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The South East European Media Observatory brought together journalists and media experts in Sarajevo on April 14 to discuss the reasons for the deterioration of media integrity in the region at a round-table entitled ‘How to save the integrity of journalism and the media? Learning lessons from good practice in the protection of media integrity in the countries of south-east Europe’.

The panellists said that the issues that usually affect media integrity include problematic and non-transparent ownerships, politically-controlled advertisng and non-transparent state advertising.

Although the situaiton in media previous years has been worsening, they said there were some examples of good practice in defending media freedoms, citing the weekly magazine Novosti in Croatia, the online magazine Žurnal.info and the Buka online portal from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sarajevo-based Centre for Investigative Reporting and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN.

“All the good examples are non-profit media, established by journalists, and they are all clear what the purpose of journalism is. They are clear about their public mission, and journalism as a public service,” Brankica Petkovic of the Peace Institute from Ljubljana said during the discussion.

“Only journalists can save journalism – not the state, not the government, not researchers,” Petkovic added.

The panellists expressed concern about a sigificant decline in foreign financial support for independent media in the region, which is threatening their sustainability.

BIRN regional network director Gordana Igric said this should be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Media debates in the region should therefore only be directed towards finding new ways of funding investigative and independent reporting,” said Igric.

“Investigative reporting is expensive and some of the biggest media outlets, like Britain’s The Independent, have failed to find a sustainable model and faced closing. If such big media shut down, this could happen to anyone,” she warned.

The round-table participants concluded that they ought to start searching for and developing new financial models because although Balkan countries are in great need of objective and independent journalism, ways have to be found for these media to become sustainable.

Six features by Barbara BFJE alumna Matejcic, covering the problems of rejection, handicap and the power of superstition – but also people’s strength of purpose – are being published in Croatia.

“Kako ste?” [“How are you?”], published by Heinrich Boll, looks at the fate of so-called second-class citizens who are often invisible to most of society.

The features ask what it means to live with mental illness, what obstacles Roma children must overcome to be educated, what goes through the mind of a motionless person, how families with an undesirable national stigma survive in Croatia and what the fears of young women oppressed because of their sexual orientation are – among others.

A freelance journalist and editor from Zagreb in Croatia, Matejcic has long specialized in covering social issues.

She was recognized for the best written journalistic work in 2013 with the “Marija Juric Zagorka” award by the Croatian Journalists’ Association in 2014, and for the promotion of peace, nonviolence and human rights with the “Krunoslav Sukić” award (Center for Peace, 2013).

She received recognition for best monitoring of LGBT themes in Croatia from 2000 to 2010 from Zagreb Pride in 2011.

Matejcic was a BFJE fellow in 2009. Her story focused on the phenomenon of mixed marriages in cities that were once multi-ethnic communities in the former Yugoslavia, but which were destroyed by the war in the 1990s.

The first US screening of the film is being staged on Monday at Columbia University in New York, organised by the Harriman Institute.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the film’s director/producer Marija Ristic, author and human rights advocate Fred C. Abrahams, and sociologist, journalist and policy analyst Anna Di Lellio.

The film will then be screened a week later on February 29 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, which will also be followed by a discussion with Marija Ristic. 

‘The Unidentified’ is a feature-length documentary which follows two story lines that focus on large-scale state-sponsored wrongdoing – war crimes in four Kosovo villages and the subsequent cover-up operation.

Both victims and perpetrators recall gruesome memories of the attacks, when scores of ethnic Albanian civilians were killed by Serbian forces in the course of a few days in the spring of 1999.

The result of a two-year-long investigation, the documentary names the officers who ordered attacks on villages and those who were involved in the removal of victims’ bodies to mass graves at the Batajnica police centre near Belgrade in Serbia.

Beside disturbing testimonies never seen before, the documentary also features exclusive images and documents from the war.

You have still two weeks to think about the topic you’d like to cover.

Journalists from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Greece and Serbia are eligible to apply for a bursary until March 1^st.

Also this year, ten journalists from across the region will be chosen through open competition to receive funding and professional support to conduct in-depth research into a topic of regional and EU significance.

Send us your application with your proposal for a story based on this year’s theme of Trust by March 1^st.

Applicants selected by an independent committee to take part in the fellowship will receive a €2,000 bursary and up to another €2,000 for travel and research expenses. They will also attend international seminars and receive continuous one-to-one mentoring for their stories.

Completed articles will be published in English and local languages by leading regional and international media. In addition, the top three articles will receive awards of €4,000, €3,000 and €1,000.

The closing date for applications is March 1st, 2016. The application form, guidelines and further information about the fellowship are available online: fellowship.birn.eu.com.

In order to foster quality reporting, initiate regional networking among journalists and advance balanced coverage on topics that are central to the region as well as to the EU, the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme  is supported by the ERSTE Foundation and the Open Society Foundations, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN.

 

For more information contact:

Fellowship programme manager, BIRN

Kolarceva 7/V

11 000 Belgrade, Serbia

Email: [email protected] 

An investigation into women from Kosovo who join ISIS, “Few but fanatical” by BFJE alumna Arbana Xharra, had a big impact in online media. The article was published in English, Serbian and Albanian — and the Albanian version alone has been read by more than 20,000 people and republished by most Albanian-language media in Kosovo and Albania. The article was also picked up by international outlets such as the EU Observer, Daily Mail, Al Jazeera Balkans and many others. Arbana spent six months last year working on her investigation. Previously she has reported on religious extremism and its links with non-governmental organisations and terrorist groups, which resulted in her receiving death threats. In 2015, the US Department of State honoured her with a Women of Courage Award.

Mariya Petkova, a BFJE fellow in 2015, investigated the use of Bulgarian arms in the war in Syria for her fellowship story. Her article was highlighted by Wikileaks and reached more than 40,000 readers. Mariya’s research involved extensive travel in Bulgaria and Turkey, taking her as far as the border with Syria. The story was also republished by Middle East Eye. Now a BFJE alumna, Mariya is a freelance journalist covering eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Other 2015 fellowship stories also reached broad audiences, with versions published by The Guardian, the New Statesman, Politico, programme media partners such as Austria’s Der Standard and other international outlets

“Hearts and Minds: The battle for Montenegro’s Mamula Fortress” by Nela Lazarevic was another story from the alumni programme to attract a lot of international attention. The article focused on plans to convert an island fortress used as a prison camp during World War Two into a tourist resort. The story was picked up by CNN, the New Statesman, the Daily Mail, the Independent and other international and local media. Following the attention generated by Nela’s story, state authorities and the project investor pledged that Mamula’s heritage would be respected as part of the development.

In all, thanks to the support of the Erste Foundation and Open Society Foundations, BIRN produced 17 in-depth stories as part of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence and the Alumni Initiative in 2015. Assisted by a team of local and international editors, 19 journalists tackled sensitive, complex and under-reported topics of regional and international importance.

If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, now is the time to apply for the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.

Each year, ten journalists are chosen through open competition to receive funding and professional support to conduct in-depth research into a topic of regional and EU significance – for 2016 the subject is Trust.

It is a chance to advance your career and work on a story you can be proud of. You will be supported by experienced editors and journalists from around the region. Stories from the programme will be published by BIRN and by prominent regional and international media outlets. The top three stories, as selected by an independent jury, will also receive cash awards.

Experienced journalists from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Greece and Serbia are eligible to apply.

Send us your application with your proposal for a story based on the theme of Trust by March 01.

Applicants selected by an independent committee to take part in the fellowship will receive a €2,000 bursary and up to another €2,000 for travel and research expenses. They will also attend international seminars and receive continuous one-to-one mentoring for their stories.

For more information contact:

Dragana Žarković Obradović

Fellowship programme manager, BIRN

Kolarceva 7/V

11 000 Belgrade, Serbia

Tel: +381 11 4030 317

Email: [email protected]

This year’s seven in-depth articles were researched and written by nine BFJE Alumni Network journalists from across the region.

Juliana Koleva and Kostas Kallergis investigated Greek and Bulgarian baby-selling routes, Lina Vdovii wrote about Romanian international adoptees who try to find their biological families via social media, Lavdim Hamidi covered the problems of privatization in Kosovo, and Nela Lazarevic wrote a story about Mamula Island in Montenegro, whose future is causing much controversy between locals and the government.

After New Year, more BFJE Alumni Network will be published on Balkan Insight.

Arbana Xharra will publish a story about women from Kosovo who join ISIS, there will be a cross-border investigation by Aleksandar Manasiev and Mirko Rudic about police from Macedonia and Serbia suing their states, and an investigation by Erjona Rusi about children in Albania and Kosovo exposed to porn via social media.

The Alumni Initiative is designed to encourage and support continued cooperation between fellows who have participated in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, which was established in 2007.

The Alumni Initiative is supported by Open Society Foundation and ERSTE Foundation in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.