Deadline: 25-May-23
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania launched a call for investigative stories, offering grants for four journalists to produce articles on topics related to public administration and finances.
The goal of this project is to create an enabling environment for Albanian journalists to produce independent content through training, mentoring, technical and financial support, and close cooperation with civil society, so improving freedom of expression and strengthening media pluralism in Albania.
This call is organized by BIRN Albania as part of the project “Using data and multimedia in promoting quality and independent journalism in Albania” funded by the European Union.
The call is based on topics suggested by civil society activists and journalists during a joint workshop held on April 26 in Tirana. The workshop was attended by two dozen civil society activists and journalists, who debated important topics that should be investigated in the field of public administration and public finances.
The journalists awarded through this call will have around three months to dig deeper and research their ideas, and will also have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as mentors to guide them through the process of writing in accordance with BIRN standards.
Benefits
- Through this competition, four (4) journalists or groups of investigative journalists will be selected to produce investigative articles in the field of public administration and finance, in cooperation with civil society. The winners will be selected by a jury composed of experienced journalists and experts in the field. Selected applicants, who will receive a scholarship of 1,200 EUR (minus personal income tax), will have a three-month period to completed their investigation and prepared the article for publication.
Eligibility Criteria
- Candidates must formulate a detailed proposal for the competition. The proposals should aim to expose concrete cases of lack of law enforcement, corruption and lack of transparency related to issues of administration and public finances.
- Priority in the selection will be given to proposals that include one of the following topics, suggested as priority during a round table organized between journalists and civil society representatives during the month of April 2023:
- Reform of the public administration and the costs of illegal departures from its ranks;
- Illegal employment during electoral periods by the local government;
- Illegal involvement of public administration in elections;
- Illegal procurement procedures for goods and services by the local and central government;
- Political and non-essential employment in public companies and appointments to their boards;
- Implementation/non-implementation of the recommendations of the SSC for public administration;
- Digitization of services and maintaining a high number of employees in the public administration;
- Conflicts of interest and lack of internal democracy in public universities;
- Procurement and construction standards for kindergarten and school buildings by local government;
- Politicization of the health system/political appointments in regional and municipal hospitals;
- Procurement, implementation and extension of the reconstruction process after the 2019 earthquake;
- The procedure of procurement and implementation of concessionary contracts/PPP by the central and local government.
For more information, visit BIRN.