RFE/RL’s Balkan Service
RFE/RL’s Balkan Service provides independent news in a polarized media landscape.
About
- Reporting from five bureaus throughout the region, RFE/RL’s Balkan Service covers economic issues, corruption, Russian influence, migration, and minority issues.
- Investigations about disinformation on Srebrenica genocide led Google to remove content.
- Counters Russian disinformation, with stories on Russian paramilitary organizations’ activities, including reports on Serbian volunteers who fought on Russian side in Ukraine.
- Serbia's Prosecutor's Office for Cyber-Crime initiated investigation into Telegram group "Z-Orlovi" following Balkan Service report on how it targets Russian citizens living in Serbia opposed to Russian's invasion of Ukraine.
- Reports on Chinese malign influence, including debt in Montenegro.
- Counters violent extremism: investigated how pro-Nazi, white-power bands operate in Serbia.
- Women's Shadows is a resource for victims of gender- motivated violence.
- Reported on 2022 Bosnian and Serbian elections, giving a broader perspective on unstable political environment.
- Service on the scene during December 2022 border tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.
- Host of Jiri Dienstbier Journalism Fellowship with Czech Foreign Ministry; Service mentors aspiring journalists.
Awards
- A 2021 story on medical waste won Best Web Story of the Year by Association of Journalists of Kosovo.
- Belgrade correspondent Dusan Komarcevic 2021 finalist for Annual Award for Investigative Journalism for investigation into "gamification" of extremist violence.
Impact
January – December 2022
- Website: 18 million visits; 27.2 million page views
- Facebook: 486.2 million video views; 28 million engaged users
- Youtube: 17.8 million views; 102,000 subscribers
- Instagram: 2.4 million video views; 34,000 followers
Updated: April 2023
Media Climate
- Reporting for 28 years in partisan and ethnically divided media landscape.
- Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks the region: Bosnia-Herzegovina (67/180), Kosovo (61/180), Montenegro (63/180), North Macedonia (57/180), and Serbia (79/180).