“Corruption Interruption” unified the region

The Corruption Interruption project, which deals with fight against corruption in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, and connects people from the media, students, general public, experts and civil society, and whose project leader is the Novi Sad School of Journalism, was finished last week.

The project aimed at raising public awareness about this burning topic that crosses the boundaries of any law, morals, good taste and geographical borders why it was essential to jointly fight against corruption, on a regional level.

Specific objectives were primarily to identify problems related to corruption in health care, education and politics in each of the participating countries, as well as informing the public about the discovered data. The aim was also to motivate young people across the region to fight corruption and to improve journalistic standards in reporting on this issue.

After evaluation of implemented activities and results, the conclusion is that, in accordance with the sociopolitical context of the participating countries, the project objectives have been achieved to the greatest extent possible. The most beautiful refreshment project were young students who force their actions and street performances drew the attention of passers-by to corruption as a problem that affects almost every individual in society.

What is sure that could have been better, is the media production module of the project, which, in the opinion of an external evaluator, was too general and somewhat superficial, with no analysis of specific cases of corruption. However, if we take into account the current situation in which editors stop investigation of corruption scandals because of fear of losing political and financial support to media outlets, these results are somewhat acceptable and understandable. In any case, the experience of journalists who worked on the project and tried to penetrate the deeper circles of corruption society will be used as an incentive and guidance to continue the project.

The most important result of Corruption Interruption project is surely the fact that it connected not only individuals and experts in the region, but also organizations and donors who are willing to fight against the first and most important obstacle in the way of our states towards EU membership.

Project of Novi Sad School of Journalism is financed by IPA.