By The BH Journalists Association, in cooperation with the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and the Media Union of Montenegro, announces a public call for the submission of essays and investigative stories on the topic of transitional justice, its values, dealing with the legacy of the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, and the promotion of a culture of peace.
The call is open to students of journalism and other humanities disciplines, participants of the Transitional Justice Academy 2026, as well as all other students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro who are engaged in researching topics relevant to peacebuilding and stability in these three countries, regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time students or their year of study.
Student essays and investigative stories may be submitted as written texts of up to 2,500 words, or as multimedia content that, in addition to text, may include graphic illustrations, video statements, sidebars highlighting key information, photographs, excerpts from databases, infographics, and similar materials.
When preparing their work, authors are expected to adhere to the principles of journalistic ethics and professional standards, use a variety of identified and publicly available sources of information, and respect the human rights, privacy, and dignity of the individuals they write about.
Submissions may be written in any of the official languages and scripts used in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro.
During the research, writing, and preparation of their essays and investigative stories, students will be assigned a mentor—an experienced journalist, civil society activist, or distinguished university professor who served as a lecturer at the Transitional Justice Academy 2026, held at Boračko Lake near Konjic.
The call is being launched simultaneously in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro and will remain open from 1 to 18 August 2026.
Submissions should be sent by email to [email protected] with the subject line: “Competition: Best Student Papers on Transitional Justice.” Each student may submit only one entry, either an essay or an investigative story.
The best submissions will be selected by a four-member jury consisting of representatives of the BH Journalists Association, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, the Media Union of Montenegro, and Professor Bojan Vranić, an expert on transitional justice and associate of the BH Journalists Association.
The ten best student papers will be published on the websites of the three partner organizations and shared through their social media channels. At a special award ceremony in Sarajevo, the authors of the five best papers will receive symbolic prizes—a tablet computer and a certificate of recognition.
The organization of this competition and the awards for the best student papers on transitional justice are supported through the Regional Programme “EU Support to Confidence Building in the Western Balkans,” implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the European Union (EU).
The content and topics of this competition, as well as the published submissions, are the sole responsibility of the BH Journalists Association and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or UNDP.
