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29. 03. 2013

Seminar - How to Report on Corruption

Seminar "Kako izveštavati o korupciji"
The second seminar, which ANEM organized for its members as part of the activities within the project "Illustrated Glossary of Corruption", was held on March 29, 2013, in Belgrade. The leading trainers at the seminar were two prominent journalists Brankica Stankovic and Danica Vučenic, who gave lectures on the principles and techniques of investigative journalism, with particular emphasis on the area of ​​corruption, as well as the process of making TV and radio features. Besides the two journalists, expert lawyers of the ANEM legal team from the law office "Zivkovic&Samardzic" - Slobodan Kremenjak and Kruna Savovic - gave lectures on freedom and legal boundaries of investigative journalism, particularly in the area of ​​corruption. The seminar was attended by 22 journalists from ANEM stations and 2 members of ANEM production team. The aim of this seminar was to enable journalists of ANEM stations to acquire knowledge and to receive expert and practical advice and explanations of how to professionally report on topics related to corruption without overstepping legal limits.

Journalist Danica Vucenic spoke about the origins of investigative journalism, its principles and techniques, particularly related to radio journalism. With her practical advice and specific examples, she explained to the participants how radio features are done, particularly those treating topics of corruption. Special attention was paid to: principles of investigative journalism (real investigative journalism relies on information from reliable sources - public, such as the Internet, libraries, documents, archives, etc., anonymous sources, whereby journalists must cross-check at least two opposing sources, as well as "confidential sources" in order to confirm and substantiate specific information, which is also important for the protection of media from potential lawsuits); the differences between making features for TV and radio (what distinguishes radio from TV is primarly dominating sound, more personal communication with the audience, direct addressing to an individual; key question and a challenge - how to present topics of corruption with no images, no speakers who could be seen or graphics and cover shots, usually used on TV; all of the above needs to be depicted with words so that it is understandable and interesting to the listener; journalists have to create a sound atmosphere in the radio feature that draws the audience into the story); radio packages/features dealing with themes of corruption (any radio piece, package of 2-3 minutes in duration or feature of 5-7 minutes, has two parts - introduction and the "body", comprising a unified piece; introduction should be short, clear, interesting, and it draws the listener into the whole story - the introduction contains key information discovered during the research/investigative work and is read by the radio host/speaker in the studio, not by a journalist who was working on the piece, which gives the journalist the freedom to create the body of the story the way he/she wants, describing to the listener his/her impressions of what he/she has discovered; radio package of 2-3 minutes contains an answer to only one key question, whereas the package of 5-7 minutes may contain an answer to one key question and one minor additional question or an explanation that is part of that context - this package should include two to three speakers who are involved in the story, protagonists, witnesses, and one or two persons to explain the whole story (vox pop, maybe) and one sound segment that cannot be longer than 15 to 20 seconds - 30 seconds at the most; emotion in the piece is very important; the role of interlocutors in the piece is not to reveal the news, but to explain it, comment on it, describe the situation and share their feelings about the event; person suspected to have committed a corrupt activity is the last to be interviewed, with prior thorough investigation of all relevant aspects; it is critical for interviews to be well prepared, to predict possible answers and the corresponding additional questions in order to obtain desired information from the interviewee). At the end of her lecture, Danica Vucenic advised the present journalists to continue to follow stories and topics that will be treated in this project, to keep them "rolling", to take different approaches to the topics, to present different angles, in different segments of the program, because keeping the story rolling is the only way for these stories to become meaningful and take effect.

Journalist Brankica Stankovic, editor and author of the series "Insider", and Miodrag Cvorovic, producer of the series, shared their experiences in making of this renowned investigative documentary TV series. They described the process, techniques and principles of work in investigative journalism. They also explained work phases in investigative TV programs: a journalist must first read everything ever published on a selected topic, as well as examine laws and regulations concerning the area to which the topics are related; that being done, a journalist or a team needs to draft a list of potential participants, those who will participate in the programs as well as those who can help out by providing information; their contacts are obtained and off-the-record interviews conducted, with all the collected information being written down; at the same time, competent authorities are being contacted with requests for information; then, the story plan with crossed-checked information obtained and analyzed is made; when the journalist is absolutely sure he/she has all the relevant information and the story worked out, then the interviews are recorded; then, visual and graphic solutions are done, video archives is prepared, as well as dramatization and reconstructions; only when all interviewees are recorded and material and documentation collected, then the journalist starts preparing the text for the editing; prior to entering the editing studio, legal team reviews the material. Trainers also discussed with the participants the specifics of investigative journalism in relation to the daily neswroom: investigative journalism requires the engagement of a team of journalists; each topic requires a lot of time, as opposed to the "daily newsroom" journalism - this is quite difficult, but not impossible to ensure in local newsrooms; particularly important are the sources, communication and establishing a relationship based on mutual trust; also very important is the unconditional support of media editors. The trainers also talked about the problems and challenges of this genre of journalism. The participants and lecturers agreed that investigative journalism in Serbia is expensive and difficult to practice, that journalists and media are exposed to constant pressure, that the problem is usually pushed under the rug instead of being openly spoken about in public, and that the role of the media in informing the public about social problems and public pressure created by using the media are very important for resolving these problems and the development of society, which is generally lacking, especially at the local level.

Lawyers Slobodan Kremenjak and Kruna Savovic warned journalists to what they should pay particular attention when investigating and preparing radio and TV features, to avoid the risk of getting sued. What is most important is that journalists double check everything and obtain all the documents and supporting materials before they release the story. They should also pay particular attention to all parts of the story/program, including, for example, TV cover shots - what is presented to the public and how it is presented. Also, journalists should not "pass judgments" - the courts should do that - journalists should rather tell a story in such a way that the viewer/listener can easily conclude from the presented evidence who is responsible (or not), to be able to draw their own conclusions on the basis of the information and evidence provided. The audience does not have to be presented with all available evidence, but it is mandatory that such materials exist for every or any information released to the public, in case of a legal proceedings being initiated (materials such as copies of criminal complaints, requests to the Prosecutor's Office and courts with reference to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, responses of prosecution and courts etc.). It is particularly important to take into account possible claims for defamation and insult, for expressing value judgments (insult) or conveying erroneous facts (defamation). Journalists were warned that decriminalization of defamation does not mean that journalists could not be sued for defamation, but it means that only civil proceedings could be led for defamation, not criminal proceedings. Although the law says that the media/journalists are not liable for damages if the information is faithfully conveyed from a document of the competent authority, it has happened that courts interpreted this otherwise, which is why the information conveyed in this way should be additionally checked. The lawyers emphasized that journalists should be particularly careful when providing information concerning minors.

The participants were also addressed by Sasa Mirkovic, ANEM President, as well as the representatives of the ANEM team for the implementation of the project "Illustrated Glossary of Corruption". They have provided basic information about the project objectives, activities and phases of the project and different forms of participation of ANEM stations in its implementation (training for journalists, participation in the production, broadcasting, participation in promotional activities). Special attention was paid to the internal competition, called by ANEM, for selecting journalists-correspondents who will participate in the production of the radio and TV series. It was explained in detail to the present journalists what is expected of them as participants in the competition, and what will be the obligations of those selected to take part in the production.

With the prominent lecturers, who shared with the participants of the seminar their high professional skills and knowledge on various  aspects of investigative journalism in the area of ​​corruption (both journalistic and legal) as well as their professional and practical advice on how to report on corruption, with provided explanation and answers to questions of the participants, the seminar achieved great effect and journalists of ANEM stations significantly improved their knowledge in this field, which they will be able to use in their future professional dealing with these topics.

 

 

ANEM's Project "Illustrated Glossary of Corruption" is financed by the European Union within the Civil Society Facility Programme.

 

 

The contents of this text are the sole responsibility of ANEM and can in no way be taken to reflect the views and stands of the European Union

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

  • Photo: UNS Press Centre

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