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Story Behind the Story

 

The Story Behind the Story gives an insight into the work that goes into IWPR articles and the challenges faced by our trainees at every stage of the editorial process.

This feature allows our journalists to explain where they get the inspiration for their articles, why the subjects matter to them, and how they personally have felt affected by the often controversial issues they explore.

It also shows the difficulties writers can face as they try to get to the heart of a story.

My Encounter With Convicted War Criminals
28 Mar 12
Reporter had to overcome both his own apprehensions and prisoners’ suspicion of him.

Last summer, I found myself behind prison walls in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar.

Entrance to the Mostar Prison. (Photo: IWPR)
Vukovar Trip Leaves Indelible Impression of Horror
23 Jan 12
Serbian journalist recounts emotional visit to scenes of past bloodshed in Croatia.

Visitors from Serbia laying flowers at a monument to those killed at the Ovcara farm. Yugoslav army soldiers took some 260 patients and staff from Vukovar’s hospital and murdered them here. (Photo: Vladimir Dmitric)
Bosnia's Youth Divided by Legacy of War
1 Jul 11

When in December 2010 the European Union decided to waive visa requirements for the citizens of Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH), I knew young people like myself would travel abroad much more often than before. We have always been keen on travelling around Europe and widening our horizons, seeing new places and meeting new people.

Amra Draginic, one of many young Bosnians who prefer to travel abroad than to other parts of their country. (Photo: Mirza Ajnadzić)
Bosnians Still Traumatised by War
24 May 11

I don’t think that anyone can remain indifferent when faced with patients suffering from the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD. I will never forget Sefer Husnija, the first man I interviewed for the story I was working on for IWPR. He was diagnosed with PTSD in 2004, almost ten years after Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, and the suffering I had seen in his eyes haunted me long after the interview was over.

Bosnia's Ex-Soldiers Unite Over Shared Woes
11 May 11

When I was asked by my editor at the beginning of February to report on a protest by Bosnia’s former soldiers, I was slightly disappointed.

Prosecutors Want Life Term for Perisic
14 Apr 11

Covering a war crimes trial can be a bit like trying to put together an intricate puzzle, often without even knowing what the finished product should look like.

Momcilo Perisic in the ICTY courtroom. (Photo: ICTY)
Dachau Offers Bosnian Survivors Memorial Lessons
25 Mar 11

As I packed for a trip to Dachau, where I was travelling with a group of survivors of the Bosnian 1992-95 war, I wondered what to bring with me. I had my video and photo cameras, several notebooks, a ticket and a passport. But while I was making the last check, to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important, it suddenly occurred to me that the thing I needed most could not be packed in a suitcase.

The entrance gate to the Dachau camp with its infamous slogan. (Photo: Ajdin Kamber/IWPR)
Calls for Memorials Divide Bosnia
31 Jan 11

Writing the IWPR special report on memorials to mark places of suffering connected to the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, I had the opportunity to talk to a large number of victims from different ethnic groups and heard many hard, emotional stories.

Bosnia: Struggle to Overcome Male Rape Taboo
21 Sep 10

The images of death camps were imprinted on my mind forever when, as a high-school student, I watched foreign documentaries on Nazi camps from the Second World War.

Visegrad: On the Trail of Vasiljevic
8 Jul 10

When I was a child, every time I heard someone mention Visegrad – a small town in eastern Bosnia famous for its beautiful 16th century Ottoman bridge - I would think of Ivo Andric’s novel The Bridge Over the Drina.