Tag: Macedonia

The Memorandum establishes cooperation between BIRN Macedonia and the Faculty of Law, within which the Journalism Studies programme operates, with the aim of connecting theoretical knowledge with practical experience in the field of media and investigative journalism.

The two institutions will collaborate on activities focused on extracurricular education in journalism studies with a particular focus on investigative journalism.

Capacity building, knowledge and resource sharing, and the promotion of investigative journalism remain among BIRN Macedonia’s strategic objectives, particularly in supporting young journalists and strengthening professional journalism standards in North Macedonia.

The report ‘Campaign Financing for the 2025 Parliamentary Elections in Albania: Sources, Expenditures and Reporting Transparency’ analyses official financial reports submitted to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), combining structured datasets with comparative financial analysis to identify key trends in campaign expenditures, sources of funding and reporting inconsistencies that influence the transparency of electoral competition.

First prize went to stories investigating the causes of the fire at the nightclub in Kocani. The Investigative Reporting Lab, IRL, was awarded for the story “Kochani – Our Moral Compromise”. The team behind the programme “KOD”, broadcast on Telma TV, was recognised for its series of investigations on the same topic, while Fokus journalist Irena Mulachka was awarded for an article that revealed the secret owner of the agency Rubikon.

Second prize was awarded to the team of Prizma/BIRN Macedonia for the database “Religious Properties Uncovered” and the investigations stemming from it, and to the journalists Aleksandar Metodijev and Suzana Mitseva for the series “Coal at the Crossroads”.

Third prize was shared by journalist Fisnik Djelili for a story on the misuse of funds for the treatment of stray dogs in Tetovo, published by the portal Portalb, and Aleksandar Dimitrievski for the story “Police Special Forces to Be Dressed by a Women’s Fashion Studio and a Company Registered Before the Tender”, published in the TV magazine 360 Degrees.

Certificates of recognition were awarded to Miroslava Simonovska and Frosina Fakova Serafinovic from Sloboden Pechat, to Bjanka Stankovic for a story published in the magazine Lice v Lice, and to Slavica Filipovska Ivanova and Mihail Miloshevski from 360 Degrees.

The awards recognise exceptional professional dedication, investigative persistence and a strong commitment to the public interest.

The Macedonian Institute for Media has been presenting best investigative story awards since 2001. Marking the 25th anniversary, a panel discussion was also organised on the challenges and future of investigative journalism in North Macedonia, featuring representatives of the five investigative newsrooms that have won the most awards so far.

The Association specifically highlights the investigation “A System Outside the System: The State Blind to the Money of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric and the Islamic Religious Community” and the interactive database “Religious Properties Uncovered.”

In its explanation, the Association emphasized that through analysis of financial operations and mapping of religious property, the investigation raised questions about transparency, institutional oversight, and the management of public interest in this sensitive area, noting that these stories represent an example of thorough, data-based investigative journalism.

At the event, several newsrooms and journalists were recognised for their contributions to investigative journalism and public interest reporting.

The “Jashar Erebara” Award for Best Investigative Story in 2025 was jointly awarded to IRL, KOD, and Irena Mulachka from Fokus for their investigations into the deadly fire at the Pulse nightclub in Kochani.

The journalist Aneta Blazhevska also received recognition for promoting topics of local and regional significance.

The lifetime achievement award “Krste Petkov Misirkov” was presented to journalist Risto Tasev from Strumica and photojournalist Robert Atanasovski, while the award for reporting on topics of local and regional importance was granted to Ardit Ramadani.

From June 12 to 15, 2025, BIRN Macedonia organised a Summer School in Ohrid, marking the final stage of its year-long investigative journalism training programme. The intensive four-day training gathered young journalists who have been part of the programme, offering them an opportunity to deepen the skills they have developed throughout the year.

The Summer School provided a diverse set of trainings, combining lectures, group discussions, and hands-on exercises aimed at enhancing participants’ practical knowledge. The participants explored key aspects of investigative journalism, such as planning and conducting resilient investigations, handling complex interviews and verifying information under challenging conditions. Special attention was given to developing technical skills in mobile journalism, allowing participants to practice producing content using only mobile devices, as well as to the growing role of artificial intelligence, AI, in journalism, discussing both its potential and its risks.

The training also included open discussions on ethical dilemmas, protection of sources, and the realities journalists face when working on sensitive investigations. Through practical exercises and real-life case studies, participants could apply the knowledge they had gained during the programme and reflect on their individual approaches to investigative work.

The Summer School concluded with the selection of one investigative story proposal, which will be developed under the mentorship of BIRN Macedonia’s team in the coming months.

The Ohrid Summer School was the fifth stage of a year-long programme which started in September 2024. Over the past four training sessions, held in four different locations, the participants learned about the basics of investigative journalism, data and public databases, writing investigative stories and advanced investigative techniques.

With this final event, BIRN successfully completed another cycle of its investigative journalism programme, continuing its mission to support young journalists and strengthen investigative reporting in North Macedonia.

From forests and meadows to lakeside hotels and mountain slopes, the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MPC-AO) owns roughly 100 square kilometres of property in North Macedonia, according to a new BIRN database that sheds fresh light on the Church’s assets.

In “Religious Properties Uncovered”, BIRN identified a total of 14,757 individual pieces of property in cadastral records over which the Macedonian Orthodox Church, its dioceses and individual churches owns, or has other rights to.

The Islamic Religious Community (IRC), its muftis’ offices and mosques, are listed as having ownership or other rights over 5,363 properties, covering 13 square kilometres.

The Religious Properties Uncovered database allows readers to view several parameters, such as the number and land area of ​​the properties of the two religious communities.

They can also search the properties by purpose, the municipality in which they are located, or the diocese or mufti whose jurisdiction they fall under.

Other key findings from the database:

• MOC-AO controls about one-third of the Galicica mountain and large parts of the Macedonian side of the Jablanica mountain range. The IRC’s largest land parcel is located on the southern slopes of Vodno mountain, near the capital.
• Over 80 per cent of the MOC-AO’s property consists of forests, meadows and pastures, covering around 8,100 hectares, while the IRC holds 3,200 hectares of forest.
• MOC-AO owns 1,300 hectares of agricultural land, while the IRC controls 1,700 hectares.
• MOC-AO has about 140,000 m² of residential space, and the IRC holds over 37,000 m², including new residential buildings in Skopje, Bitola, Tetovo, and other cities.
• The Church owns commercial properties in the old bazaars of Skopje, Bitola, Ohrid and Prilep, while the IRC manages Debar’s market, a shopping complex in Gostivar, and properties in Struga, Tetovo and Bitola.
• MOC-AO is the registered owner of the Izgrev and Biser hotels on Lake Ohrid, while the IRC owns an apartment in the Park Lakeside hotel in Ohrid.

The “Religious Property Uncovered” database was prepared over one year, is publicly accessible and aims to promote transparency and raise awareness about the scale and structure of religious institutions’ property holdings in the country.

The three days of training, the fourth session in BIRN’s year-long investigative journalism programme, were held between April 25 and 27 in Mavrovo, North Macedonia.  

Journalists participated in building on the skills they have developed over the past several months, with teaching focused on strengthening their investigative and research skills and helping them pitch new, original investigative story ideas.

The training began with sessions on how to assess the scope of a story and identify strong starting points for investigation. This helped them map out the first steps in investigating a topic, how to ask the right questions, and identify the resources they would need.

On the second day, participants pitched their story ideas and received feedback from BIRN mentors and peers. The training then moved into exploring how to research different subject areas: such people, companies, and foreign entities. These sessions provided specific tools for gathering and verifying information from public records, open-source platforms, and social media, as well as ethical considerations when dealing with sensitive sources.

The final day was dedicated to learning how to use geolocation tools and online techniques to verify the exact location of an object. Through practical exercises, they worked on verifying locations with limited information, strengthening their observational skills and ability to analyse visual clues in the context of investigative reporting. The training concluded with a discussion on communication with sources, where the group exchanged methods and ethical best practices for approaching, interviewing, and protecting sources.

In the next month the young journalists will have the opportunity to pitch ideas for an investigative story. The best proposal will be developed with mentorship support from BIRN Macedonia journalist team. The summer training session, expected in June, will be the final event of the investigative journalism program.