BIRN Albania Journalist Wins CEI SEEMO Prize

Aleksandra Bogdani from BIRN Albania received the CEI/SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism in Bucharest on Thursday.

Marian Chiriac

BIRN

Bucharest

Aleksandra Bogdani awarded for her investigative reports | Photo: BIRN.

The Central European Initiative, CEI, and the South East Europe Media Organisation, SEEMO, on Thursday awarded Aleksandra Bogdani for her professional achievements as an intrepid reporter covering complex stories of human trafficking, organised crime and child abuse, corruption and national security.

She received the CEI/SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits.
Bogdani is an investigative journalist and editor for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in Albania.
She has more than a decade of experience working as a reporter, editor and deputy editor-in-chief.
The CEI presented the awards on Thursday at the South East Europe Media Forum in Bucharest, Romania.
Bogdani impressed the jury with the courage she had showed as a woman producing an in-depth series of six investigations into the network of recruiters who send Albanian muslims to fight in Syria for the Islam State of Iraq and Levant, ISIS, and the al-Nusra front.

The jury composed of prominent journalists, correspondents and editors from across Europe, examined 25 nominations from eight CEI member states.
They took into account the personal risks taken in uncovering stories, the quality of the reporting and the impact on society of the stories, when making their decision.

Nadia Burdey, from Ukraine, was awarded as a promising young journalist who follows high professional standards in a difficult environment.
Special mention was made of three Montenegrin reporters, Mirko Boskovic, from RTCG, and to Vlado Otasevic and Ana Komatina, from CIJ Montenegro, for contributing to the advancement of investigative journalism in their country.

In addition to her prestigious award, Bogdani received a significant cash endowment from the CEI Executive Secretariat.