Summary
Having in mind the Croatian context where the space for active participation of civil society in various democratic processes is continuously shrinking while the funds are less and less available, we feel the urge to emphasize the essential value of this operational grant. This value refers not only to ensuring stability and continuity of Gong’s regular activities but also allowing it to grow and to be more innovative and relevant with its activities. The fact that Gong managed to implement extensive and complex plan of activities in 2018 by reaching 522,018 beneficiaries who were accurately and timely informed about all activities and by appearing in media over 600 times serves as strong evidence for Gongs’s relevance in Croatia as well as on the EU level. Furthermore, we feel the urge point out certain successes specifically. In spring, the Croatian Journalist’s Association (HND), one of the co-founders and publishers of Faktograf - Croatia's fact-checking media, found itself in a crisis that could have had severe financial implications. To protect Faktograf, Gong and HND agreed to make Gong Faktograf’s only publisher. Thus, on 1 August 2018, Gong was registered as the only publisher of Faktograf which was possible thanks to the EACEA grant. Faktograf has become a reference point for many Croatian politicians who quote it, as well as for Croatian journalists who cite the findings in their own media releases. With this portal, Gong offers a concrete tool for the disclosure of fake and misleading news published in Croatian media landscape.During 2018, Faktograf’s newsroom produced a total of 59 fact checks and 51 analyses aimed at framing political processes in a clear context, while 77 articles were published in which day-to-day political events were presented in a more in-depth treatment than in the mainstream media. With its easily readable and understandable content, Faktograf developed in terms of increasing the attractiveness of analytical materials and bringing them closer to a wider public. As the statistics show, Faktograf was accessed by 315,481 unique visitors in 2018. The website was accessed 660,096 times during which 814,387 articles were opened.Another very important and visible result of Gong’s activities in 2018 is Mosaic of Influence, an online tool that enables easy access to information and search of connections of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in Croatia. It represents the data about PEPs published in registers and databases of different public bodies, but due to lack of transparency of public authorities, it is still not providing information from all the targeted registers and bases, such as public procurement, concessions or beneficial owners of companies (such as media ownership). At the moment, the platform is using data about more than 390,000 individuals and more than 280.000 legal entities with more than a million connections between them.Gong, as one of only a few organizations dealing with data protection in Croatia, empowered the role of an expert in this area in 2018, advocated for GDPR's introduction to national legal framework, monitored its implementation, obtained opinion on it's interpretation regarding signature lists for NGOs and organised capacity building for interested civil society organisations.In 2018, thanks to the operating grant, Gong successfully implemented trainings for 148 teachers and educators in civic literacy: political, media and EU, empowering and supporting teachers to implement new-gained competences in the classroom, helping young people to be active and responsible citizens who understand political, media and EU surrounding. Furthermore, all developed tools and materials related to educational programs are available and free to use on the on-line platform "Edukatalog". The grant also enabled Gong to get well prepared for 2019 regarding European Parliament Elections.
