Watches given to voters during elections in Moldova. Photo: Simion Ciochina

Shady tourism deals in Albania, election fraud in Moldova and human labour trafficking from Ukraine to the Czech Republic - all stories which caused a stir when published in their countries. But in Eastern and South-eastern Europe investigative journalism is still the exception rather than the rule  

The terms of investigative journalism in Eastern and South-eastern Europe continue to be difficult. The political situation in many of the countries in the region does not encourage investigative journalism and coupled with the economic crisis, the need for outside support for the genre has been magnified.

Since 2003, International Media Support and the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism (FUJ) have supported over 250 journalistic investigations in Eastern and South-eastern Europe through the jointly run programme for investigative journalists in Eastern and South-eastern Europe, SCOOP. Grants from SCOOP have paved the way for groundbreaking investigations into political corruption, irresponsible behaviour by companies and human trafficking in Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Moldova, Macedonia, Ukraine, Serbia, and four cross-border story collaborations have taken place.

Quality improving

Although investigative journalism in Eastern and South-eastern Europe is under constant pressure and under-funded, the national SCOOP coordinators who oversee the grants provided to the journalists in the countries where SCOOP operates, report that the quality of investigations is improving. Investigations such as the one which uncovered election fraud in Moldova and indirectly led to a change in government, are making an impact in their respective societies. Best of all, the stories are inspiring other journalists to pursue investigative journalism, something which is evident from the rise in grant applications.

One of the most spectacular SCOOP-supported stories that also made headlines in the international press was the cross-border investigation that revealed a slave trail of people from the Ukraine and Moldova lured into jobs in the Czech Republic to harvest asparagus for a Dutch company. The story is significant not only because of its content, but because it was a close collaboration between Western and Eastern European journalists. 

The SCOOP programme is set to continue until December 2011.

A snapshot of investigative journalism in six countries

The following provides a brief commentary on investigative journalism in a selection of the countries in which SCOOP works based on assessments by SCOOP coordinators.

Economic crisis stifles journalism in Bosnia

In Bosnia, the economic crisis is stopping many journalists from pursuing stories which are costly and take time to investigate. Many journalists are not paid regularly and work for free in the hope that they will be paid at some point every 2 – 3 months.

Risky business in Croatia

According to SCOOP staff in Croatia, the state of Croatia's media has deteriorated dramatically in the past couple of years.  Croatian journalism is possibly even worse off than it was during the repressive years of war in the nineties.  One of the biggest challenges facing Croatian journalism is self- censorship lead by media owners and big advertisers in cooperation as well as violent attacks on journalists.

Also, free, uncompromising, investigative journalism has become very risky in Croatia. Perpetrators of the attack on Dusko Miljus, an investigative journalist who writes about crime and corruption in Croatia and who was severely beaten two years ago, have not been found yet.  Mr. Miljus is still under police protection. Several other investigative journalists had been fired in the last six months since the end of 2009 because they were investigating corruption in the public sector.

Governance turmoil in Kosovo sidetracks journalism

A similar situation can be observed in Kosovo, where media have become too dependent on state funding due to lack of economic development. The lack of rule of law and confusion surrounding who is accountable for what has led to a deterioration of norms not only in politics, but in the media sector as well, according to the national coordinator of Scoop on Kosovo. Investigative journalism in Kosovo suffers as a consequence of the lack of investment by media as well as threats faced by journalists.

Opposition journalists in Moldova hired by government

A major winner of awards in 2009 was a SCOOP-supported story that came out of Moldova. The investigation uncovered widespread election fraud and eventually contributed to a change in government. In general, political changes over the past two to three years have made a marked impact in the media landscape in Moldova. Many high profile opposition journalists and civil society media leaders have taken up positions within the new government and it remains to be seen what effect this will have on investigative journalism in Moldova.

IT in Macedonia

In Macedonia, more journalists have been applying for support from SCOOP. The investigation “Government failed projects on establishing IT society in Macedonia” led to a debate in media and government on the need to raise the question of building Macedonia’s IT society once again. Another story on fictive voters had a big impact on the election process and raised questions about former elections and whether 200.000 fictive voters were used to fix election results in past.  

Albanian journalist gets first regional award in investigative journalism

In Albania Besar Likmeta, an Albanian writer for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, was awarded the first regional award for investigative journalism in South-East Europe in Warsaw in the winter of 2009. His stories disclosed shady tourism dealings in coastal areas and the use of falsified diplomas by politicians to improve their CVs.

Cross-border investigations

Between October 2009 and April 2010 four new cross-border investigations were carried out. They were related to cigarette smuggling which brought with it a wave of arrests in the Kosovo region of Peja in February 2009. Another investigation into the trafficking of human labour was carried out by a team of journalists from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. The team followed a slave trail of people from the Ukraine and Moldova being lured into jobs in the Czech Republic, apparently by Ukrainian criminals. In the Czech Republic, they harvested asparagus for a Dutch company.

Read more stories from the SCOOP network here or visit SCOOP’s homepage.