The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), with the financial support of the Austrian Development Cooperation agency, and in cooperation with the European Association of Regional Television (CIRCOM) and the Chisinau-based daily Ziarul de Garda, announces its annual conference dedicated to investigative reporting: The III South, East and Central Europe Investigative Journalism Days, to be held in Chisinau, Moldova, from May 23-25, 2012.

The conference, focusing on different aspects of reporting on corruption and crime, will be inaugurated by Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat. The opening ceremony will also include: SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic; CIRCOM Regional Training Project Manager Karol Cioma; Boris Bergant from the European Broadcasting Union-Special Assistance Project (EBU-SAP); Alina Radu, director of Ziarul de Garda; Gerhard Schaumberger, from the Austrian Development Agency; and Claudio Cappon, vice-president of the EBU.

Renowned international speakers, experts in investigative reporting, will cover a series of topics, including technology and advanced investigative techniques in the coverage of corruption and organised crime, as well as editorial policies on investigations into crime and corruption.

Paul Christian Radu, executive director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project from Bucharest, Romania, will hold a panel on technology and advanced investigative techniques related to reporting on corruption and organised crime. Tony O’ Schaughnessy, an experienced international journalist and trainer, who served as a Current Affairs Series Editor for the BBC and is currently involved with CIRCOM’s video journalism and documentary courses, will focus on “Approaching investigative journalism within a current affairs program series-the editorial decisions to be made.” Marek Wollner, head and host of the investigative program Reporteri CT, broadcast by the Pubic RTV in Czech Republic, will hold a panel on investigative reporting on public television. Finally, Blaz Zgaga, a freelance reporter from Slovenia and a co-author of the three-part investigative trilogy, “In the Name of the State”, focusing on arms smuggling during the 1990s Balkan conflicts, will speak about his investigation.

More than 100 national and international journalists are expected to attend.

The III South, East and Central Europe Investigative Journalism Days will be inaugurated at 18.00 on May 23, 2012, in the Codru Conference Halls, Chisinau, Moldova.

The I South, East and Central Europe Investigative Journalism Days took place in Budva, Montenegro (2010), and the second in Belgrade, Serbia (2011).