The project Pulse of Europe – Media Trips to Serbia aims to bring closer Serbia’s European integration process as well as examples of European good practice to Serbian citizens, through quality media content produced during the implementation of the project. To that aim, the project will organise at least 20 trips for Serbian journalists to EU countries. It will provide technical and logistic support to media outlets in Serbia which should delegate their journalists for media trips to EU countries.
- The
overall objective of the project is to raise awareness, public knowledge and
understanding of Serbia’s accession process/negotiations with the EU among
Serbian citizens. The project aims to explain to Serbian audience via media
reports how Member States successfully addressed issues now affecting Serbia as
parts of the EU integration process. To that aim, the project will organise
tailor-made trips for Serbian media to EU Member States, international
organisations and other countries and regions in the Western Balkans*. In that
way, media will have the opportunity to exercise investigative reporting about
the European integration process and its impact on ordinary life of citizens, among
others, by comparing best European pratices with efforts done within Serbian
society to implement reforms.
Media reporting in Serbian to a Serbian media audience and adhering to the Code of Ethics and internationally recognised standards of professional and ethical journalism are eligible to apply. This relates in particular to values and standards in relation to truthfulness and accuracy, fairness, integrity, independence, humanity, accountability and impartiality.
In order to secure a wide participation of all media outlets in Serbia, the project has published the Call for Proposals, which will be open during the whole period of project duration. The Call envisages the following: journalists should apply with a proposal of a topic to be covered during a visit to individual EU Member State and a draft synopsis of their article/reportage/feature. Journalists will be provided with a comprehensive list of sectors selected to be covered by the project, in accordance with the present state of play of Serbian EU integration process.
Journalists are independent in proposing topics of their work and in writing/producing their article/feature during media trip to EU country.
- Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the project has issued an amended Call for Proposals in August 2020. The amended Call envisages that journalistic work is based on online activities until lifting of Covid-19 related travel restrictions. This entails technical support in organisation of Zoom meetings with interlocutors in the EU and in Serbia. In 2021, media trips to EU countries will be organised, on the following principle: journalists will visit the same country covered by online work, so they produce a follow-up of their article/feature.
- The project aims also to fostering a debate on different aspects of European integration process of Serbia as well as exchange of experiences. To achieve that, the project will organise a range of so-called post-trip public events involving participating journalists and various stakeholders. In that way, the public will be better informed on topics covered by media trips.
- Apart from media trips for Serbian journalists to EU countries, the project will organise few (between two and four) visits of journalists from EU Member States to Serbia, in order to increase awareness on Serbia's accession process to the EU in Member States, as well as on ongoing reform process in the country and the EU assistance to it.