 AIP executive director, Ms. Gergana Jouleva, prsents the award to Ms. Stela Kovacheva |
AIP held the annual meeting with the journalists from the coordinators’ network on February 5, 2010.
The meeting was organized within the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ms. Gergana Jouleva, AIP executive director, made and overview of the key achievements of AIP during the past 2009. Results are presented in the annual report of the organization. The goals and tasks of the coordinators’ network for 2010 were outlined. The newly launched Public Awareness Campaign on New Standards in the Access to Information Area was presented. Alexander Kashumov, the head of AIP legal team, presented the results from the AIP run campaign with regard to proposed amendments to the Electronic Communications Act.
AIP gave the Coordinator of the Year Award for a third successive year. Stela Kovacheva, AIP coordinator for the region of Razgrad, was acknowledged for her active engagement in the coordinators’ network, timely and efficient coverage of AIP initiatives, participation in access to information campaigns on a local level.
In 2008 and 2009, AIP has organized and held workshops with journalists from local media in twenty Bulgarian cities within the implementation of the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed by the MATRA Programme of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At these seminars, cases of journalistic investigations completed with the help of the APIA and following litigation proceedings were presented. Tactics for successful use of the law by journalists were also presented. The Dutch FOI expert, Mr. Roger Vleugels, presented tactics and cases of journalists from Holland.
Two special documentaries were produced:
The special documentary “Media and Access to Information - Five Investigative Reporter Stories” which presents five emblematic access to information litigation proceedings of journalists from national media was shown at all workshops and copies were left for broadcast by local TV stations. The movie is accessible at: http://www.aip-bg.org/matra/documentaryen.php with English and Russian subtitles.
Also, the thirty-minute documentary Right to Know Day is distributed among the participants.