Tag: Macedonia

BIRN is organising a three-day training course for journalists, designed to respond to growing concerns about the violation of digital rights in the Balkans. The training, which will be held in Mavrovo from June 8-10, 2023, will provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of digital rights, focusing on reporting violations, content blocking, manipulation and propaganda in the digital realm.

With technology evolving rapidly, it’s essential for journalists to stay up-to-date on the latest methods and strategies to uncover and appropriately report on digital rights violations. Numerous reports from international human rights organisations, media organisations, civil society organisations and international institutions indicate a worrying situation regarding digital rights in the Balkans, emphasising the need for continuous efforts to improve the protection and promotion of these rights, but also to improve journalists’ abilities to produce good reporting on these issues. Although many countries in the region have regulatory frameworks that formally address these issues, challenges remain, such as online surveillance, censorship and data privacy issues.

Frequent cyber-attacks and online harassment also threaten the safety of many people, including journalists, who are often the target of online attacks. However, many journalists from the region may not be fully aware of the extent of digital rights violations or the underlying legal and technological aspects that lead to such violations.

BIRN’s training course will enable ten selected journalists from North Macedonia to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relevant issues, helping them to identify and report on digital rights violations more effectively. Journalists play a key role in raising public awareness and driving change. This course will give journalists the necessary skills and knowledge and enable them to produce impactful stories that can contribute to a more informed public debate and ultimately lead to policy changes that protect and promote digital rights in the Balkans.

Who can apply?

Any journalist from North Macedonia who is interested in digital rights and has previous journalistic experience. A selection committee will evaluate the applications and select ten (10) journalists who will participate in the training.

How to apply?

Submit the following application form and your CV to [email protected] no later than May 25, 2023 at 5pm CET with the subject line: Digital Rights Reporting Training for Journalists North Macedonia.

Place and date:

The training course will take place in Mavrovo, North Macedonia, from June 8 to June 10, 2023. The organisers will fully cover the costs of accommodation, food and transport for all participants. The working language of the training is Macedonian and Serbian.

What to expect from the training?

The training will provide the selected journalists with basic skills and knowledge to effectively investigate and report on digital rights violations in a time of dynamic technological advances. The training will cover various aspects of digital rights reporting, including identifying and collecting digital rights violations, categorising these violations and reporting on individual cases and broader trends.

The training will offer valuable educational insights and provide an opportunity to connect with fellow journalists and experts working in the field of digital rights.

A unique opportunity after training

After completing the training, journalists will have the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to BIRN. Selected journalists will receive on-the-job mentoring and financial support to research and apply their newly-acquired skills to implement their ideas on cases that involve infringements, content blocking, filtering, manipulation or propaganda in the digital environment.

Отворен повик: БИРН обука за дигитални права за новинари

Што се дигитални права, кој и како ги прекршува, и зошто е важно да се следи и да се известува за нивната примена? Како да ги препознаете проблемите во оваа област, да подготвите стории и да добиете менторска и финансиска поддршка за нивната изработка и објавување?

БИРН организира тридневна обука наменета за новинари, a дизајнирана да одговори на зголемената загриженост за кршењето на дигиталните права на Балканот, Обуката, која ќе се одржи во Маврово од 08-10 Јуни 2023 година, ќе им овозможи на учесниците сеопфатно разбирање на дигиталните права, фокусирајќи се на пријавување прекршувања, блокирање содржини, манипулации и пропаганда во дигиталната област.

Поради брзиот развој на технологијата од суштинско значење е новинарите да останат во тек со најновите методи и стратегии за откривање и соодветно известување за кршењето на дигиталните права. Бројни извештаи од меѓународни организации за човекови права, медиумски организации, граѓански организации и меѓународни институции укажуваат на загрижувачка ситуација во однос на дигиталните права на Балканот, нагласувајќи ја потребата од континуирани напори за подобрување на заштитата и промоцијата на овие права, но и за подобрување на новинарските способности за креирање на адекватен извештај за овие прашања. И покрај тоа што многу земји од регионот имаат регулаторни рамки кои формално ги решаваат овие прашања, предизвиците и понатаму постојат, како што се онлајн надзорот, цензурата и прашањата за приватноста на податоците.

Честите сајбер напади и онлајн вознемирување, исто така, ја загрозуваат безбедноста и на многумина вклучувајќи ги и новинарите, кои често се мета на онлајн напади. Сепак, многу новинари од регионот можеби не се целосно свесни за степенот на прекршување на дигиталните права или за основните правни и технолошки аспекти кои водат до вакви прекршувања.

Обуката на БИРН ќе им овозможи на десет избрани новинари од Северна Македонија сеопфатно да ги разберат релевантните прашања, помагајќи им да ги идентификуваат и поефикасно да известуваат за кршењето на дигиталните права. Новинарите играат клучна улога во подигање на јавната свест и поттикнување на промени. Со оваа обука тие ќе стекнат потребни вештини и знаења и ќе им се овозможи да продуцираат влијателни стории кои можат да придонесат за поинформирана јавна дебата и на крајот да доведат до промени на политиките кои ги штитат и промовираат дигиталните права на Балканот.

Кој може да аплицира?

Сите новинари од Северна Македонија кои покажуваат интерес во областа на дигиталните права и поседуваат претходно новинарско искуство. Комисијата ќе ги оцени апликациите и ќе избере десет (10) новинари кои ќе учествуваат на обуката

Како да аплицирате?

За да аплицирате, доставете го следниот формулар за апликација заедно со вашето CV најдоцна до 25 Мај 2023 со наслов: Обука за известување за дигитални права за новинари на [email protected] .

Место и датум:                                                                 

Обуката ќе се одржи во Маврово 08-10 Јуни 2023 година. Организаторите целосно ќе ги покријат трошоците за сместување, храна и превоз за сите учесници. Работен јазик на обуката е македонски и српски.

Што да очекувате од обуката?

Обуката ќе им обезбеди на избраните новинари основни вештини и знаења за ефективно да истражуваат и известуваат за кршење на дигиталните права во сферата на динамичното напредување на технологијата. Обуката ќе опфати различни аспекти на известувањето за дигиталните права, вклучително и идентификување и собирање прекршувања на дигиталните права, категоризирање на овие повреди и известување за поединечни случаи и пошироки трендови.

Обуката ќе понуди вредни едукативни сознанија и ќе обезбеди можност за поврзување со колеги новинари и експерти кои работат во областа на дигиталните права.

Уникатна можност по обуката

По завршувањето на обуката, новинарите ќе имаат можност да ги пренесат своите идеи за стории до БИРН. Избраните новинари ќе добијат менторство на работното место и финансиска поддршка за истражување и примена на нивните новостекнати вештини за спроведување на нивните идеи за случаи кои вклучуваат прекршување, блокирање содржина, филтрирање, манипулации и пропаганда во дигиталната средина.

The story, published in December 2019, revealed how the public procurement system is being abused by companies with connections to senior government officials in the highly profitable business of coal extraction for REK Bitola, the country’s biggest coal-fired power plant.

The BIRN story documented how the state loses millions of euros by hiring private companies to do the excavation instead of providing machinery equipment for REK Bitola, despite promises by the current ruling party, the Social Democrats, before the elections in 2016, when they were in opposition.

The story showed that not only was this pre-election promise not fulfilled, but the new companies joined the business ‘club’ around REK Bitola. A week after the story was published, the government held a press conference to announce a new procurement tender worth 19 million euros.

“The jury is highlighting that the journalist covered a topic of the utmost public interest, connected to non-transparent spending of budget funds. The jury also took into consideration that the publication of the story and the public reactions caused by it contributed to the decision made by the management of REK Bitola to start a procedure for procurement of its own coal mining equipment,” the award commission said.

The Macedonian Media Institute was giving the award for the best investigative story award for the 19th time. Since 2013, the award has been named after Nikola Mladenov, a prominent journalist and owner of Fokus magazine who died in a traffic accident.

BIRN Macedonia won the best investigative story award for the second time. It was first awarded in 2016 for its ‘Skopje 2014’ database, and in 2018 won second prize for its series of investigations and database on foreign investments in the country.

The award was presented at the celebration for the International Museum Day on May 18, at the ASNOM Memorial Centre, a national landmark in the village of Pelince commemorating the establishment of the independent Macedonian state in 1944.

After the devastating fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in April this year, BIRN published an in-depth article documenting the risks to numerous cultural heritage sites in North Macedonia. The country has more than 1,200 sites – houses, public buildings, ancient ruins, churches, mosques, fortsas towers – listed as being under protection.

The article revealed that some unique historical sites like the Skopje Aquaduct are crumbling, despite politicians’ promises to restore them, while many listed sites owned by non-state entities (religious buildings, private houses and others) lack appropriate equipment in case of fire or other disasters, which they should have under the law.

On the second day of BIRN’s international digital media conference in Ohrid, Macedonia, more than 20 experts took part in panel discussions and workshops exploring how media outlets can achieve sustainability in today’s digital world, focusing on trust in journalism and on its financing models.

The conference, titled “Digital media: Quest for Sustainability”, was supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Dutch ambassador to Serbia Henk van den Dool delivering the opening address of the day, stressing that “media literacy is crucial.”

He also highlighted the importance of holding an event to discuss the state of digital media at a time when, for the seventh year in a row, worldwide internet freedom is on the decline.

During the first panel of the day, journalists from around the region discussed the current lack of trust in journalists and the media, and the ways in which publishers are trying to rebuild it.

“Journalists fear editors, editors are afraid of owners, media owners are scared of politicians, that’s the vicious cycle,” said Biljana Sekulovska, editor at Macedonian national broadcaster Nova TV.

Fellow panelist, BIRN Serbia Editor Slobodan Georgiev, claimed that “it looks like it has never been easier to be a journalist and at the same time it has never been harder to be a journalist.”

They were joined by Leila Bicakcic, the director of the Bosnian Center for Investigative Reporting, who also stressed that in terms of rebuilding trust in journalists, much of it comes down to the responsibility of the media itself.

“Lack of professional standards is an individual thing. We [media outlets] have to look at ourselves and how we can do better,” she said.

Separate panels also explored two media success stories; the founder of Serbian news site Juzne Vesti, Vitomir Ognjanovic, credited his outlet’s ability to given regional stories national appeal for their growth.

Meanwhile, Aleksandar Manasiev from Macedonian web portal Vidi vaka said that their focus on choosing underreported stories and combining them with short-form video production had extended their reach among the digital generation.

A special panel dedicated to marketing agencies was also presented, with the discussion focused on their role in working with digital publishers and promoting content online.

“The most important thing for us is to have media that publishes relevant and authentic content. Clicks are not enough,” said Ira Babic from Macedonian marketing agency Brand Union.

Leading a workshop during the event, co-founder of Dutch investigative outlet Follow the Money, Arne van der Wal, shared his belief that at a time when fast journalism is demanded, there remains value in taking time to produce quality content.

“It’s better to do one good story than five bad stories,” he stressed.

The two final panels of the day, wo other panels on how TV magazines can maintain editorial independence and on fact-checking concluded the day.

In the latter, Bardhyl Jashari, the Director of Macedonia’s Metamorphosis Foundation, stressed that the focus of their fact-checking is not on the media, but on the citizens to recognise propaganda.

BIRN’s conference ended on Sunday with a closing ceremony summarising the key points made over the two days prior.