Tag: Hub

The winner is the one who least cares (stories)

The winner is the one who least cares – is one of  the rules in a world situated in the heart of a city far away from the shinny city centers, a city where unusual heroes live; those who drink away their beer mugs at pubs alongside the railroad, in quarters which are destroyed overnight and become large shopping areas.

The compilation of stories are a powerful combination of poetics, selfishness, humor and cynicism – the true measurements of interpersonal relations (love, wandering, of all our gains and losses) which never leave a sour after-taste.

Maja Hrgovic from Zagreb, Croatia, currently works for daily newspaper Novi list as a journalist in the culture section. In 2009 Maja was awarded with the first prize at the end of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence annual programme for the article “Families Pay the Price as Women Go West” – focusing on socioeconomic migrations. As journalist she has several years’ experience of covering gender issues and she is one of the leading bloggers in Croatia. Her stories, among others, have been published in multi-author compilations such as “Ekranpriče 04” and “Da sam Šejn” as well as in many Balkan journalistic magazines at a national and regional level, and she has been recognized in the Anthology “Best Croatian stories of 2007”.

The idea for this handbook came from a desire to put on paper the valuable experience of BIRN, a regional network of journalists and trainers, and other colleagues from the region in their pursuit of investigative stories.

Digging Deeper showcases interesting investigative stories and individual journalistic successes and provides an overview of investigative techniques, the various databases available in the region and tips for the practitioners. It takes readers through this demanding discipline methodically, from a definition of what investigative journalism is and what is not, through the investigative process itself and the set of techniques for following people and paper trails, interviewing and checking the legal implications of journalistic work, and putting the article together.

Gordana Igric, BIRN regional director and editor of the handbook says – “To serve the public interest, an investigative journalist must also serve their own – by building their skills and knowledge, expanding their list of sources and enriching their reporting styles and techniques.”

BIRN is preparing translations of the handbook into Serbian, and translation into Albanian will follow shortly thereafter. The book will be distributed widely throughout the region, and will serve as a key tool for BIRN’s development of an investigative journalism summer school curriculum.

Production and publishing of ‘Digging Deeper – A Guide for Investigative Journalists in the Balkans’ was financially supported by the Open Society Institute and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Journalists from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania or Serbia, are encouraged to submit research proposals on 2010’s theme -TABOO.

Each year ten journalists are chosen, through an open competition, to receive funding and professional support to research and report on a topic of regional and European importance.

Participating fellows will receive:

• A bursary of €2,000, a travel allowance of up to €2,000 and a chance to participate in a seven-month programme of professional development.

• The opportunity to travel across the region to produce an in depth report with a regional and European dimension.

• Training from internationally recognised journalists and experts.

• The opportunity to have their work published Europe-wide and to become a member of a growing network for journalistic excellence in the Balkans.

In addition, the independent Selection Committee will award bursaries of € 4,000, € 3,000 and € 1,000 for further professional development to the authors of the three winning articles.

For detailed information on eligibility for the fellowship programme, application and the selection procedure, please read the full Guidelines before you download Application Form.

Applications must be received no later than 01 March 2010.

“Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans” sub=”Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans” >The project, “Balkan’s Initiative for Cultural Cooperation, Exchange and Development,” BICCED, aims to build a platform for development of culture-related co-operation in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia, focusing on common cultural policy issues and contributing to the change and development of individual country policies. BIRN, as lead partner in this project, will work closely with SEECult, from Serbia, and BIRN’s country-based organisations in Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.
 
The first phase of the project will involve the preparation of an editorial strategy and the establishment of links with cultural organisations and experts from across the region.

Later, a small group of influential representatives of the creative industries from all of the participating countries will get together for a regional conference to discuss the challenges faced and to agree a common approach.

Alongside, BIRN will organise the first of three annual training programmes in analytical and investigative reporting for 10 journalists, two from each of the participating countries. Journalists, who have an interest and focus on arts and cultural policy are strongly encouraged to apply for this opportunity which, in addition to the training, will offer them the   opportunity to participate in study visits around the region. Each group will visit one country attending a selection of cultural events, and meeting decision makers in institutions and organisations. Applications will be opened for interested journalists in February. After the initial training, the selected journalists will receive on-the-job training for a further 10 months. For each of the three years of the programme, 10 new journalists will be selected.

During the on-the-job training phase, each month, the journalists will participate in the production of 12 texts which will be published on a dedicated culture section of BIRN’s Balkan Insight web site www.balkaninsight.com and the six best texts will be put together to produce a monthly newsletter. The web section will also include a cultural calendar for the region and links to other resources in the cultural and arts field.

This year, their reports address the topic – Identity – from different angles, looking at the Balkan’s criminal, social, economic, cultural and religious landscape, examining the new role of woman in economic migration, the phenomenon of mixed marriages in post-conflict societies, the devastating consequences of on-going repatriation programmes, disputes between various national and religious groups as well as prevailing attitudes toward the LGBT community.  
 
Read the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence web site to find updates from the fellows written during the research period, that are offer interesting insightson their travels and their articles that are about to be published on BIRN’s on line publication, Balkan Insight and in a special hard-copy publication which will be launched at a special promotional gatherings throughout the region. Each year, the reports are also  syndicated to the local and international media.
 
The reports will be edited by BIRN’s experienced editorial team, and will be officially presented on November 27th to the Selection Committee, which will award bursaries of € 4,000, € 3,000 and € 1,000 to the authors of the three winning articles.

The Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is an initiative of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the ERSTE Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

The chosen journalists for this year’s Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence are:

Adrian Mogos from Romania
Arjan Konomi from Albania
Barbara Matejcic from Croatia
Boris Georgievski from Macedonia
Maja Hrgovic from Croatia
Marius Cosmeanu from Romania
Momir Turudic from Serbia
Nela Lazarevic from Montenegro
Sabina Niksic from Bosnia-Herzegovina
Yana Buhrer Tavanier from Bulgaria

To find out more about our fellows and their research ideas click here.

The journalists will undertake an intensive programme of training, research and reporting, beginning in Vienna on April 23rd and culminating in an awards ceremony at the end of the year in Berlin.

During the week-long seminar in the Austrian capital, the Fellows will have the opportunity to meet each other and will attend training sessions with BIRN’s editors and experts.

BIRN Kosovo Director Jeta Xharra introduced the book and officially opened the fellowship programme for 2009, while BIRN Kosovo Editor Krenar Gashi presented the book, containing investigative journalism stories written by last year’s fellows, on the topic of energy. Gashi also spoke about the objectives of the programme and advised prospective candidates on the application process for 2009.

Journalists, editors and representatives of the civil society were present at the event hosted in ‘Lounge’ restaurant in Pristina.

Lavdim Hamidi, BIRN’s winning fellow from the 2008 programme, for his investigative report “Power Games Delay Escape from Poverty”, also addressed the reception. Lavdimi talked about his experience with BIRN and encouraged journalists to apply for “this wonderful opportunity”.

“The ability to travel to European Union countries is rare for us in the Balkans, so having the chance to do this and compare issues between the Balkans and European Union countries, with all expenses are paid, was a fantastic opportunity to accurately investigate an important subject. I would encourage all journalists to participate in this programme because it is a worthy experience”, Hamidi said in a speech at the Pristina event.

After the presentation, BIRN Kosovo personnel explained details of the
programme and the application procedure in detail to many of the journalists that were present.
Each year BIRN’s team of experienced editors and journalists, in cooperation with the Robert Bosch Stiftung and ERSTE foundations, offers ten journalists from the Balkans a chance to travel and investigate their stories, which are later published, both in their respective national media as well in a BIRN book.

The event, which marked the completion of the 2008 programme, was held at the Croatian Journalists’ Association building and was attended by representatives of important national media outlets.

Speakers included Dalibor Dobric, a Croatian journalist who participated in this year’s Programme, Gordana Igric, BIRN Regional Director, and Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic, Fellowship Programme Manager.

Dalibor Dobric presented his article Fighting the Power Proves Tough in Croatia and talked about his experience during the project. He encouraged all interested journalists to apply for the upcoming 2009 programme, stressing that it provides participants with a rare opportunity to travel across the region and EU in order to do research.

Journalists present at the event showed interest in the programme as well as in other possibilities to positively influence the media situation throughout the region.

To mark two tumultuous decades of both fragmentation and European integration since the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the descent into armed conflict in many Balkan nations, journalists are invited to explore the broad concept of “Identity” in the contemporary landscape.

Journalists from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania or Serbia are encouraged to submit research proposals for a 2,000 word journalistic article.
Through an open competition, ten journalists will be selected to participate in a seven month programme. The journalists will receive funding and professional support to conduct research, both in the region and in the European Union, culminating in publication and Europe-wide promotion of their reports at the end of the year.

Successful applicants will receive a bursary of 2,000 Euros and a travel allowance of up to 2,000 Euros.
A selection committee comprised of prominent journalists will additionally award one fellow with an individually-tailored opportunity for further professional development, to the value of 8,000 Euros.
Applications must be received no later than 1st March 2009. More details about the programme, application forms and guidelines are available at http://fellowship.birn.eu.com