On August 31, after travelling the length and breadth of Europe, ten journalists taking part in the 2007 programme of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence submitted the first drafts of their in-depth journalistic reports.

The reports are now undergoing careful editing, in preparation for a special publication to be launched in mid-November this year.

Selected to pursue their own story ideas within the broad theme of ‘mobility’, each of the young reporters from Southeast Europe devised local, regional and European research agendas before embarking on a summer chasing stories, sources and statistics.

Under the watchful eye of their individual mentors - the editors who make up the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN – they came up with a range of ingenious approaches to their chosen investigations into how the proliferation of borders and barriers to movement of Balkan people, goods and ideas stifles development, creates frustration and slows regional reconciliation.

Despite the visa regime, the fellows managed to take ferries, trains and, occasionally, planes to a total of 21 countries, including Portugal, Greece, Finland and Italy. And even though the fellowship is a competition – the author of the best article will win a special award – a cheerful, collegial atmosphere was ever-present, with fellows helping each other to find information and meeting up whenever their paths crossed.

To learn more about their experiences and impressions, including Davor’s Scandinavian adventure, Sokol’s very own mobility issues, entering Serbia with an UNMIK identity card and Eleonora’s diversions at the Belgrade beer festival, read the fellows’ blogs.

Fellows’ reports will be published in book form and in BIRN’s Balkan Insight after the Fellowship’s Selection Committee announces the winning result on November 16 at a closing ceremony in Berlin.

The Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is an initiative of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the ERSTE Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

To find out more about the programme, visit fellowship.birn.eu.com, or contact programme manager & editor Anna McTaggart on anna@birn.eu.com.

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Shhhh, all the people are hard working these days…

Finishing stories, having meetings with local editors and mentors. The atmosphere on the blog is almost like in the student library. I need just one day not to work on the final research text. I spent couple of days and nights to just finish the first draft and I feel like I need one month more. Plenty of statements, mixed languages, translating, checking informations. I would love to know how are the others?