The Budapest Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) was established by the New York based Independent Journalism Foundation in 1995. Since then CIJ has sought to support public interest journalism and aimed at contributing to a media environment where freedom of expression and freedom of the press were protected and promoted.

CIJ continues to work on this mission to demonstrate the merits and good practices of independent journalism. By focusing on professional issues, the Center intends to reclaim journalism, as a key element of democracy and service of public interest, thus it works for an improved integrity of the media industry and the community of journalists.

CIJ uses various ways to reach these goals. It organizes workshops, conferences, roundtable discussions, consultations for media professionals. Furthermore, the Center implements mentoring and internship programs, facilitates professional dialogue via events and exchange, provides reporting grants to journalists, and participates in international media development and multimedia content production projects. Since its inception, CIJ has trained thousands of journalists, media students and managers on a non-profit basis. CIJ also publishes and promotes training resource materials.

According to its strategic priorities CIJ focuses on the following areas:

• Supporting investigative and quality journalism in areas of data-driven journalism, data visualization, storytelling, and verification of sources and online visual information
• Enhancing digital skills via multimedia tools in reporting, using social media in journalism and audience engagement
• Assisting newsrooms and individual journalists to strengthen their digital security and promoting media literacy for a general audience

Recent and ongoing projects

Relaunching Journalism

The project aims at supporting investigative reporting and incubation services of digital media with the aim to strengthen independent, sustainable, and accountable journalism. Activities include professional roundtable discussions, training, consultancy, mentoring, and contact production.

Enhanced Digital Hygiene for Newsrooms and Media Professionals

As part of a regional project coordinated by the media development organization called Internews, CIJ participates in the training of digital security experts and offers consultations to online media outlets based on their specific needs.

Get the Trolls Out

Harnessing the power of social media to deliver a powerful counter-narrative against diverse forms of hate speech particularly related to antisemitism, islamophobia, and anti-Christian sentiments. This project is coordinated by the London based Media diversity Institute. Activities include social media monitoring, research, public debates, professional roundtable discussions, and content production. See more information here.

Solutions Journalism

This regional project coordinated by Transitions seeks to promote the methodology of solutions journalism via the production of resource materials, training and reporting grants.

Podcasting for Advocating the Rule of Law in Hungary

The project supported by the Netherlands Helsinki Committee sought to raise awareness of the concept of the rule of law and inform the public about the latest development in this regard. In September 2020 and April 2021 CIJ supported the production and the distribution of 36 podcast episodes produced by 8 selected Hungarian news outlets and civil society organizations. As a result, the podcasts reached tens of thousands of the Hungarian citizens.

Pioneering Anti-SLAPP Training for Freedom of Expression (PATFox)

Strategic Lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are a growing threat to freedom of expression across the European Union, designed to scare journalists and human rights defenders into silence and restrict public debate. With the support of the European Commission a pan-European consortium responds to this need by designing Europe’s first anti-SLAPP curriculum and providing training to legal professionals in 11 EU member states including Hungary.

Seniors and Disinformation in the Visegrad Countries

This regional project coordinated by Transitions aims at enhancing media literacy skills among senior citizens in Visegrad countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland) in order to help them adopt a critical approach when assessing media content. The activities include research, the production of training materials and interactive workshops for seniors.

Thirty Years After

Recalling the legacy of the year 1989 having resulted in regime change and the reorientation in Hungary’s international alliances
In the framework of the project CIJ organized a conference on the developments of 1989-90 to provide context to the younger generations on what it meant for a formerly communist country to become part of the Western alliance. The Center also supported podcast production to document and disseminate how the regime change has altered everyday life in Hungary. The project was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.

Promoting the Reconciliation of Conflicting Narratives Present in Hungarian Society about the Events of 1945

In cooperation with the Common Ground Foundation with the support of the U.S. Embassy, Budapest

The goal of the project was to change basic attitudes among Hungarians by promoting the reconciliation of conflicting narratives about the events of 1945. The project partners encouraged young Hungarians to do research, and produce and share creative content on how the previous generations in their families were affected by the events of 1945 and its aftermath. Activities included public events and unconventional history lessons at high schools to contribute to a political culture based on tolerance, empathy, civility and the respect of different opinions.

Stealth Fighter

Developing a text-comparison tool to help identify the differences between the original and the subsequent versions of online content and make the hidden changes transparent for the public. The project was supported by the Google Digital News Initiative.

Words Break Bones

Strengthening communication and linguistic skills to counter manipulation and deceitful speech in online and face-to-face interactions. The activities supported by the US Embassy in Budapest included trainer training, the production of resource materials and workshops for journalists, students, and civil society actors

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In the last five years over a thousand media professionals and students benefitted from the different types of activities implemented by CIJ in order to strengthen investigative reporting capacities in the newsrooms and provide technical support primarily to small-scale media operations in Hungary.

Over hundred professional events were organized including conferences, roundtables, a variety of training workshops. Since 2019 most of the public events were webcast and their video versions are available on CIJ’s YouTube channel.

Additionally, two Hackathons was held for Hungarian journalists when competing teams collected and analyzed data to be used for developing story ideas.

Previously, CIJ concentrated its activities on basic journalism education, and trained hundreds of reporters and managers of local newspapers, radio and television stations primarily in the frameworks of the USAID supported ProMedia program. As the local implementing partner of the BBC, CIJ hosted television and radio courses from 1996 to 2001, and more than hundred reporters, editors and managers received BBC certificates.

Additionally, over fifty American International Knight Fellows held training courses and on-site consultations for media professionals and journalism students. Topics included investigative journalism, election coverage, business and social issues reporting, newsroom management, television and radio production, and online media.

In 1998 CIJ launched the first newsroom diversification program in Central Europe to train young Romani to become journalists. Over the years, the Roma Mainstream Media Internship Program gained international recognition. In 2009 it was selected into the top thirty diversity initiatives in the European media. Over hundred journalists of Roma origin graduated from program and the alumni received more than twenty awards and prizes for excellence in journalism. CIJ also implemented several programs to assist Roma and other civil society organizations in media relations.

As a co-founder of the South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM), CIJ has been working together with the network member centers in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey in the areas of training, research, advocacy, professional exchange, and media policy. Additionally, the Center cooperates with the Lviv Media Forum and supports journalists from Belarus. CIJ is also a member of IFEX, the Toronto based international umbrella organization of free speech NGOs.

Organizational structure

The Center for Independent Journalism is registered as a Hungarian not-for-profit foundation of public benefit, called Független Újságírók Alapítványa/Independent Journalism Foundation (registration number: 01-01-0006508).

Staff

Sándor Orbán, director
Ildikó Krajcsovics Pákozdy, office manager

The CIJ staff cooperates with a wide pool of Hungarian and international trainers and experts on a project basis. Contact: info@cij.hu

Board of Trustees

Balázs Weyer, president
János Horvát
Ilona Móricz
Vilmos Both
Dr. Gabriella Cseh
Sándor Orbán

The Founder

Since 1995 the New York-based Independent Journalism Foundation (IJF) had exercised the founding rights of the Budapest Center under the presidency James L. Greenfield. In October 2020 these rights were delegated to the board of CIJ, registered as Független Újságírók Alapítványa.