Tag: Hub

Transitional Justice Training for Journalists

BIRN’s Balkan Transitional Justice Programme is organising a two-day training session for 20 journalists from the region on 22 and 23 September in Sarajevo.

Training aims to improve journalists’ reporting skills in the field of transitional justice.

As well as focusing on the specifics of reporting on issues related to transitional justice, the training session includes attendance at a regional conference on war crimes as well as a visit to the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The training is primarily intended for journalists interested in the topic of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Applicants should submit a CV, a letter of motivation, and an example of a published article which should be sent to [email protected].

As the training is being conducted in English, a solid knowledge of the language is essential.

The deadline for applications is August 15, 2016.

The transport costs and accommodation on full board basis costs will be paid for by the organisers of the training session.

The programme is supported by the European Commission, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland  and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

Serbian Ruling Party Exhibits ‘Media Lies’

Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party (SNS) organized an unusual exhibition of negative press articles to back its claim that there is no official censorship in Serbia.

Claiming it wanted to document wrongful attacks on the government it leads, the Progressive Party opened a new exhibition called, ‘Uncensored Lies’, at Belgrade gallery Progress on Monday.
The Progressive Party insisted it was not targeting journalists that are critical of it.
Most of the critical articles on display were from weekly magazines like NIN and Vreme, independent media organizations such as BIRN, KRIK, CIRN and the television station N1.
The exhibit also featured material from the television comedy show ‘24 Minutes’, whose host, satirist Zoran Kesic, recently received death threats because of his criticisms.
Among the articles on display is BIRN’s investigation, “Pumping Out the Open Pit and the Budget”, written by journalist Aleksandar Djordjevic.

Djordjevic won an EU Award for investigative journalism in May of this year for the article. The government and Prime Minister designate Aleksandar Vucic often cite this article as an “example” of how independent media “lie.”

However, Vucic, or SNS, has not filed any complaints or lawsuits against the author or BIRN.

Djordjevic’s investigation was widely republished by other media in Serbia, and each publication was displayed on the wall and described as a lie by the ruling Progressive Party.

Many of BIRN’s regional director Gordana Igric’s statements and interviews were also included in the display.

Her statements and interviews on the state of the media in Serbia are published by SNS alongside fragments of the reports of Reporters Without Borders, Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic.

BIRN Serbia’s project manager and editor Slobodan Georgiev tweets and interviews are also displayed on the walls as an “example” of media freedom in Serbia.

Human rights and watchdog organizations warned that the government is undermining its acceptance of an independent media and critical journalism by organizing the exhibition, and encouraging a climate of fear and intimidation amongst outspoken journalists.

Pulitzer Winner Hosts Sessions at BIRN Summer School

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting will be held from 21 to 27 August in Konjic Bosnia and Herzegovina. In its seventh edition, the School will be organised in the form of Master Class.

The course will include sessions in mastering the latest techniques for searching the web and social media, interviewing techniques, working with sources and how to scale up your investigations generally.

Trainers at this year’s Summer School, as in the previous six years, experienced internationally recognized journalists and editors from Reuters, Columbia University, OCCRP and others.

Lead trainer is Blake Morrison, investigative editor for Reuters, New York.

Social media expert Paul Myers, three time Pulitzer Prize winner Martin Kaiser, Knight Award winner Miranda Patrucic, from OCCRP and Columbia University lecturer Jim Mintz are some of the trainers at the School.

In the afternoon hours trainer will held small group or one-on-one sessions with participnats.

For 20 Balkan journalists BIRN is providing scholarships, while 10 international journalists will need to cover tuition fee.

BIRN is also providing funds for the best story idea. Three best story pitches will be able to get from 1,500 to 3,000 euros.

Participants will also have a bit of time to enjoy rafting down Neretva river and visit Tito’s nuclear bunker.

Applications for scholarships must be received by 20th July 2016.

BIRN Macedonia Trains Albanian-Language Journalists

In a day-long course in Skopje, BIRN’s Jeta Xharra shared her insights into ethics, undercover reporting, how to conduct interviews and manage sources and much more. 

BIRN Macedonia held a journalism training session for a dozen journalists from the local Albanian-language media on June 28 in the Macedonian capital, Skopje.

The training course was designed to boost the skills of journalists from different media outlets, offer insight into BIRN’s standards of reporting and provide opportunities for journalists to expand their knowledge.

Attending were journalists from Skopje and other parts of the country engaged in web portals, national and local TV stations, newspapers and magazines.

Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo director and lead trainer of the course, used case studies drawn from her extensive experience as a journalist and an editor Xharra to give the journalists her insights into how to produce a story on the Balkans, how to use sources and establish trustworthy relations with them, what to do when institutions are not responsive, tips on how to conduct an interview, and more.

The training included an extensive debate on ethics in reporting at which the journalists shared their diverse experiences and knowledge from the country and the region and learned more about ethics and undercover reporting.

This training course was part of the BIRN’s Project for Investigative Journalism and Cooperation between Media and Civil Society, funded by USAID Macedonia.

BIRN Regional Board Meeting Held in Skopje

Directors, board members, partners and donors of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, met in the Macedonian capital Skopje on June 18-20 for the network’s latest regional Board meeting.

Attendees convened for the three-day meeting, held every 18 months, to highlight BIRN’s recent achievements, review its internal policy and discuss its future role in the region.

BIRN’s Steering Board also met to review internal policy, current training plans, anticorruption policy, obstacles faced by individual country, and a potential change in financial software.

A number of new policies were agreed upon and voted into effect by the BIRN Assembly.

During the meeting, BIRN directors also led special presentations on key topics currently affecting the political and media landscape in the Western Balkans, which included press freedom and the rule of law.

BIRN Regional Network Director Gordana Igric said that in the current regional political landscape “organisations such as BIRN working on promoting responsible journalism are more important than ever.”

The regional Board meeting was attended by Board members Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, Per Byman, Secretary-General of Radiohjälpen, Wolfgang Petritsch, Chair, Board of the European Cultural Foundation, Steve Crawshaw, Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Ana Petruseva, BIRN Maceodnia director.

Some of BIRN’s long-term donors, such as representatives from ERSTE Foundation, as well as ambassadors and representatives from Swedish, Norwegian and UK embassies, also attended the meeting.

Alongside Igric, BIRN’s regional country directors, including Mirna Buljugic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jeta Xharra from Kosovo, Kristina Voko from Albania, Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic from Serbia and Marian Chiriac from Romania, attended the event as well.

On Monday, 20 June, Igric, Lehne, and Petritsch, hosted a public panel on the ‘EU Prospects for the Region’, moderated by BIRN Macedonia Director Ana Petruseva.

BIRN Wins Seven Prestigous Awards in May

BIRN’s investigative journalists and teams in Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Kosovo have been given seven different awards in the course of one month for the quality of their reporting.

The most recent BIRN journalist to receive an award in May for his work was Boris Georgievski, author of the series of investigations called ‘Dossier Telecom’, produced for BIRN Macedonia online publication Prizma, who won the first prize in the European Union awards for investigative journalism for 2015.

The BIRN Macedonia team also won the second prize for its investigation and database, ‘Skopje 2014 Uncovered’.

BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Djordjevic win first prize in the EU awards for investigative journalism in Serbia for his report entitled ‘Pumping Out the Pit and the Budget’ which was named the best investigative story in 2015.

Third prize went to Ivan Angelovski, Jelena Cosic, Petrit Colaku and Kreshnik Gashi for a story revealing how a multi-million-dollar road construction contract was quietly handed to a consortium with little highway-building experience and linked to controversial Serbian businessman Zvonko Veselinovic.

The story was produced as part of the ‘A Paper Trail for Better Governance’ programme, which is funded by Austrian Development Agency.

BIRN’s Albania investigation Albania’s Judges Wealth Escapes Scrutiny, by journalist Leonard Bakillari, meanwhile won the first prize in the EU Investigative Journalism Awards 2015 for Albania

BIRN’s film The Unidentified, investigating the commanders responsible for brutal attacks during the Kosovo war, was given the best short documentary award at the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles. 

And finally, BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Dordjevic scooped one more first prize for the best investigative journalism story in Serbia’s print media.

The award was given by the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, NUNS, and the US Embassy to Belgrade. The investigation, produced by BIRN Serbia and published in the magazine Vreme, revealed how the Belgrade Business School, under pressure from government officials, unlawfully lent seven million euros to heavily indebted companies that were unlikely to repay the money. 

EU Prize Highlights Cross-Border Collaboration

An award-winning investigation into a $75m road-building contract underscores the importance of cross-border collaboration.

An investigation into how a multi-million-dollar road construction contract was quietly handed to a consortium with little highway-building experience was made possible thanks to close collaboration between journalists in Kosovo and Serbia.

The story, which secured third prize last week in the European Union’s investigative journalism awards for Serbia [https://birn.eu.com/en/news-and-events/birn-reports-win-eu-investigative-journalism-awards], was produced as part of the Austrian-Development-Cooperation funded “A Paper Trail to Better Governance”  project.

BIRN assembled a team of five investigative journalists in Albania, Austria, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia to carry out a series of pioneering, year-long, cross-border investigations into the biggest players in this road building industry, their links to power and how they have spent – and sometimes squandered – massive public budgets.

Investigations, including the award-winning story – Veselinovic-linked Consortium Bags 75m Dollar Contract in Secret Deal http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/veselinovic-linked-consortium-bags-75m-dollar-contract-in-secret-deal,  were published on a bespoke webpage – Road to Ruin [http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/page/road-to-ruin-home]. It features an interactive map of highway projects as well as background material on how corruption affects the construction industry.

The prize-winning story was compiled by Petrit Colaku and Kreshnik Gashi in Pristina and Ivan Angelovski, and Jelena Cosic in Belgrade.

Project editor Lawrence Marzouk said: “Working across borders was absolutely critical for this story as it required official documents from institutions in both Serbia and Kosovo, as well as on the ground contacts.

“With the team’s close collaboration, we were able to build the full picture of Zvonko Veselinovic’s shady business deals.

“This investigation is just one excellent example of the many stories published as part of the project which would not have been possible without strong teams, working together across the region”.

“A Paper Trail to Better Governance” project started in October 2013 and has honed the skills of dozens of investigative journalists in the Balkans and Moldova, helping reporters to hold officials to account and improving the implementation and use of freedom of information laws.

BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Djordjevic won first prize in the EU for his report entitled “Pumping Out the Pit and the Budget”.

BIRN Reports Win EU Investigative Journalism Awards

BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Djordjevic win first prize in the EU awards for investigative journalism in Serbia, while the third prize went to BIRN’s Ivan Angelovski, Jelena Cosic, Petrit Collaku and Kreshnik Gashi.

Aleksandar Djordjevic’s report entitled ‘Pumping Out the Pit and the Budget’ was named the best investigative story in 2015 in the EU awards for investigative journalism on Tuesday.

Djordjevic’s story revealed that the public company Electric Power Industry of Serbia awarded a public tender for to pump flood water out of the most important mine in Serbia to an inexperienced consortium, increasing the cost of the whole operation.

After the investigation in January 2015, BIRN was publicly criticised by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and media that support his administration.

Third prize went to Ivan Angelovski, Jelena Cosic, Petrit Colaku and Kreshnik Gashi for a story revealing how a multi-million-dollar road construction contract was quietly handed to a consortium with little highway-building experience and linked to controversial Serbian businessman Zvonko Veselinovic. The story was produced as part of “A Paper Trail for Better Governance” programme, which is funded by Austrian Development Cooperatiion.

The president of the jury, a member of the Anti-Corruption Council, Miroslava Milenovic, stressed the importance of investigative journalism to the general public.

“If there were no investigative journalism, many important events in society, many cases of corruption and social neglect of public goods, the arrogance of the political and economic elite would stay hidden from the public,” said Milenovic.

The award for the best young investigative reporter went to journalists Snezna Djuric and Novak Grujic from the news site Whistle for their ‘Municipal Radar’ series, while RTV Vojvodina journalist Darko Sper scooped the second prize for his story about the trial of a banned neo-Nazi organisation called the National Formation.

 

BIRN’s Kosovo War Film Wins US Festival Award

BIRN’s film The Unidentified, investigating the commanders responsible for brutal attacks during the Kosovo war, was given the best short documentary award at the South East European Film Festival in LA.

The Unidentified, which names the Serbian officers who ordered attacks on Kosovo villages around the town of Pec/Peja in 1999 and those involved in the cover-up operation to hide the victims’ bodies, was awarded the best short documentary prize at the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Nemanja Babic, the director of the film, told the audience at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills that work on the film continued for two years as the production team struggled to persuade all those involved, both perpetrators and victims, to give interviews for the documentary.

“It took us months to convince a lot of people to appear in this documentary. Some of the witnesses first said yes and then they would change their mind once we pressed ‘play’ on the camera,” Babic said.

“This prolonged the whole process of filming, but in the end the work paid off and this prize also inspires us to continue working on this topic,” he added.

The Unidentified takes viewers back to 1999, to the villages of Ljubenic, Cuska, Pavljan and Zahac near Pec/Peja in Kosovo, where Serbian fighters killed more than 118 Albanian civilians. Their bodies were either burned or removed, and some of them were later found in mass graves at the Batajnica police training centre near Belgrade in 2001.

The trial of 11 fighters alleged to have been involved in the killings – 10 of them accused of being direct perpetrators – is still ongoing in Belgrade.

In February 2014, nine of them were sentenced to a total of 106 years in jail but an appeals court annulled the verdict last March, calling it “incomprehensible and contradictory” and sent the case for retrial.

The film had its international premiere at last year’s Sarajevo Film Festival and has been screened at various other festivals and institutes, in Paris, New York, Washington DC, Zagreb, Belgrade, Prizren, Pristina, Tirana, Maribor and Los Angeles.

The Unidentified will also be screened for the first time in Belgrade on May 14 at this year’s BELDOCS film festival.

Tenth Edition of BFJE Launched in Vienna

The tenth Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence got underway in Vienna with a multimedia workshop, reporting/writing tips and tailored editorial guidance for 10 new fellows from across the Balkan region.

With the participation of the ERSTE Foundation, Open Society Foundations and BIRN, fellows from Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Macedonia came together with the Fellowship team to begin work on their in-depth stories.

They received practical tips from Fellowship programme editors, focused on planning, research, reporting and writing, as well as individually tailored advice and workshops on multimedia journalism.

The sessions were led by former Reuters bureau chief for the Balkans Andrew Gray, who was BFJE editor for the previous two years, and his successor as BFJE editor Matt Robinson, who also formerly led the Reuters bureau in Belgrade. Matt will now mentor and support the fellows over the months to come.

The 10 journalists also benefited from a workshop by Romanian photographer Cosmin Bumbut and BFJE alumna Elena Stancu, an EU Press prize nominee in 2015, on the value of multimedia in storytelling.

The fellows now embark on four months of research, reporting and writing, involving trips within Europe, before submitting their final work.