Tag: Albania

BIRN Albania Holds Roundtable on Public Administration

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania organized a roundtable on November 6 in Tirana, bringing together civil society organisations working in the field of public administration and journalists.

It was the fifth 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 organised crime, by bridging the gap between journalists and CSOs, and by providing a solid basis for collaboration in exposing abuses of power.

About ten representatives of non-governmental organisations and ten journalists discussed different topics of concern regarding the public administration in Albania, with a special focus on corruption and impunity in the system.

The representatives of the NGOs listed a number of topics, ranging from the role that politics play in the recruitment process in the public administration to issues of public transparency and illegal-decision making by collegial bodies and independent government agencies.

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

BIRN Albania Journalist Wins Award

BIRN Albania journalist Aleksandra Bogdani has been awarded the 2015 CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism in the professional journalist category.

The Central European Initiative (CEI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), in special partnership with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), announced on Monday thatBogdani won the award.

“Bogdani has been awarded for her overall professional achievements as an intrepid reporter covering complex stories of human trafficking, organised crime and child abuse, corruption and national security,” the Central European Initiative said in a statement.

“Bogdani has particularly impressed the jury by the courage shown as a woman producing an in-depth series of six investigations on the network of recruiters who send hundreds of Albanian Muslims off to fight in the Syrian civil war as jihadists for the Islam State of Iraq and Levant, ISIS and the al-Nusra front,” it added.

With more than a decade of experience working as a reporter, editor and deputy editor in chief at different media outlets in Albania, including the dailies Mapo, Shekulli and Top News TV, Bogdani joined BIRN Albania’s office in 2014.

In the category of young professional journalist, the 2015 CEI-SEEMO award went to Ukrainian journalist Nadia Burdey. Burdey was recognized as a promising young journalist who follows high professional standards in a difficult environment in which these standards are not widespread

Bogdani and Burdey will officially receive their awards offered by the CEI (4,000 euro and 1,000 euro respectively) at the South East Europe Media Forum in Bucharest, Romania on November 5-6.

BIRN Albania Launches Monthly Publication

On September 30th, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania launched the first issue of its monthly bi-lingual print publication Reporter.al, which features investigative reports, features, analysis and news from Albania and the region.

The print publication will be distributed for free through mail to more than 300 stakeholders in government institutions, foreign diplomatic missions in Tirana, international organizations, CSOs, and local media.

Together with the inaugural issue of Reporter.al, BIRN Albania has also published an accompanying special edition, which includes 25 investigations published by its reporters during the past year through its online portal.

The special edition includes investigations on abuse of power, organized crime, national security and terrorism, environment and human rights.

The print publication will be published at the beginning of each month and aims to bring BIRN Albania’s award-winning investigative reports and analysis directly to decision-makers in the country in order to stimulate action and debate on the issues of good governance, corruption and impunity.

The publication in print of Reporter.al comes with the generous support of the National Endowment for Democracy and the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

To download a copy of the first issue of Reporter.al click here.

To download a copy of the special edition of Reporter.al click here.   

BIRN Albania Journalists Win EU Investigative Award

Three BIRN Albania journalists were among the top four winners of a prestigious EU award.

Two BIRN Albania Journalists, Aleksandra Bogdani and Flamur Vezaj, won first prize in the EU Investigative Journalism Award 2014 for Albania contest, for their series of three articles on the recruitment of Albanians to fight for radical Islamists in Syria.

The articles were published in reporter.al news portal and were republished in other newspapers and newsportals.

Second prize went to Juli Ristani, from the investigative program “Fiks Fare”, on Top Channel TV, for her story on the judicial treatment of drug users and smugglers.

Third place went to Besar Likmeta, also from BIRN Albania, for his investigation into the use of public funds by the previous government to denigrate the leader of the opposition.

The article was published in Balkaninsight.com and republished in other media.

Lutfi Dervishi, chair of the jury, said that many of the applications were of high quality and the jury had been faced with a difficult task. Noting that many of the winning journalists were young, he called it a good sign for the future of investigative journalism in Albania.

The awards ceremony was held on July 16th at the Tirana Times Bookshop. A total of 19 investigative stories were nominated for this year’s EU Award in Albania. The jury consisted of five media professionals and civil society representatives: Lutfi Dervishi, a media expert, Iris Luarasi, professor of journalism, Arben Muka, Deutsche Welle correspondent, Aleksander Cipa, head of Union of Albanian Journalists, and Zef Preci, director of the Center for Economic Research.

“Investigative journalism in particular can play an incredible role in exposing wrongdoing, inspire reform, and ultimately change people’s lives,” the EU Head of Delegation, Romana Vlahutin, said.

“I firmly believe that these awards we are announcing today will further contribute to the strengthening of media standards and ultimately become a benchmark for media quality in Albania,” he added.

BIRN Conference Sparks Widespread Media Interest

Several Bosnian TV stations, including the region’s CNN affiliate N1 and over 30 online media outlets, reported on BIRN’s conference on media freedom challenges in the Balkans held last week.

The BIRN network directors were featured on ‘Reflex’, a talk show hosted by Mimo Sahinpasic on TV OBN in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They discussed the various issues media professionals are faced with in the region today.

Commenting on the situation in Macedonia, BIRN’s director Ana Petruseva highlighted the power the government has over media in the country. “The prime minister’s cabinet decides on everything, from topics to be covered to potential interviewees,” Petruseva said.

BIRN regional network director Gordana Igric told FACE TV meanwhile that the media and civil society in the Balkans should not wait for Brussels’ help but act to ensure their own freedom and avoid becoming victims of political games.

Mirna Buljugic, BIRN BiH’s acting director, gave an interview for N1 in which she raised concerns about the deteriorating situation in the media sector, increasing political pressures as well as physical attacks on journalists in the country.

The cost of ethical and professional media is always high as room for critical opinion is constantly shrinking, concluded Jeta Xharra and Dragana Zivkovic Obradovic, BIRN directors from Kosovo and Serbia for Hayat TV.

In addition, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn’s video message to the conference about the disturbing media situation in the Balkans was featured on Radio Free Europe, Banja Luka-based portal Buka, klix.ba, news agencies Tanjug and Fena as well as kurir.rs, vesti.rs, beta.informer.rs, bljeask.info, dnevnik.ba and video news site source.ba.

BIRN Marks its Tenth Birthday in Bosnia

The BIRN network celebrated its 10th anniversary from June 12th to 14th with a regional media conference in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, followed by series of team building events, meetings and workshops on Mt Vlasic, some two hours’ drive away.

More than a hundred employees of the organisation from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia participated in two days of events at a hotel on Mt Vlasic.

Programme managers, project coordinators and administrative staff discussed rules, guidelines and a new information management strategy in two sessions led by Dusica Cook, BIRN Regional Operations Manager.

Jeta Xharra, BIRN’s Kosovo Director, used the opportunity to brief the management on the monitoring of elections, courts, procurement, the Kosovo-Serbia agreement, and municipalities.

BIRN journalists attended training sessions on journalistic standards led by Andrew Gray, Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence Editor, and on investigative journalism, led by Lawrence Marzouk, BIRN editor.

Valon Canhasi, BIRN Kosovo’s Social Media Editor, guided journalists on the importance of having a presence on social media and on the latest trends in users’ habits.

Balkan Insight and Balkan Transitional Justice staff held editorial and commissioning meetings, while Ana Petruseva, Balkan Insight’s Managing Editor and Milos Milosavljevic, BIRN’s Chief Digital Officer, held a technical training session for journalists.

Finally, BIRN journalists and management had two sessions – one on databases in the Network and their further development and possible integration, and the other focusing on BIRN’s web strategy.

BIRN Assembly members and Gordana Igric, BIRN’s Regional Network Director, convened for their regular annual meeting where they discussed BIRN’s new five-year strategy.

The BIRN team celebrated the fact that the Balkan Investigative Reporting Regional Network was established in July 2005, ten years ago, since when it has grown significantly, winning numerous national and international awards and merits and becoming one of the most trusted media organisations in the Balkan and Southeast Europe region.

The next meeting of the BIRN network, scheduled for 2017, will see a new round of team building activities, workshops and a checkpoint review of the five-year strategy.

Aleksandra Bogdani

Aleksandra Bogdani is an investigative journalist for BIRN Albania.

Bogdani has long experience as deputy editor-in-chief on daily newspapers such as MAPO and Shekulli. Bogdanii was a participant in BIRN’s Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme 2012.

Alma Koci

Alma Koci joined BIRN’s Balkan Transitional Justice team as a translator in December 2014.

She has a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Tirana, Albania. Since 2007 she has worked as a translator for various electronic media outlet and television stations in Albania.

Etlira Gjikopulli

Etlira Gjikopulli has been working as a Financial and Administrative Assistant for BIRN Albania since May 2014.

For almost eight years, from 2004 to 2012, she worked as project assistant at the World Health Organization’s Albania office. She had worked on many projects, providing support in administration, coordination, implementation and monitoring, as well assisting in the logistic and financial aspects of office programs.

In BIRN Albania she is responsible for planning and coordinating meetings and events of the organization, organizing and maintaining the filing system, providing project management assistance, as well as providing day-to-day financial and accounting support.

BIRN Albania Launches Call for Investigative Reports on Healthcare

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania launched a call for investigative stories on May 20th.

The call is part of the program ‘Exposing Corruption in Albania,’ supported by the Open Society Foundation in Albania (OSFA).

In this call that closes on June 7, 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 healthcare.

Journalists will have about three 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 three more calls for investigations will be launched, covering topics on Organized Crime, Local Government and Public Administration.  

The call only applies to journalists from Albania.

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