Telling stories across borders: Crossed Perspectives launches in the Western Balkans

Telling stories across borders: Crossed Perspectives launches in the Western Balkans

12 young people from the Western Balkans gathered in Tirana, Albania for an intensive two-day training as part of the Crossed Perspectives program, organized by CFI within the Shared Horizons project.

The training brought together media students, young journalists, and storytelling enthusiasts to strengthen their skills in fact-checking, Mobile Journalism and reporting on disinformation in the region.

The fight against disinformation in a regional context

The first day of the training was dedicated to fact and source verification, led by Stefan Kosanović, media and fact-checking expert from KRIK. Through concrete analyses and practical exercises, participants explored how disinformation ecosystems operate in the Western Balkans and how manipulated narratives continue to influence collective memory.

Fact-checking across borders in the Balkans is very important. We face the same problems and the same narratives that spread across all our countries,” Stefan Kosanovic said. He emphasized that “disinformation is often fueled by difficult social and political contexts, including past conflicts and current global challenges.

During the sessions, participants learned to use practical tools for verifying digital content, including reverse image search, metadata analysis, and academic sources.

Mobile Journalism as a tool for storytelling

The second day focused on mobile journalism and producing video content for social media. Participants were trained on smartphone filming techniques, structuring short videos, and building effective visual narratives. Through hands-on exercises, they produced short videos applying the knowledge gained during the training - from ideation to filming and editing.

Participant perspective

One of the participants, Oriada Dajko, highlighted the value of the experience:
“What is interesting about this programme is that we are learning how to use mobile journalism and understand how disinformation affects collective memory and history. It’s not just a training, but the beginning of Crossed Perspectives’ future in the Balkans.

What’s next?

After completing the training, the six pairs will travel in the coming weeks to the countries of the Western Balkans to produce short video reports.
Supported by local media and mentors on the ground, they will cover topics related to disinformation, historical memory, and the perspective of integration into the European Union.
The final products will be published on the Balkan Voices platform, as well as on the channels of the partners and CFI.

The project is part of the Shared Horizons (component 3) project, funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and implemented by Expertise France, CFI, ALDA, Play International, Institut français and Museum 90.

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