Dear Readers,
At THE FRONTLINER Magazine, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalistic integrity, transparency, and accountability. Our mission is to provide you with accurate and reliable information, particularly on matters of significant public interest. It is with this commitment in mind that we address recent developments concerning our coverage of the internal issues within the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).
On May 16, 2024, we published a report detailing allegations of mismanagement, lack of transparency, and authoritarian leadership within BIRN. This story was based on multiple leaked emails and communications from anonymous sources, including an individual who identified themselves as “Simon Xharra.” Subsequent communications claimed that this pseudonym belonged to Dusica Listic, a senior member of BIRN. However, upon further investigation and communication with a LinkedIn profile purporting to be Dusica Listic, we encountered conflicting information.
The individual we contacted on LinkedIn insisted they had never communicated with THE FRONTLINER Magazine or our Chief Editor, Vudi Xhymshiti. This discrepancy has raised serious questions about the authenticity of the communications we received and the true identity of our sources.
Given the sensitive nature of this story and our obligation to protect our sources while ensuring the accuracy of our reporting, we have decided to retract our reports on the alleged troubles within BIRN. We believe it is crucial to pause and reassess the situation until we can verify the legitimacy of the communications and the individuals involved.
We are taking the following steps:
- Ending Coverage: We will halt all coverage related to the internal issues at BIRN until further notice. This decision is made to prevent the dissemination of potentially misleading or false information.
- Verification Process: We have requested a Zoom video call meeting with the individual claiming to be Dusica Listic on LinkedIn to verify their identity and clarify the situation. This step is essential to ensure that we are communicating with the correct person and to understand the truth behind the conflicting claims.
- Further Investigation: We will conduct a thorough investigation into the emails and sources we have received. This includes verifying the authenticity of the communications and understanding whether there is a coordinated effort to mislead or discredit either THE FRONTLINER or BIRN.
- Transparency with Our Audience: We will keep our readers informed about the progress of our verification and investigation efforts. Our commitment to transparency means you will be updated on any significant developments.
We have sent at least one email and one follow-up to the BIRN leadership assembly, and we are concerned that BIRN has kept quiet apart from a reply from BIRN Kosova Director Jeta Xharra. If anything we reported before publishing was not true, we believe that BIRN leadership should have replied to our emails and clarified whether the allegations raised were true or not. We genuinely believe that BIRN personnel has a responsibility for having failed to address a response to our questions before we published the story. Their silence towards our inquiries is also telling that something is not right. Whether this operation is aiming to draw someone into a hole of discreditation or it is an actual true story, we will get to the bottom of it.
In light of these developments, we reached out to our sources who provided the leaked emails. They expressed surprise and confirmed the following:
“This is the first time we hear about this. There was an instance when someone opened the account [email protected] trying to impersonate our account [email protected], which is why we were forced to disable it. However, we did communicate this in one part of our correspondence with Jeta Xharra of BIRN Kosovo which we also shared with you (again below), as we did with all of the other material, without changing a comma, let alone claiming that Simon is Dusica. Obviously someone from BIRN is trying to muddle the waters and discredit your truthful and responsible reporting by impersonating the account that we closed at the first sight of misuse by unknown people. We are sorry that it has come to this, but this is what we are facing every day in our workplace.”
Additionally, our investigation has faced direct attacks from someone who identifies themselves as Nicholas Watson, who we found to be a senior member of BIRN. Watson’s aggressive emails questioned the credibility of our sources and aimed to intimidate our reporting. Watson’s tactics appear to align with the retaliatory culture described by BIRN employees, using psychological pressure to dissuade us from further investigation and attempting to expose our confidential sources. As journalists, we have a duty to protect our sources and will remain steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding their anonymity and integrity.
We understand the importance of this story and its implications for BIRN and the broader journalistic community. Our decision to retract and reassess is driven by our dedication to maintaining the integrity of our reporting and ensuring that our coverage is based on verified and reliable information.
“We sincerely apologise to our readers that it is possible that we may have failed to use multiple layers of scrutinising claims coming from multiple users with leaked emails of BIRN’s internal communication. We are taking measures to correct what we think for now could be a mistake.”
Vudi Xhymshiti, Chief Editor of THE FRONTLINER Magazine
Thank you for your understanding and continued trust in THE FRONTLINER Magazine.
We remain committed to bringing you the truth and will diligently work to resolve these uncertainties.
Sincerely,
THE FRONTLINER Magazine
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