BIRN journalists Jeta Xharra and Mediana Halili were awarded second prize by the Democracy for Development, D4D, institute on Tuesday for their investigative reporting exposing discrimination against women applying for top positions at public broadcaster Radio Television of Kosova, RTK.

The awards were announced during the Regional Conference “Empowered Women: Empowering Women” in Prishtina in a ceremony which saw first prize given to Nacionale journalist Besian Beha for his article on the absence of women from the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities in the Kosovo Security Force, while third place went to freelance journalist Agnesa Qorri for her article ‘Unseen Efforts’.

“I am honoured to receive the prize together with my colleague Jeta Xharra for an investigation which stirred reactions from both inside and outside Kosovo,” Mediana Halili said.

“The investigation sheds light on how three professional women were discriminated against in top job positions at RTK and how an entire ‘machinery’ was put in place to prevent this to happen which is very painful,” Halili added.

In September last year, KALLXO.com published an investigation “Radio Television of Men” revealing how three long-time RTK employees Ilire Zajmi, Flora Durmishi, and Mihrije Beiqi were selected to take leadership positions at the Public Television, RTK, but were not allowed to take those positions. 

Zajmi, Beiqi, and Durmishi were selected in three different competitions to take leadership positions, but their places were taken by male candidates who had fewer points in the assessments of the recruiting commissions.

The investigation elicited numerous reactions from organisations and personalities inside and outside the country. The international organisation “Freedom House” cited the investigation in its 2024 report on findings for Kosovo.

“In September, the public broadcaster Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK faced accusations of gender discrimination in the recruitment process as journalists Ilire Zajmi and Flora Masurica Durmishi, and lawyer Mihrije Beiqi, who had worked at RTK since its establishment in 1999, were not selected for the leadership positions they applied for, despite being the most successful candidates in the open competitions,” the “Freedom House” report stated.