Renowned photographers from across the globe will gather in Sarajevo from 9 - 11 May to share their expertise and insights as part of the 2019 Festival of the Image. Organized by the VII Photo Agency and the VII Foundation (VII/F), the three-day festival is an educational event that will celebrate photography and visual journalism through a series of panel discussions, film screenings, portfolio reviews, and workshops.
The freedom of expression and media freedom are fundamental principles of democracy, but recent media reports often emphasize the online threats that journalists receive on forums and portals, which include death threats. In addition to the evident safety issues, the political structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and increasing financial pressures make the situation more difficult for journalists working in the country. This has all led to a major problem for journalism in BiH – censorship and self-censorship.
“The greatest challenge that journalists face is the persistence of doing and publishing a story regardless of possible consequences,” says Amarildo Gutić – a journalist working for the online magazine Žurnal. He reminds that journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina are faced with a number of problems and challenges as part of their work, such as political and financial pressures.
Balkan Diskurs is proud to announce the finalization of the research project “Real Voice of Journalism (RVJ)”, implemented by PCRC in cooperation with Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) BiH and the WARM Foundation Sarajevo.
the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) in Sarajevo has published an official research report on the state of media freedom in 17 local BiH communities that reveals the real-life, everyday struggles that journalist and reporters face in their efforts to produce unbiased, objective, and relevant content.
A new film, Sympathy for the Devil, will examine the experiences of the journalists reporting from the front-line in BiH. Balkan Diskurs sat down with co-producer Amra Bakšić Čamo to discuss the upcoming film and her experiences working in the Bosnian film industry.