Balkan Insight

Last updated
Balkan Insight
Balkan Insight.png
TypeRegional news website
Owner(s)Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Founded2004
Language
Headquarters Belgrade, Serbia
Website balkaninsight.com

Balkan Insight is a website of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) that focuses on news, analysis, commentary and investigative reporting from southeast Europe. It is run by journalists in southeast Europe. BIRN was founded in 2004 as a network of non-governmental organisations to promote a strong, independent, and free media in Southern and Eastern Europe. [1] [2] Balkan Insight is the successor of BIRN's "Balkan Crisis Report" newsletter. [3] BI reports from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania and Serbia. [2]

Contents

Reception

Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that Balkan Insight is a "highly regarded Internet portal" [4] and BIRN is "valued for its independence and seriousness". [5] In 2015, the journal Academicus International Scientific Journal reported that Balkan Insight was "the leading news site covering the Western Balkans Region", and often published opinions from international leaders. [1] According to Robin Wilson, Balkan Insight is a valuable source of objective analysis of ex-Yugoslav countries, in contrast to Yugoslav media that split up along nationalist lines. Wilson stated that BI attracts quality contributors and maintains separation between reporting and opinion. [3]

BIRN journalists and reports that have received awards include Krenar Gashi and the BIRN investigative team, who won the Best Print/Online Story of 2006 for "Ex-Policemen Run Kosovo Passport Scam" handed out by the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosovo. Arbana Xharra was the winner of the 2006 journalism competition organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency; for her reporting on corruption in both Balkan Insight and the Kosovo daily newspaper Koha Ditore .[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ] In 2020, BIRN received the Press Freedom Award from the Austrian chapter of Reporters Without Borders. [6] [7]

Financing

Donors to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network include the European Commission (EC), the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, the Austrian Development Agency and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albanian National Army</span> Albanian paramilitary group based in Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandar Vučić</span> President of Serbia

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Krenar Gashi is a Kosovar Albanian political scientist, currently based in Belgium as a Basileus doctoral fellow at the Centre for EU Studies, Ghent University. His research interest include international relations, the European Union and the works of Jean Baudrillard, while his expertise is in the political developments in the Western Balkans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosovo–Montenegro relations</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behgjet Pacolli</span> President of Kosovo in 2011

Behgjet Isa Pacolli is a Kosovar Albanian politician and businessman who served as the first deputy prime minister of Kosovo and minister of foreign affairs from 2017 to 2019 under the Ramush Haradinaj government. Pacolli is a former president of Kosovo, and served as the first deputy prime minister of Kosovo between 2011 and 2014. Pacolli was one of the signatories of the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa</span> Church in Pristina, Kosovo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media in Kosovo</span>

The mass media in Kosovo consists of different kinds of communicative media such as radio, television, newspapers, and internet web sites. Most of the media survive from advertising and subscriptions.

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The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina is a non-profit organization based in Sarajevo that reports on war crimes trials before the courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. BIRN BiH is a member of the BIRN network, which includes BIRN Hub, BIRN Ltd, BIRN Kosovo, BIRN Macedonia, and BIRN Serbia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Wehrschütz</span>

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Jovo Martinović is a freelance investigative journalist in Montenegro, known for his reporting on organized crime in Europe and war criminals in the Balkans. His works appeared in The Economist, Time, Newsday and the Financial Times. Among his noteworthy projects was helping produce a Vice News documentary on a gang of jewel thieves known as the Pink Panthers. Since October 22, 2015 he has been in prison in Montenegro and has been charged with involvement in a drug trafficking ring. Rights groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch have criticized Montenegro’s government for failing to provide evidence justifying the charges or pre-trial detention for over one year.

Access to public information and freedom of information (FOI) refer to the right of access to information held by public bodies also known as "right to know". Access to public information is considered of fundamental importance for the effective functioning of democratic systems, as it enhances governments' and public officials' accountability, boosting people participation and allowing their informed participation into public life. The fundamental premise of the right of access to public information is that the information held by governmental institutions is in principle public and may be concealed only on the basis of legitimate reasons which should be detailed in the law.

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References

  1. 1 2 Popovska, Biljana; Ristoska, Zhanet (2015). "Process of Reconciliation in a Postconflict Macedonia". Academicus International Scientific Journal. VI (11): 63–76. ISSN   2079-3715. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  2. 1 2 "About BIRN. About Balkan Insight". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Robin (2018-07-30). The Northern Ireland experience of conflict and agreement: A model for export?. Manchester University Press. p. 64. ISBN   978-1-5261-3101-0. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  4. Simon Gemperli (2008-04-15). "Protektorats-Mitarbeiter, OSZE-Chef, Berater des Premierministers". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  5. Simon Gemperli (2008-05-09). "Medienförderung als Teil der Aussenpolitik". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  6. "Press Freedom Award geht an investigatives Netzwerk BIRN und Gründerin Gordana Igric | Reporter ohne Grenzen" (in German). Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  7. "BIRN Wins Austria's Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award". Balkan Insight. 1 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  8. "Partner Network: Donors :: Balkan Insight". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-23.

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