Tag: Serbia

Aleksandar Djordjevic

Aleksandar Djordjevic has worked as a journalist since 2009, mainly covering politics and public finance.

Aleksandar was a local correspondent for the regional website Sumadijapress before joining BIRN in February 2012.

Ever since he has mainly worked in the field of data journalism and investigative journalism, specialising in public finance reporting.

In 2016 he won the first prize within EU Investigative Journalism Awards for Serbia scheme and an award for the best investigative story in print media by the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists and US embassy in Belgrade.

Aleksandar was awarded the best media report on monitoring of public spending in Serbia organized by the United Nations Development Programme. He was also a finalist at the 2012 National Investigative Journalism Award by the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia.

 

Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic

Under Dragana’s leadership, BIRN Serbia has been recognised for its professionalism and its ability to influence the public agenda in the fields of media development and good governance.

With extensive media experience and a strong background in project management, Dragana joined BIRN in February 2006 as a project manager and was promoted to country manager in 2007.

Dragana previously worked on several projects for prominent international organisations, such as the Stability Pact for SEE, Transparency International and the European Agency for Reconstruction, as well as for electronic media.

Dragana studied Comparative Literature at Belgrade University, and further honed her professional skills through numerous trainings and conferences.

BIRN at 4M Conference

BIRN’s Slobodan Georgiev participates in the 4M Conference in the French town of Montpellier as the only journalist from Serbia.

The 4M (Montpellier, Mediterranean, Media, Mutations) conference, sponsored by the Canal France International,  is devoted to new media and journalism, with special emphasis on reporting the elections and revolutions that have shaken the Arab world last summer.
Given that 2011 was marked by the Arab Spring, and 2012 by elections that were held or will take place in Russia, USA, France, Tunisia, Egypt and Greece, the theme of the conference in Montpellier is “E- politics: after the Revolutions, the elections.”

Over one hundred bloggers and journalists from online and print press, and audiovisual platforms from around the world will discuss the impact of media on elections and the role of internet in democratic changes.  Discussion threads are „Is the internet a new maker of kings?”, “From citizen journalism to professional journalism: the keys of change? “ and  «Investigating on the web: an asset or a constraint?”.

As the only journalist from Serbia,  Slobodan Georgiev participated on the panel “The Internet is a new kingmaker”, together with colleagues from the United States, Senegal and Egypt.

Slobodan Georgiev is Serbian journalist, coordinator of projects in the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and administrator of “5 dimes for the media”, a Facebook group which was active in shaping public discussion on internet during the recent elections in Serbia.

BIRN Serbia presented initial research results during the Election Night event in the Media Center

The overall picture of the Serbia 2012 elections was one of disappointed citizens, tired of a long election campaign that offered only modest political change, BIRN Serbia monitoring has revealed. Initial results of the monitoring research were presented last night during the Election Night events organized by the Belgrade Media Center.

Monitoring is part of the BIRN Serbia project “Performance evaluation: steps towards political accountability”, which is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy.

The focus of the electoral monitoring activity was the messaging and main policy points of each of the political parties, as regards the top priorities of citizens – the economy, the fight against corruption, health care services, and education.

The economy, and in particularly new investment, employment policies and new agricultural policies were, by far, the primary focus of this campaign. Other topics were less visible during the campaign – corruption was mostly debated in relation to reducing party monopolies controlling state enterprises and funds, while health and education were only sporadically mentioned.

The political parties offered realistic policies regarding the top political issues, but failed to explain adequately how their reforms would be implemented during the next Government mandate, monitoring results show. BIRN Serbia will continue to monitor the politicians’ performance, to ensure that they fulfill their electoral promises.

A more detailed report will be released to the public after the first 100 days of the new government. The main goal of the report, and of the entire monitoring project, is to help tackle one of the most significant problems of political life – a lack of governmental/politicians’ accountability.

More information is available at https://birn.eu.com/en/1/20/35022/

 

BIRN Serbia Starts Monitoring Election Campaign

BIRN Serbia team has commenced a two-week monitoring exercise of the May 6 election campaign, with the aim of establishing an efficient and innovative tool for monitoring any future government’s performance and accountability.

This project is designed to tackle one of the most pressing issues of Serbian political life – lack of politicians’ accountability.

In anticipation of the outcomes of the 2012 general elections, BIRN Serbia is conducting comparative monitoring of political parties’ statements, actions and policies featured during the campaign along with analysis of political party programs.

This will provide a foundation for the future monitoring of the new government’s accountability and also solid evidence on which to judge politicians and political parties compliance with the promises given in the election.

Monitoring will focus on campaign messages related to four topics identified as crucial for the public: the economy and quality of life; corruption; health; education.

BIRN Serbia is working on this project in cooperation with the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, which has conducted analysis of the political parties’ programs and in-depth interviews with political parties’ representatives.

These analyses, along with analysis of the campaign messages conducted by BIRN Serbia, will be the main sources of information in creating the monitoring tool.

Final results of the monitoring will be presented on the occasion of the 100th day in office of the new government, an event that traditionally marks the first milestone in checking the performance of a new administration.

 

BIRN Serbia Trainees Up for Investigative Awards

The Independent association of Journalists in Serbia has announced the nominees for awards for investigative journalism, and BIRN trainees were nominated in all categories: for electronic, print and online media.

Dejan Stojicic, from Novi Sad-based Radio 021, is nominated for best work in electronic media, Nikola Lazic from Vranjske, weekly based in Vranje, is nominated for print media, and Stevan Dojcinovic, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Vladimir Radojevic and Bojana Barlovac for best investigative story published in the online media.

The annual contest is supported by the US embassy in Belgrade and the awards will be announced on May 3 at an event traditionally organized at Faculty of Theatre in Belgrade.

 

Serbian Journalists Share Highs and Lows of Investigations

Public interests should trump any other concerns, participants at debate on Tuesday in Belgrade agreed

Serbian investigative journalists need to keep in mind the fact that they are serving the public interest, whatever threats they may receive or poor income they may earn. 

This was the conclusion of the “Media Tuesdays” debate held at the Belgrade Faculty for Media and Communication on Tuesday.

The debate gathered some of the best-known journalists from Serbia’s investigative scene, including Irena Stevic and Mirjana Jevtovic from TV B92’s “Insider”, Branko Cecen from CINS (Centre for Investigative Journalism Serbia), Vojislav Tufegdzic from Novi magazin and Bojana Barlovac, of BIRN. The host was the faculty’s lecturer, Sasa Lekovic.

The journalists shared experiences on conducting investigations with journalism students. Tufegdzic, who co-authored the documentary See You in the Obituary, said he regretted that Serbian newsrooms are no longer led by editors but “by managers who often don’t know how to write even a postcard let alone a news piece”.

Irena Stevic explained from her own personal experience the qualitative difference between daily and investigative journalism. “Although I only started doing investigations two years ago, it has grown on me and I would never go back to daily reporting,” she said.

Cecen said the fact that he knows he is doing something that will serve the public interest is what keeps him motivated.

Jevotvic pointed out the dangerous aspect of working on investigative pieces. “Sometimes you need to finish your research and do what is good for the public, and not keep any threats in mind,” Jevtovic said.

Barlovac said it was crucial for investigative journalists to enjoy the absolute support of their employers.

“The most important things are the support of your own organisation – and only publishing material for which you have proofs that could be valid in court,” she said.

Barlovac also presented the Serbian version of BIRN’s guide for investigative journalists, Digging Deeper.

Serbia Tailors 2012 Budget to Address Crisis

Serbia’s budget for next year will have to be restricted to meet rules on limiting deficit and public debt in a time of economic crisis, experts at National Budget Forum say.

Around 130 economic experts gathered at the third National Budget Forum organised by BIRN Serbia and the NGO Pro Concept in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Opening the forum, the Economy Minister, Nebojsa Ciric, said the 2012 budget will include funds to help stimulate the economy and funds for investment in a time of crisis.

The minister noted that the budget for next year will have to have a development component and provide investment for infrastructure projects as over 90 per cent of all recent investments in Serbia were targeted near the Corridor 10 highway.

Ciric also said that VAT will not be increased by the end of the mandate of this government in spring and that either this or the next government will have to reduce taxes.

The 2012 budget is expected to be adopted in parliament on December 15.

Zvonko Obradovic, head of the Serbian business registry, APR, said data showed money aimed for regional development was instead spent on other purposes.

This was the third annual budget forum. Its aim is to gather stakeholders from the field of public finances in Serbia and create a platform for wider public debate in the field.

National Budget Forum, envisaged as a multi-stakeholder discussion platform, brings together lawmakers, academics, the professional community, the private sector and NGO activists interested in public finances and budget transparency.   

The topic of the forum was Enhancing competitiveness – the difference between subsidies and state aid.

Other key speakers included Vladimir Vuckovic, a member of the Fiscal Council, an independent body in charge of monitoring budget spending, Dusan Vujovic, professor of the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, Zvonko Obradovic, director of the Agency for Business Registers and Anthony Sinclair, adviser on macroeconomic issues and financial markets for the USAID Project better business conditions.

The main objective of the forum is to positively affect the process of planning and managing the Serbian budget through broad public dialogue. The forum aims to become a place for formulating budget priorities, affecting economic policies and strengthening the accountability of the government and parliament in the process.

This will be the third time the National Budget Forum has taken place following the success of the first, held in 2009, and the second, held in 2010.

BIRN Serbia: Good Governance Campaign Launched

BIRN Serbia in cooperation with the public relations and advertising agency Executive Group on December 1 start implementation of a public campaign promoting good governance in 25 municipalities of south and southwest Serbia.

The consortium won the UNOPS/PROGRES programme tender, published in August.

Recognizing the need to develop participatory, accountable and transparent governance and respect for human rights, BIRN and Executive Group have designed a campaign to promote and raise awareness of the core principles of good governance, motivate civic participation in decision-making, increase understanding of the roles and competences of local government and advocate utilization of good governance mechanisms that are applicable in the targeted municipalities.

The concept of good governance is one of the crucial crosscutting elements contributing to the PROGRES Programme overall’s goal of enhancing stability and socio-economic development in south and southwest Serbia.

PROGRES, a municipal partnership programme, is a joint action of the EU and the Swiss and Serbian governments. It is designed to enhance the stability and socio-economic development in south and southwest Serbia. The programme is implemented by UN Office for Project Services, UNOPS.    

The key principles of good governance – accountability, transparency, participation, efficiency, non-discrimination – should be introduced in the work of local self-government supported by other stakeholders such as businesses, media and civil society and be recognized by general population.

The campaign will promote five principles of good governance and their importance for local socio-economic development through a custom-made set of tools.

These include wide dissemination of promotional materials such as leaflets and brochures, a media campaign (using traditional and online media), and public events along with advocacy efforts and support for citizens’ participation drives.

The campaign will also appreciate the multi-ethnic setting of south and southwest Serbia.  

BIRN Serbia and Executive group decided to combine their expertise – Executive in the field of strategic communication and BIRN in media development and civic activism –  to jointly contribute to programme’s success. 

Serbian ministries spent millions for the media services

Serbian ministries spent more than half million euros in 2010 on media promotions that appear to violate the law, reveals Birn Serbia’s web portal “Make your own budget” (Skockajte budzet).

Total 500,000 euros of public funds were spent last year on advertising, TV broadcasting and using services of news agencies under the term of “services under contract” and “specialised services”, financial reports that BIRN Serbia has collected from all 18 ministries show.

These include calling on people to take part in elections or referendums, measures to be taken in case of a general emergency, humanitarian campaigns, public tenders and certain economic activities.

The adverts appear to violate the terms of Serbia’s Law on Advertising, which says ministries may not promote party political interests but may only advertise activities and measures that meet certain criteria to do with the public good.

One of the most questionable advertising campaigns in 2010 was by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning.

It spent over 200,000 euro on matters qualified as “co-production services and television programming in the campaign ‘Clean up Serbia'”.

The ministerial report does not specify which media outlets received this cash. Nor has anyone seen the TV advertising campaign referred to, nor does it exist on the ministry’s website.

Other campaigns include one by Health Ministry, while Ministry of Human and Minority Rights spent over 60,000 euro on promotions in local media.

Only four of the 18 ministries did not spend any money on media services within “services under the contract” or on “specialised services”: the finance, agriculture, infrastructure and interior ministries.

These data are part of the bigger research BIRN Serbia conducted, looking into spending of budget money of all ministries in 2010 year under the term of “services under contract” and “specialised services”, which are considered to be the least transparent budgetary lines. 

This research is based on the data collected by application of Free Access to Public Information Law on whit in what our web portal had insight into Ministries’ official documents. Full report on the research results will be published in the coming weeks.