Special TOL/Berkeley Transatlantic Reporting Project

After the Fall: 15 Years of Post-Communist Transition

To commemorate 15 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the changes that swept through Central and Eastern Europe, TOL and the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley teamed up on a transatlantic collaborative reporting project that examined the transition since then, through profiles of people across the post-communist region.

At Berkeley, 10 young journalists prepared with a graduate seminar and reporting class, “Transition to What?,” taught by award-winning international correspondent Sandy Tolan. In close consultation with TOL, the class framed the main issues and began identifying profile subjects. They were also paired off with TOL’s correspondents, with whom they would write their stories.

The Berkeley journalists then traveled to Prague for a two-day editorial session in March 2004 where they met their TOL counterparts. The double-bylined stories were produced for print, Internet, and broadcast outlets in both the U.S. and Europe, including the Christian Science Monitor and the San Francisco Chronicle. TOL rolled out all the articles throughout the summer and fall of 2004.

TOL and the Graduate School of Journalism are grateful to our sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic for bringing this unique project to reality.

Articles in the series:

Moldova: Moldova’s Battle Against Human Trafficking
Moldova’s efforts to crack down on traffickers are underfunded, the crime is underreported, and the victims are misunderstood.
by Lauren Gard
2 July 2004

Bulgaria: Mistress of the Dance
How a beloved women’s gymnastics coach found new life creating brash, Broadway-style shows inspired by her country’s turbulent past and present.
By Polia Alexandrova and Violet Feng
29 July 2004

Croatia: You Can Go Home Now
What will it take to bring back more of the Serbs who fled Croatia during the war?
By Elizabeth Gettelman and Vedran Horvat
12 August 2004

Serbia: ‘I Will Support the Serbs From Abroad’
While post-Milosevic Serbia copes with transition—with mixed results— its youth are often looking for opportunities abroad.
by Molly Blank and Sasa Markovic
20 August 2004

Serbia: Punk’s Not Dead
An ageless rocker on a mission to bring back the glory days of Belgrade’s eclectic music scene.
Story and photos by Mark Murrmann
25 August 2004

Romania: People at a Crossroads
While a few prosper, most of Romania’s Roma struggle to meet their most basic needs.
by Mark Chediak with Georgian Lunca
2 September 2004

Poland/Belarus: Separate Lives
At first sight, Belarusian Tokary looks no different than Polish Tokary. But crossing the distance between them is getting harder every day.
by Gosia Wozniacka and Wojciech Kosc
10 September 2004

Belarus: An Unwitting Defender of the Free Press
Embattled independent newspapers have turned to elderly women as an informal distribution system.
by Keli Dailey and Alex Kudrytski
14 October 2004

Romania: Learning From Karl Rove
One of Romania’s first homegrown political consultants is taking on “the Americans”–and winning.
by Kathleen Hennessey and Razvan Amariei
29 October 2004

Russia: Life After Lenin
Life after communism is tough for a man who embodied Lenin for 30 years. And also for Lenin’s hometown.
by Michael Chandler and Sergei Borisov
5 November 2004

Sponsors:

German Marshall Fund

Open Society Institute

Open Society Institute

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