The European Commission has approved a two-year extension of the Technical Assistance to Public Service Media in the Western Balkans project, granting up to EUR 1.5 million. The project will be implemented by a Consortium of partners including the EBU, EFJ, IFJ, ERNO, BIRN and ORF.

The second phase of the project will build on the achievements of the first, particularly in implementing the Regional Common Principles on Funding and Governance, improved editorial guidelines, and best practices in production, which have been adopted by all stakeholders. The project will focus on nine key areas for public service broadcasting – funding, governance, management reforms, audience research, editorial standards, integrated newsrooms, youth and children’s programs, investigative journalism and archiving. The planned activities also reflect the new challenges and restrictions public service media (PSM) face operating in the COVID-19 era.

At an online conference evaluating the achievements of the first project, which ended in June this year, public broadcasters in the Western Balkans praised the project. In particular, they noted the high level of expertise, the exchange of best practices and lessons learned, the capacity-building of their staff and the opportunity to work together on concrete ideas.

The new project started in July 2020 and will end in July 2022.