Category: News and Events

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

The panel debate, titled “Censorship and self-censorship in in Balkan media – The enemy within ourselves,” was staged as part of the third BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting, in cooperation with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which is taking place in Mavrovo, western Macedonia.

BIRN’s regional director, Gordana Igric, presenting an overview of the state of media freedom in the Balkans, said that
 problematic media ownership by business and political tycoons was the source of much of the present censorship and self-censorship.

“Maybe we can do little against censorship but we can do something more against self-censorship,” she said, “which means activism, designing something to help journalists individually through a union, and providing other support and training.”

Igric advised Balkan journalists not to succumb to a common but mistaken belief that the European Union is going to help them against local strongmen who are suppressing free speech.

“Journalists in the Balkans have a romanticized view about the EU, that there is still somebody there who cares about freedom of the media, but practice shows that this is at the back of the list of their priorities,” Igric said.

Tamara Causidis, head of the Union of Macedonian Journalists, said that Macedonia faced “very vulgar, brutal and undisguised censorship, both political and economic”.

She said that censorship, self-censorship and negative selection were the prevailing trends in Macedonia’s media due to the widespread fear among journalists that they may be laid off if they report on controversial issues.

“We have examples where reports in the media are edited by marketing persons who sit in the board rooms,” she complained.

“Any attempt to counter such practice is prevented by the argument that the media outlet would be closed if this is not done, or that they [the journalists] will be fired.”

Arben Ahmeti, head of the Kosovo Association of Journalists and a reporter for the Kosovo newspaper, Koha Ditore, warned that in Kosovo, “where organized crime is the dominant force … journalists lose their power.

“We are trying to organize journalists. We should keep working together to find alternative ways [to avoid censorship],” Ahmeti said.

Mark Schoofs, veteran investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal and editor at the US based ProPublica media organization, said censorship and self-censorship were not limited to poor, corrupt countries but were common in wealthy societies with long democratic traditions as well.

He urged reporters to take a more active role in their societies.

“When a situation in the country is dire, journalism is not about whether every report is perfectly balanced. We should not be afraid to defend an angle and have our own view,” he said.

“Journalism and activism has a place and is important [though] it does not mean that you write lies,” he added.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

Paul Radu at third BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting.

Paul Radu, executive director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, told the summer school how to break down the walls of secrecy surrounding offshore companies and find the people behind the companies.

“Offshore companies offer tax optimization and secrecy to their owners. Tax optimization is legal, although some may argue whether is it moral. But I will tackle secrecy, because secrecy is what feeds corruption,” he told his audience in Mavrovo, in Macedonia.

Radu explained how to gather publicly available information about companies and how to identify the true owners of offshore companies by comparing data.

He also informed journalists about the project named Investigative Dashboard that provides free assistance to journalists in dealing with ownership structures of offshore companies.

About 20 journalists are taking part in third annual BIRN Summer School, which started on Monday, August 20.

The trainers are well known investigative journalists, including Sheila Coronel, Marcus Lindemann, Mark Schoofs and Helen Darbishire.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

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.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

In the two and half months since the Summer School campaign began, there have been more than 3000 unique visits on the enrolment page alone, while the homepage was viewed by almost 2800 visitors.  Presently, the application for Balkan based participants is closed.  More than 130 applications from the region were received, in addition to more than 20 queries from international journalists.

The programme of the School and online application for international participants, which is still open, can be found at www.balkaninsight.com/bss.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

Grey discovered how to track the movement of CIA planes allegedly used for rendition and published the flight logs in the Sunday Times.

Grey has contributed to stories pertaining to rendition and security for The New York Times, Newsweek, CBS’s 60 Minutes, Le Monde Diplomatique, and BBC Radio 4’s ‘File on Four’. He also presented documentaries on the CIA’s rendition program for Channel 4’s Dispatches Program and PBS’s Frontline World.

During the Summer School, Grey will use examples found in his researches to teach techniques for conducting investigative interviews and will explain how to apply them to television.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

He was named Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards 2010 and won the 2009 Bevins Prize for outstanding investigative journalism for his stories about the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests.

In 2012 Paul was nominated for both Reporter of the Year and the Orwell Prize for Journalism.

Paul lectures across Europe about the use of social media in journalism and teaches a masterclass in investigative reporting.

At BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting he will teach a workshop on how to find sources and how to get people to share information they have.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

Schoofs conducted investigations that ranged from the abuse and fraud in Medicare to the international methamphetamine trade.

He contributed to the Journal’s coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News.

Schoofs won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his eight-part series on AIDS in Africa while he was a staff writer at The Village Voice.

He has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Esquire, Out, and many other publications. He teaches journalism at Yale University and also holds two U.S. patents.

During the first day of the Summer School, Schoofs will give a lecture about investigative techniques, using his research as a model.  For a detailed agenda, please visit the Summer School’s page.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

Bojana Barlovac, a BIRN journalist for Balkan Insight, is nominated for her investigation on the ownership of Serbian national broadcaster TV Avala. Questions regarding the ownership of the station arose when employees of TV Avala were on strike.

BIRN Serbia journalist, Aleksandar Djordjevic,  is nominated for his investigation into irregularities found in the building of indoor swimming pools in Kragujevac.  At the time the article was published, Djordjevic worked for Sumadija Press. All stories can be found at www.sumadijapress.com/index-p146-ni21301-c146.html. 

Bojana Jovanovic and Stevan Dojcnovic, from the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Serbia, CINS, were selected for their story about Zoran Copic. Copic is allegedly the primary liaison between the mafia and businessmen and banks that seek to privatise Serbian companies.

Winners will be announced on Media Freedom Day on May 3, 2012.

The Investigative Journalism Award is organized by the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia and is supported by the US Embassy in Serbia.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

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.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.

As in previous years we will be gathering many well-known trainers and investigative journalists to teach their younger colleagues investigative techniques. The lead trainer for this year, like the last, will be Sheila Coronel, Director and Professor of Professional Practice at Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University. 

More information soon on our website and Facebook page.

BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2012 was organized in cooperation with the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and was supported by Open Society Foundations, OSCE Mission to Skopje, OSCE Mission in Kosovo and USA Embassy in Skopje.