Speakers / Moderators SEEMF 2022 (more names soon)

Adelheid Gudrun Else Feilcke

Adelheid Feilcke is Director of Programs for Europe at Deutsche Welle since 2016. The European desk consists of ten East- and Southeast European language departments, including Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Macedonian, Polish, Rumanian, Serbian an Hungarian. Theses languages departments have a daily media outlet on different platforms such as online, radio, TV and Social Media.

Adelheid Feilcke joined Deutsche Welle in 1992 and became the founding head of the Albanian Service. From 2005 to 2012 she was director of the International Relation Department at DW, from 2012 to 2014 head of the Culture Department and from 2014 to 2016 she headed the department of Strategic Partnership at DW. She has worked as a trainer for DW Akademie since 1995. Her journalistic focus and expertise comprises European politics, culture and conflict prevention.

She studied cultural anthropology and has been involved in media since 1981. After obtaining her high school diploma, she obtained a editorial training at the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag and then worked as an editor for the newspaper until 1984. She subsequently studied musicology, science of theater, film and television as well as anthropology in Cologne and as a DAAD scholar in Tirana, Albania.

She obtained her master’s degree in ethnomusicology in 1990 and a second diploma in cultural management at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg in 1993. She worked also as a freelance reporter and cultural manager for regional and national radio stations such as WDR and for the State Music Council of Schleswig-Holstein (Landesmusikrat) before joining DW in 1992.

Aida Čerkez-Robinson

Aida Čerkez-Robinson is a journalist and has been reporting from Bosnia-Herzegovina for the Associated Press for 24 years and was the agency’s chief of bureau in Sarajevo. She has a masters degree in Peace Research and Communications and has been involved in the work of the Center for Investigative Journalism since it was founded. Since 2017, she has been working as an editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

Anna Babinets

Anna is the Editor-in-Chief of SLIDSTVO.INFO investigative agency based Kyiv, Ukraine. Also a Regional Editor of Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project ( OCCRP).

As a journalsit Anna specializes in discovering hight scale corruption, money laundering shmenes and crimes. She is part of the Panama Papers team –several stories about Ukrainian president`s Petro Poroshenko offshore companies was written by her.

One of authors of Killing Pavel documenary – about murder of a famous journalist in Kyiv. The documentary got DIG Award (Italy) and IRE Medal (USA) in 2018.

From the beginning of Russian-Ukrainian war Anna and Slidstvo.Info focus on the covering war crimes, reportages from the fields (Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities), researching and identifying Russian militaries in Ukraine.

Attila Biro
February 2022- Present co-founder of Context Investigative Reporting Project
2015 – present contributing reporter to The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
September 2015- January 2022 investigative reporter with Rise Project – Part of the local team that researched international stories like #PanamaPapers, #ParadisePapers, #TheAzerbaijaniLaundromat

Barbara Fabro

Graduated in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Trieste, Barbara Fabro is Senior Executive Officer at the Central European Initiative (CEI) – Executive Secretariat.
She is responsible for the CEI activities and programmes in the fields of intercultural cooperation and media. She is the Focal Point for the CEI Parliamentary Dimension.
She runs the CEI partnership with the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) in the context of the annual South East Europe Media Forum and coordinates the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Journalism.
Previously, she was in charge of communication and media relations and coordinated the CEI working groups/networks of experts in the fields of culture, education, minorities, media.
As short-term observer, she participated in some OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Missions.

Belmin Karamehmedović

2015 – to present Director General Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, www.bhrt.ba

2012 – 2015 Deputy Director General Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, www.bhrt.ba

2010 – 2012 Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina CEO

2004 – 2010 Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina Head of the Sports Department

2003 – 2004 CEO Media Group – Pool of marketing agencies established by McCann-Erickson and BBDO Adriatic in Bosnia and Herzegovina

1995 – 2004 Field Producer in Bosnia and Herzegovina ABC NEWS

Borka Rudić

Borka Rudić, a professor of philosophy, started working in journalism in 1985, as a correspondent for Radio Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and the daily newspaper Večernji lis t from Zagreb (Croatia). In the period 1992 – 95, she worked as a war reporter for RTV Bosnia and Herzegovina and the daily newspaper Oslobodjenje.
She was the Editor -in – Chief of Radio FERN , formed by the OSCE Mission to BiH , with goal to provide professional media coverage the first post-war elections in BiH in 1996.
From December 1997 to June 2005, she established and operated the Together Radio Network, aimed to connect 10 Bosnian radio stations with refugee’s radio stations in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, which were preparing a program for BiH refugees in those countries. Also, she was a Director of the Regional Radio Network (RRN), which has included 55 local radio stations from 7 countries of the Western Balkans, with a goal to cross border cooperation and to produce and exchange a common radio programs. She was a long-term associate correspondent to Radio Free Europe, Beta News Agency (Serbia), Danish Radio (based in Copenhagen Denmark), political magazine Dani based in Sarajevo, and magazine Tjednik, based in Zagreb (Croatia).
As the Secretary General of the BH Journalists Association (BHJA), she is committed to protecting freedom of expression and media freedom, as well as to advocate the better protection and safety of journalists (especially female journalists) through the legal and institutional framework in BiH and the Western Balkans. Within BHJA, she developed a set of internal mechanisms and activities with a focus on improving journalists’ knowledge and skills in reporting on gender-based violence through media contents, as well as promoting gender equality in the media and better position of female journalists and female journalism students in Bosnian society. Based on her ideas, the Female Journalist´s Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded in 2019.
She also works as a certified lecturer on journalistic ethics, radio journalism and editing of news program, and application of conflict resolution methods in radio journalism, including peace building reporting aimed to strengthening democratic processes in BiH and the WB Region.

Daria Grudić
Daria Grudić obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in Zagreb, Croatia. She worked for 8 years as a journalist and editor in Croatian media before moving to the Netherlands to pursue her Master’s degree in Media Innovation.
In 2021, Daria joined the team Distribution Europe in Deutsche Welle and moved to Germany. Since then she has been working on the German News Service project, run in partnership between DW and dpa, the largest German press agency.

Darja Softić Kadenić

Minister of Justice and Administration for Canton Sarajevo, Sarajevo and Assistant professor
Faculty of Law, University of Sarajevo

Daniel Voda

Daniel Voda is a career diplomat since 2014 with prior experiences in mass media, hosting and producing radio and TV programs within Public Broadcasting Company Teleradio Moldova (2009 – 2013), as well as leadership positions in Moldovan civil society – acting as a member of the Board of Directors for Creative Development Association, umbrella organization for USG Exchange Programs Alumni network in Moldova (2012 – 2014) and co-founder of The Youth Ambassadors Institute, recipient of EU Youth Award (2011 – 2014).

Mr. Voda´s diplomatic track includes professional experiences in various positions within Directorate General for Bilateral Cooperation, including participation within Ministry ´s Taskforce for Communication, which drafted MFA´s first Public Communication Regulation. Between 2017 and 2020, was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova to Japan, being responsible for political, economic and public relations.

Since July 2020, he has been appointed as Ministry´s Spokesperson, Head of the Public Diplomacy, Strategic Communication and Press Relations Division of the Ministry. As Director for Communication, effectively managed multiple public communication campaigns, crisis situations, including during the presidential elections in 2020 and snap parliamentary elections in 2021. Following Russian unjust war in Ukraine in 2022, Mr. Voda is contributing to effective disinformation debunk and Moldova ´s strategic communication network. In August, invited as Board Member to the European Digital Diplomacy Exchange.

In addition to the Romanian language, he speaks English and Russian fluently, as well as having an intermediate level of Japanese and Ukrainian.

Mr. Voda is pursuing his Doctoral studies in the field of public diplomacy and is a lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations, Political and Administrative Sciences of the Moldova State University.

Elvir Padalović

Elvir Padalović was born on April 9, 1978 in Banja Luka.
He is a journalist and executive editor of the online magazine BUKA from Banja Luka.

Ferdinand Koenig

Ferdinand Koenig has been the Head of Communications/Spokesperson at the EU Delegation/Office of the EU Special Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina since May 2022. Before taking up his position in BiH, he was the spokesperson for EU policing and rule of law Missions in Ukraine and the occupied Palestinian Territories for over five years.
He has almost 15 years’ experience working in and around the EU institutions on communications issues. He started his career as a journalist with the magazine EU Reporter, where he took a close interest in issues of media independence and freedom, including editing an issue of the monthly magazine dedicated to the issue. After leaving EU Reporter, he worked for integrated communications agencies on projects for the European Commission, and also worked for three years at the European Central Bank, where he coordinated and managed public information campaigns, including the euro changeover campaigns in Latvia and Lithuania.
He has a Bachelor’s degree in History and Russian from Oxford University and a Masters in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics.

Ivana Holoubková

Ivana Holoubková holds a doctorate in natural sciences and attended the Clingendael Institute of International Relations.

She joined the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992. Among her various assignments she was posted as the Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Italy and later France, was member of the international task force preparing Prague NATO summit 2002, headed the MFA office for North America. Between 2007 to 2013, she served as the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Ms. Holoubková started her work as CEI Deputy Secretary General on 1 May 2022.

Jan Jessen

Trained nurse, since 2002 editor at the Neue Ruhr/Neue Rhein Zeitung in Germany, since 2012 crisis and conflict reporting for the Funke media group

Kristina Baxanova

Kristina Baxanova, PhD, is head of International News Desk at Bulgarian private channel bTV.

She has been working at bTV since its very beginning in 2000, as a reporter, later she was also a news anchor. She is covering different topics regarding European and international politics and other issues.

She is also author of many TV documentaries: “Three stories”, was part of Sarajevo Film Festival’s Program (2018). “The unknown Tsar” won a prize at International Short Film festival in Balchik. (2008)

Kristina Baxanova started her experience in journalism by print media. She worked also as news reporter at Nova TV (1997-2000).

Kristina Baxanova studied journalism and foreign affairs at Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication by Sofia University „St. Kliment Ochridski”. In 2004-2005 she was a fellow of European Journalism Fellowship Program at Journalism College by Free University Berlin.

In 2018, she has earned Ph.D. based on German foreign politics to South-Eastern Europe and German public media. Dr. Kristina Baxanova is also a part-time lecture at FJMC by Sofia University.

Kristina Atovska

Kristina Atovska is born in Skopje, North Macedonia 21.12.1989. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism gained in 2011 from the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje. After finishing journalism studies, she continued her education on master studies on Diplomacy and International relations on South East European University in Skopje. She attended various courses for investigative journalism as well as war journalism. After few years in on-line media, in 2014 she entered in television journalism and reporting. First as a reporter for the national Sitel TV, then TV 24 and in 2018 she become News Anchor and Anchor of her own political show in 1TV. Currently she is working as an Anchor and war reporter in online TV, Free TV, anchoring the morning political show called Morning Briefing. During her career she followed the most important political events on the Balkans as well as reported from the violent protests in Skopje, Belgrade and Athens. She was also investigating serious criminal activities such as corruption and selling of the adoption children. Currently she is the only Macedonian reporter, reporting from the war zone in Ukraine.

Atovska is author of the publication named “Guidelines for reporting from an area of armed conflict”, made within the project “Support of freedom of expression in the media in North Macedonia” implemented by Ethics Counsel, co -financed by European Union.

Atovska is the author of numerous documentary films. In cooperation with Center for Investigative Journalism SCOOP, she made 7 documentary episodes about corona virus, that were shown in the National Television MTV.

Besides Macedonian (mother language), she speaks Serbian, English and Russian.

Katerina Sinadinovska

Katerina Sinadinovska obtained degree in journalism from the St.Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje in 2008. She is currently the assistant – editor in chief of Kapital, a weekly business and political magazine for which she has been working since 2010. She is also an author and editor of the TV project “Agenda 35” broadcasted on the national public television, an educational program about the reforms that will have to be adopted during the negotiation process with the EU.

Before joining Kapital, Katerina worked as a journalist for two TV stations in Skopje – “Kanal 5” and “Alfa TV”. Earlier, from 2004 to 2006 she worked as a journalist in the newspaper Vecer.

In 2015, Katerina was one of the founders of the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia and elected as a President of the Managing Board. In March 2018, Katerina was re-elected and given a new mandate to run the organization for the next four years.

Katerina Sinadinovska has contributed to professional trainings and conferences on media freedom, media ethics and literacy, and political and economic influence in the media sector, both in the country and abroad.

Khrystyna Havryliuk

2015 –2017
NGO “Chernivtsi Public TV”, journalist

January 2018 – September 2018
Editor of media “Tvoemisto.Chernivtsi

September 2018 – January 2020
News Editor-in-Chief of UA:Bukovyna

February 2020 – Present
Digital News Editor-in-Chief of UA: PBC
RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service: Radio Svoboda
Brestskaya Gazeta, Belarus
Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland
Ukrainian Diaspora Press Museum, Chicago, USA
Political School: New Principles of Leadership
League of Young Parliamentarians
School of social reportage of the Ukrainian Catholic University
German-Polish School for Regional Journalists, Poland
German-Ukrainian project MeetUp, Germany
Erasmus + Social transformations, Georgia
MediaBarCamp, Lithuania
Erasmus + Social transformations, Georgia

Hendrik Sittig

Hendrik Sittig has been director of the Media Programme for South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, located in Sofia, since 2018. Previously, he worked for the programme directorate (TV, Radio, Online) at the public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb). Hendrik Sittig worked as a project manager for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Moscow from 2008 to 2010. He studied Journalism and Psychology at the University of Leipzig. Other stations: two-year editorial traineeship at a regional newspaper. Editor and reporter for the ARD Aktuell TV News and the MDR television in Leipzig and Erfurt. Working scholarships in Georgia, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine as well as one-year stay at a German-language newspaper in Western Siberia.

Leila Bičakčić

Leila Bičakčić is one of the founding members of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN), award winning organisation, modelled after US non-profit media agencies. Specialising in reporting on corruption, nexus between political elite and organized crime groups, monitoring of use of public funds, and politician assets., CIN stories led to indictment against former Prime Minster, dismissal of international judge, indictment in one of the major corruption cases in BIH, resulting in final court verdict. For its work, CIN won a number of national and international awards, among which are Daniel Pearl award, Shining Star Award and most recently, CIN story on vote buying was a finalist for European Press Prize as best story on corruption in 2021 in Europe. Leila’s responsibilities include overall management, investigative projects’ planning, analysis and strategic development. A special focus of Leila’s work is research on new models of sustainable media organization and new business models in the BiH context, the transition from traditional media to new digital models and the convergence of media content. A Sarajevo native, she studied basic physics and economics at the Sarajevo University.

Dr. sci. Lejla Turčilo

Dr. sci. Lejla Turčilo is a full time professor at the Department of Communication Science/ Journalism at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she teaches courses in Media Theory, TV Journalism,

Online Journalism and Media and Politics at the undergraduate and master’s degree level and Creation of New Public by PR and Online Media at the Doctoral Study. She has published four authored books, six co-authored books, as well as one manual and five research publications. She has published more than forty scientific and professional papers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. She is the head of the Center for Lifelong Learning at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo and the head of the Department of Communication Science/ Journalism.

Her field of interest is online communication, intercultural communication, media literacy and media freedom.

Lorenzo Attianese

Lorenzo Attianese is a 42-year-old Italian journalist who currently works in the publishing news section of Ansa, the first press agency in Italy and one of most renowned in the world.

He began his career as a crime reporter in Rome where he put the golden rule of his profession into practice – working in the field. He has also been writing investigation reports on various topics including organized crime, terrorism and organ trafficking.

Many of his articles have been published on several international media outlets such as The Times. He was a war correspondent in Ukraine, one of the first journalists to report the horrors in Bucha and other villages on the spot.

Maja Sever

twitter.com/SeverMaja

Work experience

HRT (08/1995-)- Journalist – As a political reporter, reports live on the most important political events. Participated in major public television projects, such as monitoring parliamentary and presidential elections.
– Editor (Hrvatska uživo) afternoon news magazine.
– Senior Journalist
Member of the Croatian radio television Program Council from 2015-19.

SNH (05/2019-) – President of Trade Union of Croatian Journalist
Vice-Chair of the Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) of the EFJ of an expert group for labor rights of the European Federation of Journalists.
Journalist of the Year by the professional journalist’s association. Winner of the Pride of Croatia award for humanitarian work
Fierce women award for significant contribution to gender equality and social justice in Croatia.
President of European Federation of Journalists

EFJ (06/2022-)

Education

High School
1999. Faculty of political sciences, Journalism Master, University of Zagreb
2020. School for European projects Zagreb,
– program for the Head of preparation and implementation of EU projects

Marina Lalovic

January 2021: journalist at the foreign desk of Rai, Radiotelevisione italiana, Rainews24

March 2018 – Professor at the University « La Cattolica » of Milan – Master « Fare Radio » – teaching the investigative journalism by using the radio documentaries

October 2017 – March 2018 : Journalist/part of the editorial team of the Sky Art’s TV Programme « Master of Photography »

September 2016- December 2016 – Assistant producer/reporter : FremantleMedia Italy – Documentary movie on Pope Francis « A Selfie with a Pope

December 2015 Visiting Professor at the University of International Relations of the University of Ekaterinburg/Russia – teaching history of Italian journalism

December 2011 – currently holding a position: Host-Moderator at RAI-Radio3Mondo (Radio Televisione Italiana), Tutta la città ne Parla

November 2011 – 2018: Consultant/video maker – Council of Europe for the implementation of MEDIANE (Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness) project, World Forum for Democracy,
and Intercultural cities programme

October 2011 – December 2013: Babel TV/SKY – journalist/reporter/TV presenter (www.babel.tv)

February 2011 – August 2011: ENEL SPA – Advertising/New Media/International area – news and foreign websites developer

January 2011: coordinator for McLuhan’s Anniversary of the International
Youth Media Summit

December 2010: Cooperates with Inter Press Service agency, IPS

May 2009 – July 2009: Internship at the Associated Press Television News bureau of Rome;

May 2009 – December 2010: Cooperates with the Italian magazine “Left- Avvenimenti”

April 2009: Producer and journalist for a documentary film “Belgrade contradictions” regarding ten years after the NATO bombing of Serbia

January 2009 – January 2012: Correspondent from Rome for the Serbian newspaper, Politika;

December 2008 – July 2009: TV presenter/“Jazz Bar”/Italian TV programme, broadcast by Jazz Channel

October 2008 – December 2009: Video correspondent for SPIN magazine, www.spin.com (USA)

September 2008 – September 2009: Cooperates with European magazine – Cafebabel.com

January 2008 – January 2009: Cooperates with radio-television of Serbia, B92;

July 2005 – September 2010: Photo Studio Ottavio Celestino Rome, Italy – specialized in advertising photography

Occupation/position held: Advertising producer/press officer: responsible for managing all aspects of major advertising campaigns. Direct liaison with clients (major clients include Bulgari, Fendi, RAI (Italian radio television)) and advertising agencies (for example McCann Erickson, Young&Rubicam, J.W.Thompson, Ogilvy&Mather, Saatchi&Saatchi, Leo Burnett, etc

October 2002 – December 2002: Italian Military School for Foreign Languages (SLEE), Perugia, Italy. Was recruited to teach Serbian to Italian officers who were active in Kosovo.

In 2019 Marina won a Milena Jesenska fellowship
for journalists at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna

In 2014 Marina won the first prize of the Marco Rossi award for the best radio documentary on matters regarding unemployment in Italy with a radio documentary called “Chi fa la fila al posto tuo? Il primo codista italiano” (“Who is queuing for you? The first Italian queur”)

Milica Pesic

Milica Pesic is the Executive Director of London-based Media Diversity Institute (MDI). She has been working in Diversity and the Media field for more than 20 years designing and supervising multi-national, multi-annual programmes in Europe, NIS, MENA, South Asia, the Sahel, Sub-Sahara, West Africa, China and Cuba. She has co-designed an MA Course in Diversity and the Media which is jointly run by the MDI and University of Westminster. A Journalist by profession, she has reported for the BBC, Radio Free Europe, the Times HES, TV Serbia and other media. She holds an MA in International Journalism from City University, London.
Prior to MDI, she had worked for New York University, the IFJ (Brussels) and the Alternative Information Network (Paris). Her current interests are in MIL, and dis/mal/misinformation as related to diversity. MDI has branches in the US, Western Balkans, Belgium and South Caucasus.

Nina Kodelja
Ms. Nina Kodelja started her assignment as CEI Deputy Secretary General on 1 January 2019.
She is a career diplomat with experience in various foreign policy areas – in regional policies, multilateral affairs, and was directly involved in the Slovene accession to the EU. She has dealt extensively with various aspects of EU affairs and served in Slovene representations abroad, namely in Rome and Madrid. She also worked for the European External Action Service (EEAS), dealing with foreign policy issues within the EEAS chair/presidency of the Political and Security Committee of the EU. Before taking on the position of CEI Deputy Secretary General, she was Head of the Department for General and Institutional EU Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. Prior to this experience, she was Head of the Department for Emerging Challenges and Threats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. She studied International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Trieste, Italy.

Nikolay Staykov

Nikolay Staykov is an investigative journalist and anticorruption activist. His career as a journalist and editor started in 1997 and the result is close to a thousand articles on business issues, privatisation, public procurement as well as investigations and industry rankings. A co-founder of Bulgaria’s leading anticorruption CSO, the Anticorruption Fund (acf.bg).

In his capacity of anti-corruption activist, Staykov has attended a number of international anticorruption summits. His positions have been published in foreign and national media. Staykov is an OSINT trainer with several national awards for investigative journalism for his works as well as the Anticorruption Champion award of the US State Department (2021).

Oliver Vujović
Secretary General, South East Europe Media Organisation

Olaya Argüeso Pérez

Editor-in-Chief at CORRECTIV since November 2019, she has a decade long career as radio journalist in Spain, where she was finance and business editor for the main radio network in the country, Cadena Ser. After a three year stint outside journalism, Olaya discovered data journalism and headed to New York to join the Lede Program at Columbia University. She would later go on to publish investigations in a different major Spanish outlets, including El Confidencial, Agencia EFE and El País. While working as an investigative and data journalist, she also taught data journalism skills to reporters at multiple newsrooms and academic institutions, as well as coordinating a Masters Program at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) and Unidad Editorial. At CORRECTIV she has led several cross-border investigations with dozens of international journalists, which have led her to testify in the EU Parliament to explain the findings of her investigations.

Ophelia Alice Taylor (Alice Taylor)

Editor EURACTIV.com, journalist exit.al, DW, Board at Albanian Ethical Medial Alliance, Tirana

Journalist, The Shift News 2017-2022
Freelance Journalist 2015-Present

Board Member: Albanian Ethical Media Alliance
Associate: The Coalition for Women in Journalism
Member: International Press Institute, European Federation of Journalists,
International Federation of Journalists
Correspondent: The Times (UK), BBC, Euronews, DW, France 24, local media in
Albania.
Contributor to DW Inside Europe podcast for Albania and Kosovo
Public speaker: Regular speaker at events, universities, schools, and in the media,
on topics including media freedom, journalism, women in journalism, and democracy.
Owner of popular non-profit website www.thebalkanista.com, which covers travel,
culture, history and society in Albania and Kosovo.

Previous Experience
● Fenech Farrugia Fiott Legal, Swatar, Malta October 2016- September 2017
Communications and Marketing Manager
● WH Partners, Ta’ Xbiex, Malta January 2012-October 2016 Practice Coordinator,
promoted to Communications Manager
● Marshall Consultants Group, Birgu, Malta May 2010-January 2012 PA to Director,
promoted to Assistant Operations Manager

Education
● Bristol University/The Open University- Bachelor of Laws LLB 2008-2012
● EasySL, Malta- TEFL Business English/ Legal English
● Truro College- English, Art, Photography, Psychology, Drama
● Wadebridge School- 11 GCSEs

Radka Betcheva

Radka Betcheva is Head of Member Relations for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) in the Directorate of Member Relations and Communications at the EBU. She has been working on strategic, advisory and policy issues related to EBU members since 2012.

She is extensively involved in supporting Public Service Media in Central and Eastern Europe to develop and defend their legal and financial frameworks. In addition, Radka Betcheva manages the EBU Partnership Programmes programme, which is designed to provide assistance to Members in challenging financial situations.

From 2005 to 2012 Ms Betcheva worked as a Head of the Media Programme in the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, supporting media reforms in the host country. She worked also with the UNMIK/OSCE Mission in Kosovo in 2004-2005. Her responsibilities embraced inter alia – work on improvement of media laws, Laws on PSM, Laws on Free Access to Information and harmonization of these Laws with other relevant Laws.

Ms Betcheva has 16 years of experience in Bulgarian public service broadcasting as a journalist, editor and executive producer and part time lecturer at the New Bulgarian University. Working in PSM for more than 16 years, Ms Betcheva knows the system from within and is familiar with the challenges and opportunities.

She speaks English, German, Russian, French, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian.

She holds a masters degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Tufts University, Boston, a masters degree in Economics from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, and a diploma in Journalism. In 2002-2003 she was awarded the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.

Radu Magdin

Radu Magdin is a global analyst, consultant, trainer and think tanker. He is the CEO of Smartlink Communications, a consultancy company with global outreach.

Radu previously worked as an honorary advisor to the Romanian Prime Minister (2014-2015) and advised the Moldovan PM (2016-2017) on a range of strategic issues, from political strategy and communications to reforms implementation and external affairs.

He is a NATO Emerging Leader with the Atlantic Council of the US (2014), a Forbes Romania Trendsetter (2014) and a Warsaw Security Leader (2015). Magdin is a widely quoted analyst by global media and a coauthor of the Naumann Foundation’s 2021 “Playbook on Liberal Leadership and Strategic Communications in the Covid19 Era”.

Roberto Antonione

Mr. Roberto Antonione was appointed CEI Secretary General for a second term of office as of January 2022, after having held this same position from 2019-2021. Before that he held the post of CEI Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and Special Advisor to the CEI Secretary General between 2015-2017.
Having graduated in medicine and surgery at the University of Milan he was in private practice as a dentist until 2001, while carrying out various political positions at local and regional level.
From 1992-1993 he was Town Councilor in Trieste; Vice President of the Regional Council and Councilor for Crafts, work, cooperation and sport for one year after that and President of the Regional Council from 1996 to 2001; from 1994 to 2001 he was Regional Councilor of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (FVG); and town Councilor in Trieste from 2011 to 2016.
From 2001-2006 he was Senator of the Italian Republic (XIV Legislature), undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Europe and Representative of Italy at the signing of the 2003 Treaty of Rome. He was also awarded full powers for the official signature on behalf of Italy of the EU Accession Treaties of the Republics of Bulgaria and Romania.
From 2006-2008 he was Senator of the Republic (XV Legislature) as well as Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. From 2008-2013 he acted as Member of the Chamber of Deputies XVI Legislature, Group leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of the Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe. He was also elected Head of the Italian Delegation to the Central European Initiative Parliamentary Assembly and acted as President of the International Expert Group for the reform of the CEI (2010).

Saša Leković

Saša Leković is the President of Investigative Journalism Centerin Croatia. From 2015 to 2018 he was the president of the Croatian Journalists Association (HND). He is freelance reporter, editor, trainer and media consultant from 2003.

Leković is journalist from 1979 working in different position in local and national print media, as also radio in Croatia. He is one of the founders of a Zagreb-based national daily “Jutarnji list”. He also has expertise in radio, TV and web media in Croatia as well in the South East Europe region.

As a reporter and editor as well as a licensed investigative reporting trainer and lecturer he has worked with a hundreds of journalists and journalism students, mostly in South East Europe but also in other European countries as well in Armenia, Bangladesh, Israel/ Palestine, Nigeria.

Saša Leković is one of the founders of Global Investigative Journalism Network.

Among others he collaborated for several UN programs, , Internews (USA), IREX (USA), Freedom House (USA), British Council (UK), Fojo Media Institute (Sweden), Journalismfund.eu (Belgium), Transitions Online (Czech Republic), SEEMO (Austria), BIRN (Serbia), TV B92 (Serbia), DCAF (Switzerland), European University Institute (Italy).

Samra Lučkin

Born and raised in Sarajevo BiH. Graduated from Faculty of Journalism. Over 33 years of professional experience in media, strategic communication, communication strategies, conducting, overseeing, implementing and coordinating major awareness raising activities in BiH and in the Western Balkans (working within the EU, UN, US funded projects). Extensive experience in communication, working with media, journalists, civil society, political parties and governments, business community, public institutions, international organisations in BiH and the SEE. As a journalist, worked with Omladinski radio and Oslobođenje, later in in the war for within the correspondence offices of Youmiuri Shimbun and CNN. Worked with OSCE as Senior Media Advisor. Together with group of authors developed Media White Book for BiH. Was a President of IAA BIH- international advertising/media and PR association for BiH; a Cofounder and representative of BIH in South East Europe Media Organisation- SEEMO (working for 22 years with media and CSOs, youth in the Western Balkans); was a Chairwoman of the Stability Pact Media working group for BiH, member, Board of Directors ABC (Media research association), Member Board of Directors Balkan Youth Foundation, Director of the SECEPRO (South East Central Europe PR organisation for 30 countries in the region). For more than 22 years runs BORAM communication agency. In last 7 years works as Communication/ media expert for Ja bih u EU. In this role participated in development of Law on transparency of media Ownership in BiH and BiH Law on advertising. Works with media, journalists and youth within project Youth for Better Media, worked on project on digital harassment of female journalists within the project GoDIgital Against Harassment.

Senad Hadžifejzović

His first newspaper article was published in 1974: Borba (Belgrade) published a text by the twelve-year-old Hadžifejzović as the best newspaper text by a young author.

From 1978 until the war he had worked for: Borba (Belgrade), Večernje novosti (Belgrade), Omladinske novine (NON Belgrade), Radio Index 202 (Beograd), Radio Sarajevo 202, Večernje novine (Sarajevo), Naši Dani (Sarajevo), Walter (Sarajevo).

From 1981 until 1984 he studied journalism at the Universities of Belgrade and Sarajevo.

He signed his first professional contract for Radio Sarajevo in 1985 and became its youngest editor during that same year. He edited and coordinated programmes by 52 local BiH stations, edited and hosted

Susret na talasu, a joint news show.

In 1987, he started and edited Omladinski program (Youth Programme), the largest media project in Yugoslavia. He edited it together with Boro Kontić. Omladinski program had a daily audience of 800,000 youth across Yugoslavia.

The year after, he specialised in TV and documentary directing at FAMU (Film Academy) in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

From 1988 until 1992 he edited and hosted Pet do dvanaest (Five to twelve) for TV Sarajevo (together with Aleksandar Pavlović). His guests included the leading names of Yugoslav intellectual elite.

In 1990 he started, edited and hosted HadžiFace to Face, the first TV talk show in Yugoslavia. It was aired live, promoting direct debates with the viewers on current issues. It was a pioneering experience for the author and the public – viewers coming live in the programme with no previous identity check.

In 1990 he was appointed editor and host of Dnevnik, the central news and current affairs programme at TV Sarajevo.

In 1993 he was one of the founders and the first editor-in-chief of Radio Stari Grad Sarajevo.

From 1993 until 1996 he was a correspondent for RFI (Radio France International).

From 1996 until 1998 he edited and hosted a remake talk show Face to Face.

In 1996 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the TVBiH News and Information Programmes.

In 1998 he was appointed editor-in-chief and general manager of TVBiH.

In 2000 the new interim management of RTV BiH decided, under political instructions, to remove Hadžifejzović from the position. He was out of work.

In 2002 he published War: Live on Air (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga).

In 2003 he was appointed (temporarily) editor of Special Projects for the PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

In 2003, following this “satisfaction”, in collaboration with TV Hayat, he continued his news and current affairs project: Centralni dnevnik sa Senadom Hadžifejzovićem.

In 2009 he started FACE TV, the first HD TV in the region, initially airing in a time-slot rented from TV1, starting from 2010.

On 15 January 2012, FACE TV launched via its own channel frequency, through the ETELSAT cable operator, with its own IP platform. The FACE concept is free, direct, independent investigative journalisms, live programmes, national and regional production, new TV faces: FACEs of TV at the new FACE TV.

Thomas Harders
Thomas Harders has worked at DW since 2015, where he is Project Manager of the “German News Service”. In addition Thomas contributes to numerous projects where technology, journalism and distribution converge.
Among others, he has worked for the cultural magazine “Lettre International” and the project “Coding the Humanities” at the University of Amsterdam. Thomas holds a master’s degree in Cultural Analysis from the University of Amsterdam and a BA in Literature, Culture and Media Studies from the University of Siegen.

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Speakers / Moderators SEEMF 2022 (more names soon)