Young Journalists Competition 

If you are a young journalist in the Western Balkans, don’t miss this opportunity to produce a story that speaks to your generation.

The ‘Media for All’ project is being delivered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The aim of this media project is to strengthen the editorial independence of the media in the Western Balkans and support local independent media outlets to become more financially sustainable. 

The Media for All programme is opening entries for the Young Journalists Competition, a comprehensive programme offering a stipend scheme for journalists covering youth focused issues, mentorship and professional guidance, and promotion of the media content produced by the participating journalists in the media across the region. 

The Competition is open for teams of journalists coming from different countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia), working jointly on the production of youth focused media content with relevance for the young people across the Western Balkans region. 10 teams of three journalists will be selected to participate in the programme. Successful entrants will benefit from an eight-week programme where a mentor will work with you to develop and produce your story and you will receive a stipend. The five shortlisted teams of the programme will be invited to a networking event in November where the entries will be judged by a panel of experts and the winning team will receive a cash prize to purchase production equipment

Competition Format and Topics

We suggest that your proposal covers one of the topics below; you are also welcome to choose your own subject, but do let us know why you think it would appeal to young people in the Western Balkans:

• youth employment,
• gender equality and gender issues, 
• migration, 
• environment, 
• consequences of the pandemic for young people, 
• local politics and youth, 
• youth activism.

You can propose to create your story in any form, e.g. audio, video, multimedia, podcasts, blogs, vlogs or an alternative format.

Who Can Apply? 

If you are aged 21-30, work in journalism, are a citizen living in the Western Balkans, have a good standard of English and want to benefit from working with a professional mentor and the opportunity to have your work judged by leading journalists, apply now!

Application Deadline

All applications must be received by 3 September at 17.00 hours. If you have any questions, please contact prijave@media.ba with “Young Journalists Competition” in the subject line no later than 30 August.

Application form and details of how to apply for the competition are below.