Balkan Diskurs is a non-profit, multimedia platform created and run by a regional network of journalists, bloggers, multimedia artists, and activists who came together in response to the lack of objective, relevant, invigorating, independent media in the Western Balkans. We aim to train 15 aspiring journalists each year to produce high-quality articles, photo essays and documentaries to set a trend of journalistic integrity in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This campaign will support this year's trainees.
Bosnia's media environment is plagued by lacking standards, nepotism and political bias. Combined with the world's highest youth unemployment (60%), young people in particular are most negatively affected by unbalanced reporting and corruption and are rarely provided a clear picture of the social and political environments in which they live. This project will help 15 budding journalists jumpstart their careers by providing them insights into proper media techniques and a platform to be heard.
Balkan Diskurs trains 15 aspiring journalists each year in media etiquette, documentary photography and film production, and provides them and other young voices an online platform to be seen and heard. We provide the physical and financial resources necessary to produce high-quality articles, photo essays, videos and cartoons to help young people challenge the harmful status quo of Bosnia's news environment. Our platform helps these trainees fight for responsible journalism in their country.
Balkan Diskurs challenges the lack of objective, relevant, invigorating, independent regional media in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia. We hope to expand our training workshops to other countries in the region (i.e. Serbia, Croatia and Kosovo, among others) in the next 3-5 years, reaching 150 more young people by 2020. Past trainees have gone on to join youth advisory boards for our partner organizations, and we aspire to continue this upward trend for our participants in the long-term.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
