Economic School for Journalists

“Economic Training for Journalists in Serbia”

Belgrade, Serbia

U.S. Grantee:CIPE

Foreign Recipient:Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies (CLDS)

Dates of Project:May 1, 2005 – April 30, 2006

Budget Summary:Direct Costs (NED Funds)$

Match$ 20,000

Total Costs$

CIPE Indirect Costs (NED)$

Total Project Costs$

Total NED Amount Requested: Direct + Indirect$

SUMMARY

In Serbia, the struggle for improved democratic governance and meaningful local policy dialogue is driven by a need for better understanding between the business and policy communities. Policymakers and businessmen share a mutual interest in accurate and timely economic information. How their actions and ideas are reported in the press is decisive for both the prosperity and democratic development in Serbia. Yet, economic issues are scarcely touched by the Serbian press, and when covered, are infused with emotion and inaccuracies, but often lack inquiry or analysis. Business decisions, the conduct of policy-making, and competing views are rarely put on display, inhibiting public debate and understanding of those issues critical to a healthy market-oriented democracy.

A vigorous, independent news media is one of the key pillars of a democracy. It takes on particular importance in Serbia. This proposal focuses on providing a media training program designed to equip journalists in Serbia with the ability to critically assess the progress of reform and the accuracy of both governmental and private information on economic and business topics. Many of the journalists lack training, while the others bear the burden of Soviet traditions. The project will address the key needs of journalism in Serbia: the lack of qualified journalists and their isolation from other parts of the country. The project will accomplish these objectives through journalism training seminars and the establishment of a network among journalists from different regions.

CLDS is a leading Serbian think tank in the area of economic and democratic reform. In previous years, CLDS’ programs on corruption in Serbia have gained popular support, a number of partners in government and the private sector, and have accomplished actual change in the way that the business of government and civil society is carried out. CLDS now turns its attention to teaching journalists how to report responsibly on economic reform in the continuous attempt to root out the problems of corruption and benefit the Serbian business and civil communities as a whole.

I. BACKGROUND

Business journalism has no tradition in Serbia. The first reason for this is the legacy of communism and the state-owned economy from the previous regime. The second is that the new generation of local journalists has had no opportunity to learn business journalism and do not fully understand the dynamics of the market economy. Identifying young journalists who have an interest and the potential to cover business issues is important to the emerging market-oriented democracy in Serbia.

Following the collapse of communism and disintegration of its institutions, Serbia experienced a political crisis. The collapse of communism was quickly trailed by the disintegration of Yugoslavia, pushing issues of economy and democracy to the backburner. Furthermore, in the environment of international sanctions and domestic disorder, a huge chunk of the economy retreated underground into the informal sector with inherently hidden information – there was no way to report on this sector. Finally, relevant market institutions were missing, so it was impossible to introduce reporting from the stock exchange, regarding movement of the stock values, or reporting on mergers and acquisitions as no formal takeovers occurred. However, this problem is a two-way street: The business community and policymakers in BiH Serbia also have no connection with local business journalists.

There are 11 independent daily newspaper with nation-wide coverage and 6 local and regional newspapers. The circulation goes from 200,000+ for the newspapers with the nation-wide coverage and goes to around 5,000 for some of the local newspapers. Apart for the specialized daily newspaper “Privredni pregled” (Serbian version of Wall Stree Journal), other daily newspapers devote up to 15% of the content to business topics. There are no reliable data on the number of economic journalist in Serbia. The wild guess would be between 200 and 300. There is no Serbian educational institution that offers coursework on economic/business journalism whatsoever.

How many independent local and regional daily newspapers are there in Serbia? What are the most influential ones? How much of their content is devoted to business? How many economic journalists are there in Serbia? Do any Serbian educational institutions offer coursework on economic/business journalism?

Therefore, it is understandable that business journalists in Serbia make fundamental mistakes in their stories about the privatization process, enterprise governance, financial market activities, macroeconomic reform, monetary policy, etc. They lack access to competent experts who can provide accurate information on the issues they are writing about, and consequently there are substantial misunderstandings about numerous economic issues in their articles. Even with the lack of competent experts and bureaucrats to answer the media’s questions, properly trained economic journalists with an understanding of economics and business will be able to apply their journalist skills to probe for answers that they require, at any level of government.

All of this contributes to the failure of the primary task of journalism: To inform society about important issues on a timely and accurate basis. Since Serbia is a transitional country, independent and professional reporting on all relevant economic and business issues is crucial for the continued development of the country. The local business community has to understand and play an important role in that process, and business journalists have to take the initiative to properly inform the public about business activities. In order to achieve this, there has to be trust and regular communication between the business community and economic journalists. The best way to achieve this is to connect both communities so that they can network and communicate directly.

An effective media aware of the principles of market-oriented democracy is also a key link between the business community and policymakers. Business people understand practical issues that make the business environment more effective, but they often find it impossible to communicate their ideas and experience to the government. A crucial way to do this is through the media. If journalists are familiar with and have close ties to both the business community and policymakers, the media can serve as a valuable information conduit. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case in Serbia, and many local journalists complain that policymakers and government representatives are often unwilling to provide information, especially if they do not know the journalist personally.

By building the capacity of Serbian economic journalists and a relationship of trust and open communication with the business and policy communities, the channel of a free flow of essential information will be opened. The broader public will also benefit by being informed about economic reforms, tax laws, and others issues that effect their lives.

II. PROJECT OBJECTIVES

To strengthen the quality of economic reporting and institutionalize the free flow of information concerning economic developments to the business community and the general public in Serbia;

To develop journalists’ understanding of critical economic issues by providing them with educational materials, training programs, and information sources.

Project activities

Outreach and Student Selection

CLDS will select the students and thereby establish the EconomicSchool for Journalists through a thorough balanced regional approach. Students will represent all regions in Serbia, including Belgrade, Vojvodina and Central Serbia. Students from local, regional and national media outlets will benefit from the courses.

Journalists will be invited to participate, i.e. being selected for the participation in the training via two distinct processes. The first one is applied to tThose journalists (from both printed and electronic media) who are already well-known for their skills, contribution and motivation, and whose contribution is widely accepted ,as they will be directly invited to participate (all currently working journalists for Serbian local/regional/national newspaper? Only print media or also video?). The second will appled to tThe other group of students that will be selected through a public selection process (will you advertise?), that will be trigged, by a cicular letter to all the media companies (i.e. their management) and via public advertisement published in the most influential newspapers.Some other channels of dissemination of the advertisement will be considered (Journalist Association, Chamber of Commerce, Internet etc.) Each applicant will be personally interviewed by CLDS staff with a specific focus on the candidate’s knowledge, capacity to learn and motivation to attend the courses. Quotas for regional proportions (Belgrade, Vojvodina and Central Serbia will be established as the framework for the selection.

(Please discuss student selection more.)

Establishment of the Economic School for Journalists

Under the auspices of this project, CLDS is seeking to establish an EconomicSchool for Journalists in order to provide Serbian journalists with basic economic education, especially in the area of economic transition. The EconomicSchool for Journalists will begin under this project, however its work will extend well into the future, as CLDS envisions developing a distance-learning program as a follow-up to this project, utilizing the website that will also be established during this project.

All courses envisioned under this project will take place at CLDS offices in Belgrade. CLDS has a sizeable conference room to accommodate the students, as well as the necessary technical equipment, including computers, internet access and a photocopier.

Economic Journalist Training Coursework

In the efforts of establishing an EconomicSchool for Journalists in Serbia, CLDS will undertake an extensive training series that will gather 30 students per class in two parallel and identical programs, therefore 60 students in totally will be trained by this project. All classes will be offered on Saturdays as full-day sessions with 90-minute lectures that will break twice a day for 30-minute coffee breaks and once a day for lunch for 10 consecutive Saturdays.

All lectures will be interactive, with the active participation of all students being constantly encouraged by the lecturers, so there will be no need for separate workshops and/or Q&A sessions. Each lecturer will determine his/her own way of encouraging student participation. CLDS will develop all reading materials, such as papers, pamphlets and book chapters to all the students, requiring them to be read prior to each class. All students will receive written instruction on what is expected from each of them. (In what language will classes be taught and materials distributed?) Comment: the question is not relevant. All lectures will be in Serbian, because even national minorities in Serbia are very fluent in Serbian.

Students will be tested both orally and in writing upon completion of the coursework and students who pass the exam will be awarded a certificate.

The school curriculum will be based on the existing contemporary economic courses taught in Western universities, which CLDS will obtain and tailor for journalists. The Economic School for Journalists’ curriculum have developed by the CLDS in the period of the project proposal development, but based on the previous considerations of the main CLDS economist. The Economic School for Journalists’ curriculum will consist of the following five modules: (When and how did CLDS already develop these modules? Have you taught them in the past?)

“Markets and prices” – Introduction to Microeconomic Analysis: Market and its basic institutions; Consumer behavior (utility issues); Producer behavior (costs); Demand, supply and transaction costs; Market equilibrium (partial and general); Goods and factors’ markets; Market failures; Government intervention: rationales, mechanisms and consequences.

Lecturer: Professor Boris Begovic.

“Money and stabilization” – Introduction to Macroeconomic Analysis: Real macroeconomics (four key macroeconomic variables: GDP, Inflation, BOP, unemployment, growth); Stylized facts, stabile states and real life; Money, inflation, interest rates and intertemporality; Macroeconomic equilibrium; Macroeconomic policy; Real exchange rate and indebtness; Financial markets and macroeconomics; Unresolved debates in macroeconomics.

Lecturer: Professor Danica Popovic.

“Basic facts and figures” – Introduction to Economic Statistics: GDP and its computation; Relation of Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Product, Net National Product, National Income, and Personal Income; Growth statistics – indices, growth rates and caveats; Prices and exchange rates; Balance of Payments; Government budgets’ statistics; Census and employment statistics; Reading an IMF report on Serbia.

Lecturer: Professor Danica Popovic.

“Where does money come from and where does it go?” – Corporate and Public Finances: Capital as production factor, stock and returns; Stock market: basic concepts and how it operates; Investment decisions and investment funding; banking financial institutions and financial capital market; Direct taxation and its implementation; Indirect taxation and its implementation; Public expenditures; Budget and budgeting.

Lecturer: Dr Bosko Mijatovic.

“Where are we going?” – The most important segments of transition in Serbia: Liberalization and macroeconomic stabilization; Privatization and restructuring of the real sector; Restructuring of public utilities and public enterprises; Restructuring of the financial sector; Taxation reform – Public finance reform (revenue side); Budgetary reform – Public finance reform (expenditure side); Pension and social protection system reform. Political economy of transition.

Lecturers: Dr Bosko Mijatovic, Dr Gordana Matković, Professor Danica Popovic, Professor Boris Begovic and guest lecturers (if needed).

Textbook

Under this project, CLDS will develop a textbook for students of the EconomicSchool for Journalists, entitled “Glossary: Economic Textbook for Journalists.” This publication will serve as a textbook and will contain a well-developed glossary of economic terms and the most important concepts of economics (economic analysis) and economic transition. The glossary/textbook will be developed to parallel the syllabus and will cover all the modules described above. It structure will be structured similarly to the MIT Dictionary of Economics. The language of the textbook and glossary will be adapted to the students’ level of knowledge and will be much more user-friendly than standard economic glossaries. The glossary will also highlight the most frequent mistakes and economic fallacies that have been recently observed in the media coverage of economic reform in Serbia, hence the glossary will be Serbia-specific.

The book will be approximately 120 pages. 1,000 copies of this book will be printed and distributed free of charge to electronic and printed media outfits in Serbia, not only to the students who attended the school. An electronic (PDF) version of the book will be available for downloading free of change on the School’s and CLDS’ web site.

Project Implementation Timeline

Project duration is 9 months from kick-off date. General schedule of activities is as follows:

First three months (first project quarter) will be used for the selection of the candidates, preparation of the glossary and initial web site design.

Second project quarter will be used for the fist course at the School.

Third project quarter will be used for the second course at the School.

Day / Lecture / Module / Topic / Lecturer
1st Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Market and its basic institutions / Boris Begovic
1st Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Consumer behavior (utility issues) / Boris Begovic
1st Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Producer behavior (costs) / Boris Begovic
1st Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Demand, supply and transaction costs; / Boris Begovic
2nd Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Market equilibrium (partial and general) / Boris Begovic
2nd Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Goods and factors’ markets / Boris Begovic
2nd Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Market failures / Boris Begovic
2nd Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to microeconomics / Government intervention: rationales, mechanisms and consequences / Boris Begovic
3rd Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Real macroeconomics (four key macroeconomic variables: GDP, Inflation, BOP, unemployment, growth) / Danica Popovic
3rd Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Stylized facts, stabile states and real life / Danica Popovic
3rd Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Money, inflation, interest rates and intertemporality / Danica Popovic
3rd Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Macroeconomic equilibrium; / Danica Popovic
4th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Macroeconomic policy; / Danica Popovic
4th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Real exchange rate and indebtness; / Danica Popovic
4th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Financial markets and macroeconomics / Danica Popovic
4th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to macroeconomics / Unresolved debates in macroeconomics / Danica Popovic
5th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / GDP and its computation / Danica Popovic
5th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Relation of Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Product, Net National Product, National Income, and Personal Income / Danica Popovic
5th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Growth statistics – indices, growth rates and caveats / Danica Popovic
5th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Balance of Payments / Danica Popovic
6th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Prices and exchange rates / Danica Popovic
6th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Government budgets’ statistics / Danica Popovic
6th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Census and employment statistics / Danica Popovic
6th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Introduction to economic statistics / Reading an IMF report on Serbia / Danica Popovic
7th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Corporate and public finances / Capital as production factor, stock and returns / Bosko Mijatovic
7th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Corporate and public finances / Stock market: basic concepts and how it operates / Bosko Mijatovic
7th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Corporate and public finances / Investment decisions and investment funding / Bosko Mijatovic
7th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Corporate and public finances / Banking financial institutions and financial capital market / Bosko Mijatovic
8th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Corporate and public finances / Direct taxation and its implementation / Bosko Mijatovic
8th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Corporate and public finances / Indirect taxation and its implementation / Bosko Mijatovic
8th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Corporate and public finances / Public expenditures / Bosko Mijatovic
8th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Corporate and public finances / Budget and budgeting / Bosko Mijatovic
9th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Liberalization and macroeconomic stabilization / Gordana Matkovic et al.
9th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Privatization and restructuring of the real sector; / Gordana Matkovic et al.
9th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Restructuring of public utilities and public enterprises; / Gordana Matkovic et al.
9th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Restructuring of the financial sector; / Gordana Matkovic et al.
10th Saturday / 10:00 – 11:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Taxation reform – Public finance reform (revenue side); / Gordana Matkovic et al.
10th Saturday / 12:00 – 13:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Budgetary reform – Public finance reform (expenditure side); / Gordana Matkovic et al.
10th Saturday / 15:00 – 16:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Pension and social protection system reform. / Gordana Matkovic et al.
10th Saturday / 17:00 – 18:30 / Economic transition in Serbia / Political economy of transition in Serbia. / Gordana Matkovic et al.

Networking and Website

In order to create a specialized group of economic journalists, CLDS will provide not only the basic economic education, but also foster a strong sustainable network among the students during the 10-week course cycle, enabling and encouraging both horizontal linkages (economic journalist among themselves) and vertical linkages (economic journalist with the lecturers). The EconomicSchool website will be a central platform for facilitating this networking. CLDS will also closely monitor and follow up with students on their journalistic work outside the classroom, primarily by through analysis of the number and the content of specialized contributions (outputs) of the journalist who attended the school. The idea is to monitor the impact of the school to the improvement of the journalist way of thinking, skills and products, i.e. overall performance.