Oštro

About the network

Oštro was formed out of the realization that the space for quality journalism is inexorably shrinking. Traditionally structured media companies in many countries in the region are trapped in a centrifuge of interest groups and inadequate business models, forced to beg for clicks and produce a relentless stream of “shocking” stories. The audience has lost almost all its illusions about journalism, and many choose to reject the media because they see it as a part of the problem – which it is.

But journalism has never been as badly needed as it is today, in a time of abundance of deceptive information accompanied by the decay of democratic principles. Oštro is not a magical solution to this complicated and harmful situation, but it is better than the status quo.

Oštro is not for sale — not for money, nor influence, nor clicks. It runs no advertisements. It doesn’t owe anything to anyone. It is financed from grants and from its own income and conducts its business in a transparent and public manner.

Oštro exclusively serves the public interest and produces journalism that rejects both the agenda set by the traditional media and the false imperative to produce a constant stream of minor daily stories.

Together with their sister center Oštro in Croatia, they form a unique micro-regional center.

Network projects

The Assets’ Detector
At the end of May, Oštro published The Assets’ Detector, the first public database of assets of political officials in Slovenia. Their asset declarations are not public and only very limited information about changes during their mandate are available (from February 2022). Thus, Oštro’s journalists have been building the database from scratch by employing investigative and data methods, chasing data in databases at home and abroad.

Follow the Garbage
Oštro tested Slovenia’s waste management system by equipping 30 various household waste items with GPS trackers and investigating their paths. It monitored the items daily for up to eight months and presented the findings in an interactive visualization showing waste items’ movements, photos and video. Last year, Oštro was awarded a commendation for outstanding achievements by the award jury of the Association of Slovene journalists.

Razkrinkavanje
Oštro’s fact-checking project, launched in May 2019, is the only regular fact-checking operation in Slovenia. In 2022, when Slovenians went to the polls three times, the team at Razkrinkavanje.si developed a “live” fact-checking format in which they fact-checked statements during live televised debates and published their findings on social media, often before the televised debate ended or shortly thereafter.

Promise made, debt unpaid
To address the crisis of political responsibility, Oštro and Danes je nov dan, a civic-tech NGO, developed Obljuba dela dolg (Promise Made = Debt Unpaid), the first political promises’ tracking platform in Slovenia. It was launched in 2021 to track 51 promises of the previous government coalition. After a new government was elected in April 2022 and before memories of the campaign faded, the team consulted with the public and civil society about the most important promises of the new coalition. Based on the responses we are now monitoring the progress of 33 promises.

Contact

Website: https://www.ostro.si
Name: Anuška Delić
Email: contact@ostro.si