On Friday 10 November, the European Commission announced three new projects for supporting independent media in the Western Balkans, which will begin in early 2018. The announcement came during a trip by Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn to attend a conference on the media in Albania.
The first project, the Regional Training and Support Programme to improve Quality and Professionalism in Journalism, will have funding of €2 million. The action will focus on young and mid-career journalists trained in quality journalism and enhance publications of qualitative investigative stories. A regional network will support the development and exchange of investigative skills by involving journalists, training providers from the EU and the Western Balkans, as well as academic institutions.
The second programme, with a budget of €1.5 million, the Technical assistance programme to Public Service Media in Western Balkans, will generate synergies between the six Public Service Media promoting regional exchanges on policies and practices. It will expand cooperation on investigative journalism, mechanisms for co-production on selected topics and regional exchange of digitised archive materials.
The third programme, Implementing a scheme to support Civil Society Organisations and media in the Western Balkans, will have a budget of €4 million. It will support civil society organisations and the media in the Balkans and demand-driven aid for start-ups and new media initiatives. Support will be provided to journalists, bloggers and researchers in the region as well as to provide bridge funding for small-scale initiatives. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)