At CINS, we report on issues that impact people’s lives in Serbia: human rights violations, the rule of law, environmental protection, corruption and other important social issues. We report about citizens, for citizens, with the goal of enabling them to make informed decisions based on verified information.
Through information and data that could stand up to scrutiny in any impartial court, we have published over 1,000 stories on topics of public interest on our website and social media profiles, including investigative and narrative podcasts, interactive games, video content and 11 databases.
We have received national and international awards for our work, ethics, courage and commitment to tolerance: from the European Press Prize (‘the European Pulitzer’), the Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism (awarded by the World Justice Project) and The 2024 Ethical Journalism Award (Article 19), to the Annual Tolerance Award (Commissioner for the Protection of Equality), along with eight European Union awards and more than ten national investigative journalism awards in Serbia.
Our content is regularly used by citizens, media, and national and international organisations – in conversations, on social media, forums and in protests; through monitoring, reporting and public advocacy campaigns.
However, support is much needed to sustain professional reporting and the empowerment of the media and community to address important issues.
That is exactly what the Western Balkans Media for Change’s support contributed to.
We consider the greatest success to be the trust placed in us by an exceptionally large number of people, especially women. We were surprised by the number of women in our community – some of whom had never followed CINS before – who chose to share their deepest and most terrifying experiences with us. This required a responsible and humane approach from every member of the CINS team, as well as a strategic approach at the organisational level, based on transparency, authenticity and sincere, consistent communication.
With the help of our community, CINS published three stories and a narrative podcast series – an innovative format in our region.
We had the opportunity to tell previously untold stories of strong women who faced great injustices. Many of them had never spoken to anyone about their experiences before. We listened to them with great care and published their stories through interactive content that not only informs but also emotionally engages readers, significantly enhancing interest and impact. At the same time, we provided extensive data and documentation which point to systemic flaws and problems. Today, these strong women feel less alone and see hope that these issues will be addressed. (We are deeply grateful for their trust, this experience and the opportunity.)
To be specific, as part of this project, we invited the community to share their experiences and suggest ideas and concrete cases that CINS could investigate.
We chose to collect ideas through the Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) tool, which enables a more focused civic contribution, supported by documentation that validates submissions. An important aspect of this approach is the high level of personal data protection.
For those who preferred not to reach out through the ECR tool, we provided alternative ways to communicate – via social media, direct calls, messages and emails to CINS team members.
Community engagement received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Members of the community reported issues across various areas, primarily concerning the rule of law, with a strong focus on matters affecting vulnerable and marginalised groups.
As part of our call for help in investigating obstetric violence, we received 1,198 submissions. CINS journalists spent more than six months analysing the submissions, speaking with all relevant sources and uncovering shocking findings. They also examined how institutions respond to reports of obstetric violence by analysing five years’ worth of inspection records and criminal proceedings across more than 108 courts and prosecutor’s offices.
In a separate investigative story, we revealed how a female student’s report of sexual harassment at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade was handled.
CINS will continue to cover these issues, giving a voice to young people, women and other marginalised groups through high-quality journalism and data-driven reporting.
Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS)