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Balkan Fellows Meet in Skopje

Ten fellows from the region met in Skopje for the final seminar of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.

Following the opening dinner on Wednesday night, on Thursday the agenda included a panel on social networking and the media with Filip Stojanovski, program coordinator at the Metamorphosis Foundation for internet and society.

Stojanovski gave the fellows valuable insight as well as practical tips into how journalists can use social networks to promote their work, but also how they can gather information and double check on facts. The fellows exchanged views and examples of journalists’ use of social networks throughout the region.

The second panel on the state of media in Macedonia included Goran Mihajlovski, editor-in-chief of Vest daily, Tamara Causidis, president of the Journalists’ union and Petrit Saracini of the Macedonian Media Institute. The panelists discussed the deteriorating state of the media and of journalistic standards in the country, and other challenges that journalists face.

The panelists and the fellows discussed issues of media freedom, the media’s struggle to survive in the market and alternative ways for the media to survive and resist pressures coming from political or business interests.

On Thursday the fellows had a guided tour in the centre of Skopje and visited all the new building and monuments erected as part of the Skopje 2014 project, a government project to revamp the city.

The Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the ERSTE Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, has been running since 2007.  Each year, ten Balkan journalists are competitively chosen to receive funding and professional support to conduct their own research projects.

Selected journalists receive a fellowship of 2,000 euro, a travel allowance of up to 2,000 euro and a chance to participate in a seven-month programme for professional advancement. In addition, the independent Selection Committee awards bursaries of €4,000, €3,000 and €1,000 to the authors of the three winning articles.

This years award ceremony will take place on November 23 in Skopje.

Balkan Cultural Policies – What is (to be) Done

The regional conference “Balkan Cultural Policies – What Is (to be) Done” will be held on November 28, 2012 in the Dom Omladine Beograda in Belgrade as the closing event of the three-year project “Balkan Initiative for Cultural Cooperation, Exchange and Development” – BICCED.

BICCED was implemented by the Balkan Investigative Regional Reporting Network, BIRN, and SEEcult.org, and was funded by the Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans (SCP).

The conference will be an opportunity to review the cultural policies implemented in the Balkans over the past three years, based on more than 300 analytical pieces produced as part of the project. BICCED aimed to map the main problems and tendencies in the field of culture in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, and to present them to decisions makers and the public, thus contributing to finding solutions for problems and initiating needed reforms.

The question that was formulated at the beginning of the BICCED project – Is there political will for changes in culture and when will the importance of culture be acknowledged in the region? – is still open, as confirmed by the investigations conducted and texts published within the BICCED project.

The conference will bring together the representatives of cultural institutions and media from the region, including journalists trained during the project.

In the first part of the conference Jelena Knežević, executive director of BITEF from Belgrade; Lutfi Dervishi, executive director of Transparency International in Albania and media lecturer at the University in Tirana; Nihad Kreševljaković, director of SARTR theatre from Sarajevo; and Robert Alagjozovski, independent cultural consultant, art and culture critic from Skopje, will give an overview  of cultural policies in the region and the main problems faced by cultural organisations and institutions over the past three years.

In the afternoon session, the focus of the work during three panel discussions will be on the financial crisis and its consequences, new networks and initiatives in independent cultural scenes and lack of culture in the media and possibilities for improving this situation. 

Panelists and participants in the event include Lola Joksimović (Cultural Contact Point Serbia, Belgrade), Amila Ramović (Ars Aevi, Sarajevo), Josif Papagjoni (Center for Art Studies, Tirana), Dimitrije Vujadinović (Balkankult Foundation, Belgrade), Sašo Stanojković (artist, Skopje), Albert Heta (Stacion – Center for Contemporary Arts, Pristina), Milica Pekić (Kiosk/Kooperativa, Belgrade), Darka Radosavljević Vasiljević (Remont/ Independent Culture Scene of Serbia, Belgrade), Iskra Gešoska (Kontrapunkt/Jadro Assotiation, Skopje), Dražen Crnomat (UNSA Geto, Banja Luka), Marija Đorđević (Politika, Beograd), Janja Sesar (Kurziv/Kulturpunkt, Zagreb), Jasmin Duraković (Depo.ba, Sarajevo), Nebojša Ilijevski (Center for Media Activities, Skopje), Ben Andoni (Gazeta Shiptare, Tirana) and Nataša Novaković (blogger, Banja Luka).

The sessions will be moderated by Aleksandar Brkić (University of Arts, Belgrade), Gordana Igrić (BIRN) and Vesna Milosavljević (SEEcult.org), and will be followed by questions from the floor and discussion. 

The conclusions of the conference and its panel discussions will be used for a common appeal and recommendation letter to all decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders in the region, as well as for the BICCED project follow up.

The end of the conference will include a presentation of the Culture Watch Award, established by the BICCED project with the aim of promoting an investigative and analytical approach to journalism in culture.

For more information on the BICCED program please go to:

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/tag-group-topics/culture-watch

Information on organisers – BIRN: www.birn.eu.com, SEECult.org: www.seecult.org

Information on donor – SCP: www.scp-ba.net/

Journalists Gather for Fellowship Climax in Skopje

This year’s final gathering of participants from the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is taking place in Skopje, between November 21 to 23.

The selected journalists will present their works in front of a board of international editors.

The jury will select the three best articles from the programme this year.

The members of the board this year are:

  • Florian Bieber, a professor and director of the Centre for Southeast Studies at the University of Graz
  • Gerald Knaus, the president of the European Stability Initiative think tank
  • Remzi Lani, the executive director of the Albanian Media Institute
  • Milorad Ivanovic, executive editor of the Serbian weekly, Novi
  • Markus Spielman, editor of the Swiss newspaper, Neue Zeitung Zuricher
  • Adelheid Wölfl, an editor at the Austrian daily, Der Standard

The winners will be announced on the evening of Friday, 23 November, at a ceremony at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje.

A further 30 journalists from the region who are alumni of the Fellowship are also expected to participate in the event.

The theme for this year’s competition was “communities”. Journalists on the programme reported on topics ranging from football fan groups, the environmental movement, radical Islamists, youth unemployment, orphans and the exploitation of immigrant workers within the European Union.

Some articles from this year’s programme have already been published in prestigious local and international outlets. Several more articles are scheduled for re-publication in the local and international press within the next few weeks.

Click here for more information about this year programme.

Launched by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Erste in 2007, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), this annual scholarship provides financial and professional support to journalists, encouraging good reporting in the Balkans region.


“We believe that journalists from south-east Europe should have the chance to be engaged in basic research with an international dimension, beyond their daily duties in their media,” says Robin Gosejohann, Project Manager, Erste Foundation.


“We are pleased to support this programme, along with our partners, for the sixth year in a row, and we will continue with this practice.”

The programme encourages regional networking among journalists and seeks to provide quality reporting on complex reform issues that are of central importance for the region and for the EU.


Ten of this year’s scholars were selected from among more than 120 candidates from nine Balkan countries.

After the completing the programme, they will become part of the Fellowship alumni network of regional journalists.

The competition for next year’s entries will open in early 2013.

BIRN Summer School Kicks Off in Macedonia

More than 20 journalists from all over the world are taking part in BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting at Lake Mavrovo in Macedonia.

Sheila Coronel, director and professor of Professional Practice at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, opened the third annual BIRN Summer School explaining what investigative journalism is and how to conceptualise an investigation.

Coronel showed how an investigation might be carried out through a case study, an investigation into corruption in the Philippines involving the former Philippines president, Joseph Estrada.

Marcus Lindemann provided insights into the use of modern, online tools for information gathering.

Lindemann, an executive producer and journalist from Germany whose reports often appear on ZDF, Europe’s largest TV station, introduced journalists to a range of ways of finding information online, beyond doing searches on Google.

Mark Schoofs, a senior editor at ProPublica and a two times Pulitzer Prize winner, introduced journalist to investigative techniques with data-driven journalism.

The principal focus of the BIRN Summer School is the reporting of organised crime and corruption for print and broadcast media, but the school will also cover the issues of censorship and self-censorship in the Balkans.

Steve Crawshaw

From 2002 to 2023 Steve worked for Human Rights Watch (UK director and UN advocacy director), Amnesty International (international advocacy director and Director of the Office of the Secretary General) and Freedom from Torture (policy and advocacy director).

He is now writing a book on war crimes and international justice, Prosecuting the Powerful (Bridge Street Press/Little, Brown).

Steve worked as a journalist for many years, including for the Independent, which he joined at its launch in 1986. He reported for The Independent on the East European revolutions, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Balkan wars.

His previous books include Goodbye to the USSR, Easier Fatherland: Germany and the Twenty-First Century, Small Acts of Resistance (foreword by Václav Havel) and Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief (foreword by Ai Weiwei).

 

 

Tim Judah

Tim is journalist and author and special correspondent for The Economist.

Tim has worked for many major publications and broadcasters, notably writing wartime reportage from Afghanistan to Ukraine for The New York Review of Books.

He is the author of three books on the Balkans—The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia, Kosovo: War & Revenge and Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know. He published a book on the conflict in Ukraine – In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine in 2016.

For much of 2022 and early 2023 he covered the Ukraine war for The New York Review of Books, The Economist and the Financial Times. He was shortlisted for the 2022 Bayeux-Calvedos award for war correspondents.

Per Byman

Per is a Swedish aid worker. Since 2023 he has been working for Caritas Germany as Senior Humanitarian Advisor for Ukraine and Moldova. Previously, he was the Managing Director at NRC Flüchtlingshilfe Deutschland, which he joined in 2018.

Between 2005 and 2012 he worked for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA, where he served as head of the humanitarian unit responsible for disaster relief. From 1999-2005 Per worked as a program officer for human rights and democracy at Sida’s unit for South Eastern Europe.

Between 1991 and 1997 he worked with humanitarian projects and reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the international Caritas network. He holds an MA in German political linguistics (Politolinguistik).

 

Digging Deeper: A guide for investigative journalists in the Balkans

Digging Deeper is a textbook for investigative journalists and part of the curriculum of the BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting.

Digging Deeper is an output of BIRN’s Investigative Reporting Initiative, which is an educational programme that includes cooperation with international universities and local partners with the aim of putting Digging Deeper into commercial use as a curriculum for investigative reporting.

The book was written in cooperation with Sheila Coronel, director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice at Columbia University, New York.

In the guide, journalists’ articles, coupled with interesting advice, skills, investigative stories, databases, case studies, exercises and tips and techniques, inspire readers to take up the challenge of a career in investigative journalism.

Digging Deeper showcases interesting investigative stories and individual journalistic successes, as well as providing an overview of investigative techniques. Listings of the various databases available in the Balkan region and tips for practitioners are also useful elements for journalists.

BIRN’s Digging Deeper is part of the curriculum of the BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting. BIRN has published two editionsof the book in English, and it has been translated into the languages of the Western Balkans- Serbian, Albanian and Macedonian.

Download the first chapter for free

Balkan Insight

Balkan Insight is BIRN’s flagship English-language website and it provides daily news, as well as analytical insight and investigations, on key issues in ten countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, with occasional coverage of Turkey and Greece. From 2019, Balkan Insight is extending its coverage on Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

The website has built a reputation as one of the most comprehensive, professional and independent sources of news in English in Southern and Eastern Europe, and has become the news source of choice for policy-makers, corporate management and academic researchers around the world.

It provides a free-to-access daily news service alongside Premium Content, a paid service that offers in-depth analysis, commentary, investigative reports, features, interviews and profiles on the latest political and business headlines.

Balkan Insight draws on BIRN’s pool of professional specialist journalists and editors from across Europe, ensuring high-quality content refined by a team of native English-language editors.

Correspondents address issues including transitional justice, media freedom, foreign influence, radicalisation, corruption and the rule of law, as well as political crises in the region.

In addition to publishing work by our team of correspondents, we annually publish articles from more than 200 local journalists – mostly relying on our wide network of alumni that have participated in the award-winning programs – the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence, the Balkan Transitional Justice Initiative and the BIRN Summer School of Investigative Journalism.

Our opinion writers include respected authors and commentators on the region, including international political and government figures.

We also collaborate with a number of media outlets in Europe. Our stories get republished regularly internationally by The Economist, The Independent, Der Standard, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, The Guardian, New Statesman, The Nation, Le Monde and by the BBC, PBS and Al Jazeera.

Locally, our articles often appear in Danas, Vreme, Vjesti, N1, Novosti.hr, Klix.ba, Juzne Vesti, Koha, Mapo.al and many others.

Balkan Insight has been quoted in reports issued by the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom House. It is referenced by many academic institutions and their scholars, including those from Columbia University, Oxford University, the London School of Economics, University College London, Yale University and the University of Graz, among others.

Over the years, Balkan Insight investigative teams have been nominated or awarded on numerous occasions, including for the Global Shining Light Award, the European Press Prize, SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism, the Global Data Journalism Award, Press Freedom Award – A Signal for Europe, as well as numerous national awards for best investigations by independent journalism centres.

Sinisa-Jakov Marusic

Sinisa-Jakov Marusic is a Skopje-based journalist and regular contributor to BIRN’s regional publication, Balkan Insight, and the programme Balkan Transitional Justice.

Since 2007, Sinisa has covered Macedonia’s political, social and economic developments, especially those linked to Macedonian post conflict society and transitional justice.

His articles and analysis also appear in other local and international print and electronic media.

In 2007, Sinisa graduated from the Journalism School at the Macedonian Institute for Media, MIM, in Skopje.

He speaks Macedonian, English and German.