Cross-border Balkan journalism with Norway Grants
The First Balkan Data Journalism Bootcamp organized in Sofia 12-13 June included journalists from all over the Balkans. The event was part of the Bulgarian Border Dialogues, the Barents Secretariat's Norway Grants initiative in the region.
About 20 journalists from Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Bosnia took part in the event which was organized in cooperation with the Jefferson Institute. The event was one of the first ever events of its kind organized in the area.
Among keynote speakers were Crina Boros and Anuska Delic was who held lessons in data journalism and investigative journalism.
Both data portals Patchwork Barents and Patchwork Balkan were presented at the event. The latter is the data portal developed as part of the Bulgarian Border Dialogues initiative.
The Bulgarian Border Dialogues is a joint project of the Barents Secretariat and the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development. It includes cross-border data assembly, statistical cooperation and data journalism in the countries Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey. It is a project under the Norway Grants programme BG11.
Also the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute and the Jefferson Institute are key stakeholders in project activities.
The Data Journalism Bootcamp revealed an interest in enhanced cross-border journalism cooperation in Balkans
- Journalists are key communicators of information in their home places. We believe they should play an equally important role in cross-border relations between countries", says Barents Secretariat adviser Atle Staalesen.
- In the Barents Region, we have a well-functioning cross-border journalism cooperation rooted in the Barents Press network. A similar model of cooperation might function also in the Balkans, he adds.
