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This initiative aims to combat corruption, enhance transparency, and promote accountability to fortify democratic institutions and foster a more resilient media landscape in the region.

By leveraging investigative journalism and engaging directly with local communities, the initiative seeks to drive lasting reforms and ensure the voices of underrepresented groups are heard. A key component of the project is the provision of grants to support local media outlets in adopting audience-engagement journalism practices in six Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

The Western Balkans continue to grapple with systemic issues such as corruption, inefficiencies in the judiciary, restricted media pluralism, and threats to fundamental freedoms, as underscored by recent European Commission progress reports. These challenges highlight the urgent need for enhanced accountability and increased citizen participation in governance processes.

Audience-engagement journalism emerges as a powerful tool to address these issues. By creating a two-way dialogue that places citizens at the center of the storytelling process, this approach empowers communities, shines a light on systemic challenges, and ensures that public discourse reflects the concerns of ordinary people. In a region often hindered by misinformation and opacity, audience-driven reporting can uncover critical issues, provide actionable solutions, and amplify marginalized voices.

Through innovative storytelling and investigative reporting, BIRN aims to equip citizens with the tools to hold decision-makers accountable, advocate for transparency, and demand meaningful reforms. This approach not only reinforces democratic values but also cultivates a well-informed and engaged citizenry, essential for creating a more transparent and accountable public sector in the Western Balkans.

1.    SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) has been actively engaging communities in reporting and supporting media outlets and journalists through grants, training, and mentoring. To enhance their reporting and production skills, BIRN developed the Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tool, a digital platform that enables journalists to gain insights from communities and involve audiences in the reporting process.

This innovative ECR tool allows journalists to report on specific issues recognized by citizens at the local level, utilizing well-structured crowdsourced information that can be easily analysed. The approach amplifies the voices of underrepresented communities, including women, young people, marginalized groups, and ethnic minorities, ensuring their stories are heard. By engaging their communities, media outlets increase trust and credibility, uncovering underreported stories that provoke meaningful impact. Ultimately, this fosters an inclusive media landscape that supports democracy and free speech both regionally and locally.

The audience-engaged grants aim to achieve the following outcomes for project-supported media outlets:

• Access to Digital Tools: Provision of the ECR tool to actively involve communities in story development.
• Training: Comprehensive instruction in engagement journalism and effective tool usage.
• On-the-Job Mentoring: Support for journalists in producing audience-engaged and investigative stories.
• Production of Local Stories: Creation of impactful stories grounded in crowdsourced, community-identified issues.
• Collaboration Support: Facilitation of cross-border cooperation, sharing knowledge and expertise among journalists.
• Sustainability: Encouragement of continued use of the ECR tool, fostering a culture of community engagement in media production.

Through this initiative, BIRN empowers local media outlets to use innovation and collaboration to build an engaged, informed public while championing the principles of transparency, accountability, and democratic governance.

2.    TYPE, SIZE AND DURATION OF GRANTS

Local media outlets from six Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia can apply for grants up to €5,000.

Two following types of grants are available under this Call for Applications:

• Individual Grants for media outlets wishing to cover national / regional / local topics using their own newsroom resources.
• Cross-border Grants for media outlets interested in investigating cross-border topics in partnership with the other media outlet. The Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants foster a collaborative environment where media outlets can come together to share their proficiency and expertise. By working together media outlets not only enhance their reporting capabilities but also increase their reach and impact.

Partnership can be:

• Pre-established; in situations where a media outlet already has a media partner for a cross-border story, they may apply together for a grant of €10,000 to cover expenses for both parties (up to €5,000 per each).
• Teamed up with BIRN’s support; in a situation where a media outlet proposes a cross-border story and does not have a pre-established partnership, BIRN can assist in finding a possible match partner for collaboration.
• Individual story pairing; in cases where individual applicants are proposing the similar story or share an interest, BIRN might propose that outlets pair up to complement their expertise and knowledge.

Under this Call for Applications, 12 local media outlets will be selected (two per country) and will receive grants to implement their ideas for stories using the ECR tool.

Media outlets are expected to begin implementing their project’s activities on 1 May 2025 and can last up to a maximum of eight (8) months from the date of contract signature. All activities should conclude no later than 31 December 2025.

3.    AVAILABLE FUNDING AND ALLOCATIONS

The overall indicative amount expected to be distributed under this Call for Applications is up to €60,000. The table summarises grants foreseen to be given.

Type of Grants	Maximum Amount per Grant	Number of Grants Foreseen	Estimated Amount
Individual Grants	€5,000	10	€50,000
Cross-border Grants (two media outlets)	€10,000 (up to €5,000 per each)	1	€10,000

BIRN reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted, as well as to discuss with applicants allocating actions as needed within the aforementioned categories towards achieving the overall goal of the programme.

No co-financing from the applicant’s side is expected or is obligatory within this Call for Applications.

The Audience-Engaged Journalism grants process starts with this Call, which will be open until 02 March 2025. To provide more accurate information and directions for applicants, the BIRN team will organise two info sessions, on 31 January 2025 at 09:00 and 24 February 2025 at 14:00. Please see 5.4.3. Clarifications, Question & Answers.

4.    APPLICATION

This section includes important information on the rules for application, including eligibility criteria, activities and costs eligibility, application and evaluation procedures, among others.

5.1.     ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

In order to apply, applicants must fulfil the following criteria:

1. Demonstrate a commitment to producing high-quality, independent journalism that serves the public interest.
2. Propose a story with an investigative and in-depth angle, impactful for the community. The story proposed can be a story only relevant to the local community in one city/region/country, but it can also be a cross-border story. If so, the story must address an issue relevant to audiences in two Western Balkan countries, and reflect collaborative effort.
3. Express clear intention and means of including underrepresented communities in stories. These communities may include marginalised groups such as minorities, youth, women and other underreported communities.
4. Be a legally registered entity within the country of application on or before 1 January, 2024.
5. Be prepared to submit supporting documentation as outlined in Section 5.4.1 Application Form Content or provide a clear justification if unable to do so.
6. Demonstrate a commitment to actively participate in on-the-job mentoring in engagement journalism and the professional use of Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tools, following the guidance provided by mentors.

5.2.     ACTIVITIES ELIGIBILITY

The types of activities eligible for support will include but are not necessarily be limited to:

1. Producing the content based on information and data obtained via the Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tool. Grantees will receive individual access to the ECR tool, along with appropriate training and mentoring. Content may comprise news, analysis, investigations, different news formats: audio, text, video or multimedia. Some examples from media outlets which BIRN supported before to use the ECR tool produced a range of audience-engaged stories, some examples of which you can read here:

• Image-based sexual abuse in Kosovo
• Mapping illegal landfills in the Balkans
• Secret hospital registers in Hungary
• Transgender and non-binary Serbs document job discrimination

1. Promoting content through social media channels of the respective outlets.
2. Promoting engagement journalism and the ECR tool by introducing dedicated sections on the website, additional information in the ‘about’ and ‘contact’ section, banners, and other relevant means.
3. Encouraging citizens to use the ECR tool as a platform to suggest topics, indicate interest in future reporting and participate in various investigations. These activities may be facilitated through social media channels and innovations on the website described above.
4. Collaborating with a mentor to prepare a story for Balkan Insight. The most successful engagement stories will be considered for publication on the Balkan Insight. The BIRN team and mentors will oversee the selection process to ensure the stories align with the project’s objectives and BI’s publishing standards.

Applicants may propose additional activities beyond those listed above, ensuring their alignment with the project’s vision and goal. These activities should complement the existing ones and may include any relevant investigative engagement stories.

4.3 COSTS ELIGIBILITY

While developing the budget for the proposal under this Call for Applications (budget form enclosed in 5.4.1 Application Form Content) the following eligible and ineligible costs should be:

Eligible Costs
Category	Explanation
Human Resources Costs	Costs of organisation’s staff and experts directly involved in implementing the proposed activities and proportionate to their level of involvement.
Production / Research / Communication Costs	Costs related to the production of the stories, including communication with stakeholders, research costs, as well as costs of promotion of the stories on social media.
Travel Costs	Any travel costs needed to produce the story, especially if it’s a cross-border story or story covering citizen’s experiences in some local or more remote areas in the country
Ineligible Costs
Include costs of office equipment, construction costs, entertainment and excessive transport and event costs.

5.4 APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

In order to ensure a fair and competitive application process, applicants should complete and submit only one application / proposal under this Call for Applications.

5.4.1. APPLICATION FORM CONTENT

In order to apply for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants, media outlets should:

• Fill out an online application form which should:
• • Be completed in the English language. Please use your own words. ChatGPT applications will be downgraded or not considered.
  • Outline general information, current audience data, and a story proposal.
• Submit the following supporting documents within the embedded application form:
• Financial Proposal. Download the budget template HERE.
• Financial Statements for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, if applicable.
• Certificate from relevant tax authority that the media outlet is a regular taxpayer.
• A Court Certificate that the media outlet does not have ongoing legal proceedings nor is awaiting the final judgment of cases against the organization.
  • If obtaining a Court Certificate confirming no ongoing legal proceedings is challenging (e.g., due to SLAPP lawsuits), applicants may submit a detailed explanation of their legal status and the nature of such cases. This ensures equal opportunities for all while maintaining transparency and compliance with administrative requirements.
• Editorial policy, if applicable.
• Business Registry Certificate or any other document certifying that the applicant is registered as a legal entity in (country) as of January 2024.

5.4.2 APPLICATION DEADLINE

The applicant must submit the application by 2 March 2025, midnight.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered for funding. The deadline applies to all parts of your application, including supporting documentation.

5.4.3. CLARIFICATIONS, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Info sessions are an integral part of this Call for Application and will be conducted online in the English language. During the info sessions, the Call for Applications and Application Form will be explained and questions answered. The schedule of the planned info sessions is as follows:

• Information session 31 January 2025 at 09:00 join here HERE. 
• Information session 24 February 2025 at 14:00, join here HERE.

Questions about the Call for Application and Application Form may be sent in English language to the Programme Manager at the email address: [email protected] until the deadline for clarifications has passed.

5.5 EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

All received proposals will go through the following three steps:

1. Administrative and eligibility check by BIRN to ensure applicants followed the application procedure set in the Application Form, according to the eligibility criteria and submitted all required documents by the deadline.
2. Evaluation by the international independent jury.
3. Notification of the application outcome.

STEP 1: BIRN ADMINISTRATIVE AND ELIGIBILITY CHECK

BIRN will undertake administrative checks to ensure the applicants have followed application procedures and submitted all the required documents. If any requested information / document is missing or incorrect, the application may be rejected and will not be evaluated further. Any rejected application will be replaced by the next best-placed application on the reserve list that falls within the available budget for this Call for Applications.

An application that passes the administrative check will be assessed further as part of the evaluation by the independent international jury.

STEP 2: EVALUATION BY THE INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT JURY

After the call is closed, all applications that meet the administrative requirements and eligibility criteria will be subject to evaluation by an international jury. A jury consisting of media professionals, acting independently, will assess the proposals based on their Relevance of the Proposed Story, Capacity, Financial Proposal and Potential, including the Social impact.

Please refer to the criteria list for further information on quality assessment.

CRITERIA	MAXIMUM SCORE
1.     RELEVANCE OF THE PROPOSED STORY ●       The proposed story tackles an issue relevant to national / regional / local communities in the case of individual grants. ●       The proposed story tackles an issue relevant to communities in Western Balkan countries in the case of collaborative grants. ●       The proposed story has investigative and in-depth potential. ●       The proposed story contains specific cross-cutting issues, such as the promotion of gender equality, respect of human rights, and marginalised groups.	10 points
2.     CAPACITY  ●       Applicant demonstrates available capacity within the organisation to implement activities. ●       Applicant demonstrates significant reach in its community. ●       Applicant demonstrates previous experience in engaging communities. ●       Risks and challenges are clearly identified and are manageable.	10 points
3.     FINANCIAL PROPOSAL ●       Budget demonstrates value for money – organisation clearly shows it will manage to implement activities according to the proposed amount.	10 points
4.      POTENTIAL ●       Story reflects how the Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tool will be used to encourage the audience to get involved. ●       Story proposal addresses problems in particular communities and demonstrates how the community will be engaged. ●       Media outlet is dedicated to producing meaningful and quality content. ●       The proposed story will engage new audiences strategically, focusing on underrepresented groups (such as women and girls, younger people, or ethnic, social, sexual, and other minorities).	10 points
MAXIMUM TOTAL SCORE	40 points

STEP 3: NOTIFICATION OF THE APPLICATION OUTCOME

Applicants will be notified of the outcome, whether it was successful or not by e-mail. The applicants will be able to ask for clarifications.

BIRN will also notify applicants about suggestions for teaming up in the collaborative cross-border stories. Notification is conducted during two phases of the evaluation:

• Notification 1: Not passing the administrative and eligibility check
• Notification 2 (final): Selection or non-selection upon the qualitative assessment

Upon positive notification, successful applicants will sign the contract with BIRN and become a recipient of the grant. Successful applicants will receive notification on training dates and programmes.

5.    TRAINING AND MENTORING

Following the signing of a contractual agreement by both parties, participants will undergo comprehensive training and be assigned a mentor.

Training

Four-day online training programme is mandatory for all project participants. Each media outlet will choose at least three participants to follow the training programme. The training curriculum, established by BIRN, will provide journalists and project participants with an in-depth understanding of the Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tool and its various features, as well as teach them how to effectively engage their audience in reporting and create high-quality and valuable journalistic reports. Towards the end of the training programme, the participating journalists will be expected to plan and develop their proposed stories for implementation.

Mentoring

After the training, media outlets will continue to collaborate with mentors to create a provisional activity plan that will be further confirmed. Access to the Engaged Citizen Reporting (ECR) tool will be established. Throughout the project, BIRN mentors will be available to provide guidance and support to the participating media outlets, while respecting editorial independence.

6.    TIMELINE OF CALL ACTIVITIES

The following is the indicative table of the application, evaluation, notification process and online training:

ACTIVITY	DATE
Call for Applications issued	27 January 2025
Information Sessions	31 January 2025 at 09:00 24 February 2025 at 14:00
Deadline for Requesting Clarifications	24 February 2025
Deadline for Submission of Applications	2 March 2025
Notification to Rejected Applicants on the Results of the Administrative Check	Last week of April               2025
Notification to Applicants on the Results of the Qualitative Assessment	Last week of April 2025
Contract Signature & Online Training	First week of May 2025

 

A four-day online training was held on January 21 to 24 for a new cycle of grantees in Audience-Engaged Journalism. The grants are part of the Media Innovation Europe MEI project: Independence Through Sustainability.

This two-year initiative is led by the International Press Institute (IPI) and its partners: The Fix Foundation, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and Thomson Media (TM).

The programme provides business needs assessments and personalised advisory, grants, training, hackathons and mentorship to media managers and journalists working in newsrooms that are moving towards a full digital transition.

BIRN’s role in MIE is to advance audience engagement using the BE-engaged tool, a specially designed tool to crowdsource input from citizens and engage them in journalistic reporting.

During the first cycle of grants, 19 participants from nine media outlets in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, North Macedonia and Serbia attended training delivered by international and regional experts in audience engagement.

During the first day, Ariana Tobin, an award-winning editor of ProPublica, a New York-based organisation specialized in engagement journalism, introduced participants to ways of engaging citizens. She focused on the “reporting cycle” of engagement stories and crowdsourcing “when you have a fair reason to do it”.

“Engagement reporting, crowdsourcing is creating a space for sources to share information they have been collecting, that has been part of their own life, and we hope it will have an impact – by impact, something in the world changes for the better,” she said.

Paul Myles, co-director of On Our Radar, explored their toolkit, designed to break barriers that prevent communities from sharing their knowledge, experiences, and concerns.

On Our Radar builds networks to report about underrepresented communities, supporting organisations to be more participatory in their work, to achieve “an equal exchange of skills and knowledge between the producer and the person with lived experience”.

“We see collaboration as truly equal. The communities we are working with bring access and deep knowledge of the story from living really close to it. They bring more authenticity when telling that story, connect with the audience, and bring alternative viewpoints which we may not have considered,” Myles said.

The third and fourth days saw regional trainers Katarina Zrinjski, Besar Likmeta and Gyula Csak, discuss BIRN’s particular method of engagement using a specialized tool and callouts inviting communities to share their experiences.

Milica Stojanovic and Karla Junicic demonstrated the specific usage of BIRN’s tool for audience engagement, designed to collect experiences and analyse crowdsourced results to find the best storytelling approach.

Participants learned how to design callouts that invite people to share their stories, how to create safe spaces for community input, and how to transform crowdsourced experiences into stories following analysis.

Grantees will continue their work under BIRN’s mentorship, shaping their reporting into collaborative and audience-driven storytelling.

Her professional path has been very interesting: from gaining a BA degree in journalism and an MA in Economic Analysis and Politics to working as an economic journalist, a deputy general manager at Business Info Group, publisher of the business news outlet Nova ekonomija, among other things, and now Head of Strategic Planning at BIRN Ltd.

Let’s meet her!

1. You graduated from the Department of Journalism and Communicology at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade. After that, you were awarded an MA in Economic Analysis and Politics at the Faculty of Economics. What attracted you to this economic aspect?

Money makes the world go round. Once you understand where the money flows and where it comes from, it’s easier to grasp how processes in society work.

Economic journalism is challenging because you often need to break down complex and sometimes boring topics, and make them interesting and easy to understand for everyone, both regular readers and fellow journalists. To do that well, you need to keep learning and stay up to date.

That said, covering economic topics is also a privilege. I’ve had the chance to meet people whose business ideas are changing the world, who are not only feeding their own families but providing for hundreds of others. These are the people whose decisions can shape your future, your community, and even the world.

That said, I’m not here to back big corporations or wealthy capital owners. I believe in business models that give workers both responsibilities and rights. Workers should have a chance to use their creativity, ideas and knowledge to make new products and earn more and also have more time for their personal lives. I support an egalitarian-liberal approach where the state and companies support vulnerable groups – those who are sick, disabled, or unable to work fully due to life’s circumstances.

2. Can you explain what BIRN Ltd is?

BIRN Ltd is the commercial side of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). It was founded in 2007 to develop and manage commercial products that support BIRN’s editorial and campaigning work, like the Balkan Insight news portal.

BIRN Ltd handles the paid services that Balkan Insight offers, which fall into two main areas. First, there’s the editorial content, which includes analysis, commentary, interviews, and profiles on the latest political and business developments in the region. Then there’s the consultancy side, where our analysts track and analyze political, economic, security, social and human rights issues in the region, including the influence of foreign powers. One of our key consultancy products is the Western Balkans Stability Monitor, which has been running since December 2018.

3. Who are the users and subscribers to these paid services and consultancy products?

Our subscribers are all personally or professionally connected to the Balkans – students, diplomats, the donor community, the corporate sector, top universities around the world, and more.

BIRN Consultancy offers analysis, advice, and corporate investigation services with a focus on the Balkans.

We give our clients detailed insights into political, security and economic developments across the region, whether for the whole of the Balkans or specific countries. Everything is customized to their needs. With a network of analysts embedded throughout the region, we’re always plugged into the latest information at its source. This means we don’t just explain what’s happening; we also help our clients understand the risks and opportunities ahead.

4. What are your favourite – and least favourite – parts of being Head of Strategic Planning at BIRN Ltd?

One of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to ensure the long-term sustainability of our organisation and to invest more in journalism. Every day brings new uncertainties, especially with things like the rise of “foreign agent” laws across Europe. Authoritarian governments use these to discredit independent media; they’re a real threat to democracy, media freedom and civil society.

On the flip side, it’s a privilege to promote and support top-notch investigative and analytical journalism in the Balkans. Just mentioning BIRN is enough to make people stand up and recognise its importance. If you want to learn more about the Balkans, BIRN is the first choice for anyone, no matter where they are in the world.

5. What are the plans for BIRN Ltd?

The premium service we offer is helping us make Balkan Insight more sustainable. But we’re not stopping there, we want to keep growing. We plan to expand our consultancy offerings, improve our subscription system and grow our reader base. We also want to introduce more consultancy products to better meet the needs of our clients all over the world and provide a stable income for our work.

This call invites journalists and editors from Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia) to apply and take part in the exchange in Montenegro. The programme offers a unique opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with different newsrooms across the region, enabling them to acquire new skills and expertise in investigative news production while fostering knowledge exchange among their peers.

ABOUT THE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

The One-Month Regional Exchange Programme is a capacity-building opportunity for media, editors and journalists from the Western Balkans to facilitate the production of quality news and an investigative production environment, enabling both parties to engage in knowledge exchange, comprehensive mentoring and cross-border approaches.

WHO IS IT DESIGNED FOR?

The exchange programme is designed for both media and editors/journalists from the Western Balkan countries. It creates opportunities for the host media to share their knowledge with colleagues from other media in the Western Balkan region. It provides an opportunity for editors/journalists to spend one month immersed in a host media distinct from their country of origin while at the same time working together.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Journalists/editors from five (5) Western Balkan countries may apply to this call.

To apply for the programme, they must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a resident of one of the five Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia).
2. Have at least three years track record of working in journalism sector.
3. Demonstrate a strong motivation and commitment to participation in the exchange programme.
4. Availability to spend one month in a host media located in Montenegro, distinct from her/his country of residence, in 2025.

Within this call, one (1) journalist/editor will be selected in accordance with the predefined selection criteria and will have an opportunity to work with the Centar za istraživačko novinarstvo Crne Gore (Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro – CIN CG), which is the host media for this call.

BENEFITS AND LOGISTICS FOR THE JOURNALISTS/EDITORS

BIRN will cover the travel, accommodation, and bursary costs for the selected journalists/editors.

HOW TO APPLY?

Please share your interest through filling in the application form in English language by January 16 (Thursday).

More information about the call can be found here.

Media representatives and civil society and international organisations told BIRN’s Digital Rights Annual Conference in Tirana, Albania, that worsening digital rights violations in the Balkans were having “profound effects” on people’s lives.

“The report shows that digital rights violations have profound effects on everyday lives, only amplifying already existing human rights issues and barriers. While compiling it, we have attempted to paint the current picture but also to forecast future trends,” Ena Bavcic, BIRN’s Digital Rights Research Lead said.

Despite the challenges, Bavcic said there is still hope for a safe internet.

“Challenges are numerous but there is some hope and we hope this report will be used to cast light on steps that need to be taken to improve online safety for everyone,” Bavcic said, referencing BIRN’s Digital Rights Violations Annual Report 2023-2024, published on Wednesday.

Bavcic highlighted that the main digital rights violations in the region over the past year include disinformation, hate speech and cyber attacks. She also underlined the malicious use of AI.

“Most of the cases [in the report], such as computer fraud, phishing, manipulated videos impersonating others and other similar digital rights violations were ‘improved’ by AI. AI is here to stay,” Bavcic said.

She predicted that the malicious use of AI will preoccupy the digital agenda in the coming years, as it is used increasingly to target politicians, political opponents and journalists and to spread hate speech and disinformation. Deep-fake videos are increasingly used against girls, women and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Speakers at the event highlighted legislative changes that have worsened digital rights violations.

“There is a lack of public debate and a lack of information about stakeholders [when making new laws] and so we wake up to a law that was passed at 5am by the majority in parliament. Women and the LGBTQ+ community are targeted specifically under these laws,” Gurkan Ozturan, Media Freedom Monitoring Officer at the European Centre for Press and Media Freedoms and Turkey Rapporteur for Freedom House, said.

Ozturan recalled various adverse legal changes in Turkey and recent plans to adopt a Russian-style law labelling foreign-funded organisations as “foreign agents”. Similar laws have either been introduced or proposed by lawmakers in Hungary and Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity.

Speakers and participants at the event stressed the serious effects of digital rights violations on vulnerable groups, such as girls, women and LGBTQ+ groups.

One of the speakers, Xheni Karaj, director of Albania’s Aleanca, an NGO advocating for LGBTQ+ people, has faced serious threats online due to her activism and media appearances. “We don’t realise the damage these messages impose on activists and a whole movement, when the whole country sees you as a ‘public enemy’ just because of misinformation,” Karaj said.

Karaj recalled getting death threats after a media appearance in which she spoke about the UK registering newborn babies on passports under Parent 1 and Parent 2, after which she said a similar system could be applied in Albania. However, the media twisted her statement and added a headline accusing Karaj of wanting to remove the traditional family from Albanian legislation entirely.

“Many media outlets … started to reproduce this news, magnifying the disinformation that this news represented. I wasn’t following the media at the time but I was receiving a lot of death threat messages on my social media without even knowing why,” Karaj added.

The Digital Rights Violations Annual Report 2023-2024 was co-funded by the European Union.

A day before the event, a documentary, Body of Shame, exploring the sexual abuse and harassment of women in Albania, was screened.

The two-day conference, organised by Uzbekistan’s Anhor.uz in collaboration with BIRN, n-ost from Germany and JAM News from Georgia, brings together journalists, researchers and experts from the Western Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia.

N-ost’s Jakob Mardell, the editorial coordinator of the Spheres of Influence Uncovered project, said in his opening address that by “encouraging cross-border, data-driven research”, and by empowering collaboration among local journalists, the conference and the overall project aim to shed light on the increased competition in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia between China, Russia and the EU.

The Spheres of Influence Uncovered project, of which this conference is a part, has been going on for two years already.

In the ancient city of Samarkand, one of the focal points along the route of the historic “silk road”, experts and researchers at the conference will discuss the current state of play, the flow of money, as well as the local economic, political and cultural impact from these geopolitical trends.

Several panels aim to cover the ways in which the three competing players aim to increase their soft power.

Journalists from the seven selected countries, Georgia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Tajikistan and the host country of Uzbekistan – who have been researching FDI flows, trade and green energy projects – will present the data they collected so far, introducing it as a valuable resource to the wider community.

They will also make connections and discuss potential future collaborations in producing further data-driven journalistic stories.

Speaking on the first day, BIRN’s former Head of Programmes, Aida Ajanovic, presented the collaborative initiative, spearheaded by BIRN, to build a database of EU, Russia and Chinese investments in the seven countries which are part of the project.

Underlying the importance of a database, which would greatly help the wider understanding and future research into this topic, Ajanovic said that despite the challenges in collecting the data base, “BIRN will remain committed to building and launching it” for a wider audience.

The Spheres of Influence Uncovered project, among other things, aims to identify Russian, Chinese and EU economic activities in Eurasia, expose their consequences and downsides and inform the general public about its findings.

As part of this effort, the participating journalists will continue to produce country-based and cross-border reports.

The project is funded by Germany’s Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Daniel Fieller, Deputy Head of Mission at the British embassy in North Macedonia, opened the event  in Skopje on November 13, thanking the media outlets that the Western Balkans Media for Change project supports.

“You serve your societies by amplifying the voices of those unheard in the region,” he said, adding that BIRN has been his main source of information since living in the region and that it has been a privilege to work with organisations such as BIRN and Thomson.

Milka Domanovic, BIRN’s Regional Director, said she was proud that the project team has been able to adapt to different circumstances over the years and listen carefully to the needs of the people BIRN is supporting. “This project also created very stable connections between media professionals in the region,” she said.

Larisa Halilovic, Team Leader at the Western Balkans Media for Change project, emphasized that the project currently works with over 100 media professionals in the region.

After the opening, journalists joined a workshop on the wellbeing of journalists led by Emma Thomasson from The Self-Investigation Foundation.

Through interaction with each other and different exercises, they were motivated to think about workplace factors that lead to burnout, which include unfair treatment at work, unmanageable workloads, unreasonable time pressure, lack of role clarity and lack of communication and support from the manager. The workshop also covered tools for building resilience in the workplace and conflict management.

On November 14, participants heard about the main findings of the Global Index on Responsible AI in Southeastern Europe (GIRAI), a multidimensional tool measuring progress towards responsible use of AI in 138 countries and jurisdictions.

Ivana Jeremic, BIRN’s Digital Rights Programme Content Lead and GIRAI Southeast Europe Research Team Leader, explained that the Balkan region is an emerging AI governance hub with varied progress levels across different countries. “Most countries in the region lack comprehensive policies for AI safety, accuracy and reliability,” Jeremic said.

Journalists also learned about using AI in newsrooms with Damjan Dano, a Tech entrepreneur. The workshop covered AI tools and solutions that journalists can implement in their media outlets, as well as an evaluation of those tools and a discussion on AI’s limitations and the role of human oversight. The participants also discussed ethical challenges and legal and copyright issues when using AI for content creation.

Finally, at the event closure, participants heard directly about achievements from the media outlets that were supported through the project and about the change and impact achieved with BIRN and Thomson assistance and mentorship, from Armela Toska from Monitor (Albania), Amna Mehmedspahic from Radio Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Maja Ravanska from Lice v lice (North Macedonia), Rina Gurgule from Telegrafi (Kosovo), Dusan Cicmil from Vijesti (Montenegro) and Aleksandar Minic from TV Forum (Serbia).