruption and wrongdoing in the energy sector, with a particular focus on the impact of energy projects on the environment.

The journalists will have about two months to dig deeper and research their ideas, and will also have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as their mentors to guide them through the process of writing to BIRN standards.

The call only applies to journalists from Albania. It closes on March 15.

Click for more information about the application procedure, with details in Albanian.

It was the sixth in a series of seven roundtables, part of a programme called ‘Exposing Corruption in Albania’, which is financed by the Open Society Foundation in Albania (OSFA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD).

The project aims to expose corruption cases in seven different sectors: the environment, education, the judiciary, healthcare, public administration, local government and organized crime, by bridging the gap between journalists and CSOs, and by providing a solid basis for collaboration in exposing abuses of power.

About 19 representatives of non-governmental organizations and journalists discussed on the nature of organized crime in Albania and its links to the political and economic elite.

The participants to the roundtable listed a number of topics of concern, ranging from the infiltration of law enforcement agencies by organized crime, racketeering, drug trafficking and human trafficking. 

The topics highlighted by the NGOs will be listed in BIRN Albania’s upcoming call for investigative stories in the field of organized crime.

 

The roundtable was supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and aimed to create bridges between civil society organizations, experts and the media in order to enhance public debate on the future of a sustainable energy model in Albania, clean energy sources, transparency and corruption in the energy sector.

About 25 experts, representatives of civil society organizations and journalists were present at the meeting, highlighting the need for greater cooperation between civil society groups and the media in order to highlight for the general public important issues on the energy sector.    

The participants discussed the wildcat development in Albania’s hydropower sector, the use of green taxes by the government, the construction of hydropower plants in protected areas without proper environmental assessments, the lack of transparency and proper corporate governance of state-owned energy companies and the illegal sale of substandard fuels.

The experts and activists agreed that there is a need for greater cooperation between civil society groups in order to strengthen the public consultation process for energy projects, which is often formal and does not treat the public as a stakeholder.

The topics highlighted during the roundtable will help inform BIRN Albania’s upcoming call for investigative stories in the field of energy. 

The key findings of the study on the frequency, roots and causes of self-censorship in the local media were presented to the commission by BIRN Albania’s editor Besar Likmeta, who underlined that data collected through the survey of 121 journalists and 22 in-depth interviews with key sources suggests that self-censorship is widespread in the Albanian media. 

 “Self-censorship is not a free choice for a journalist and neither represents their natural approach toward news, but rather the result of the influence of a series of interconnected social, economic and political factors that affect the daily practice of news reporting and the quality of the media in general,” Likmeta told the MPs.

The hearing was called by the media commission in order to assess the working conditions, job security and safety of journalists in Albania – issues that are also reflected in the study.

The MPs praised the quality of the report and discussed ways in which the parliamentary commission could be more active in order to improve the working conditions of Albanian journalists. 

They discussed the recommendations produced by the report, centring on ways to improve the implementation of the labour code by media outlets as well as methods to increase transparency and fairness in the distribution of government-sponsored advertising.  

The animation, the work of Albanian multimedia artist Gentian Shkurti, is based on BIRN’s recent report “A Blind Eye on News: Self-Censorship in the Albanian Media”, which highlights the frequency, roots and causes of self-censorship. 

The report provides an overview of self-censorship in the Albanian media, based on interviews with media professionals.

This is the first survey of this phenomenon in Albania and the findings aim to raise awareness of the presence and influence of self-censorship on freedom of expression.

The video presents the key findings of the study in an easily digestible format to reach a wider audience.

During the short clip, the public is urged not “turn a blind eye on news” and support journalists and freedom of expression in Albania.

Production of the video was supported by the Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA. 

The call is part of the program ‘Exposing Corruption in Albania,’ supported by the Open Society Foundation in Albania, Balkan Trust for Democracy and National Endowment for Democracy.

In this call that closes on November 20^th, three journalists will be awarded a grant to cover their expenses while doing the investigation and writing the story on corruption and impunity related to public administration.

Journalists will have about two months to dig deeper and research their ideas, but also will have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as their mentors to guide them through the process of writing to BIRN standards.

Until December 2016, other two more calls for investigations will be launched, covering topics on Organized Crime and Local Government.  

The call only applies to journalists from Albania.

Click for more information about the application procedure, with details in Albanian.