About the association

Faktograf – Association for the Informed Public is a non-profit media organisation working towards the development of good journalism, critical thinking and informed public. For us, good journalism places things in context, emphasises what is relevant and elaborates what is unclear.

The association is the publisher of the Faktograf.hr portal, the only medium in Croatia that specializes in fact-checking. Faktograf.hr is member of the IFCN (International Fact Checking Network), an international network of organisations dedicated to fact-checking. The independence in editorial policy of the Faktograf.hr portal is guaranteed also by the Editorial Statute. The impressum of the Faktograf portal is available here.

Faktograf Assotiation is a member of EFCSN (European Fact-Checking Standards Network), an association of fact-checking organisations who commit to the standards of independence, transparency, and journalistic quality. Fakograf is also a founding member of SEECheck, a regional
fact-checking network.

In March 2024, the Faktograf Association launched a new media project – the Climate Portal. On the Climate Portal, we treat the climate crisis as a comprehensive problem that is not only necessary but also possible to solve. The slogan, focus on solutions, illustrates the type of journalism we aim to engage in; our goal is to change the direction of public discourse on the climate crisis and green transition – moving away from sensationalism and denial of the problem, and opening up space for expert opinions, reasoned debates, and good ideas. The impressum of the Climate Portal is available here.

The bodies of the association are: The General Assembly, the executive director and the deputy executive director. At the 2021 Founding Assembly, Ana Brakus was selected as the general director and Petar Vidov was selected as deputy executive director. The Publishing Council was also established at the same Assembly. The role of the Publishing Council is defined by the Editorial Statute, and it comprises of the executive director and the workers’ representative, Gabrijela Galić. At the 7th Assembly of the association held in June 2023, Ana Brakus was re-elected as executive director, and Tajana Broz was selected as a deputy executive director.

Faktograf team

Members of the Faktograf team are unbiased and independent in their work, they are not members of political parties, nor are they in any way politically active.

Project team

Ana Brakus

Ana Brakus is the executive director of Faktograf Association. She started working at Faktograf.hr in 2018 as a journalist, and later as managing editor. She worked as an author and editor at Faktograf.hr portal from 2018 to 2021. From 2013 to 2016, she worked as a journalist and editor at the Libela.org feminist portal. She spent two years working as a journalist for the Zagreb weekly newspaper Novosti. She has collaborated with numerous media in Croatia and the region. She is a member of the Association of Croatian Investigative Journalists which operates under the Croatian Journalists’ Association. She graduated in political science from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb.

Jelena Berković

Jelena Berković is an advisor at Faktograf Association. She worked as the executive director at Gong since 2015, when Faktograf was launched, until 2020. Previously, she has worked as a journalist and editor at Radio 101, as editor-in-chief at Student newsletter REVOLT and as an author in other media. She graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb and completed her MA in Global Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the co-founder of the Association of Croatian Investigative Journalists which operates under the Croatian Journalists’ Association.

Tajana Broz

Tajana Broz is the programme coordinator at Faktograf Association and the deputy executive director of the Faktograf Association. From 2006 to 2016, she worked in the association CESI – Center for Education, Consulting and Research on the Social Activism and Political Processes program and was one of the editors of the Libela.org portal. From 2017 to 2021, she was the head of the Zagorje – Sutla Local Action Group. Before joining Faktograf, she worked for a year as an adviser to the ombudsman for gender equality in the field of media. She graduated in political science from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb.

Petra Vdović

Petra Vdović is the head of office and administration at Faktograf Association. She graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, and after her studies, she was employed in the City of Pregrada, where she performed protocol and public relations tasks, professional duties in the field of social activities, participated in project implementation, and performed tasks related to personal data protection. Additionally, she worked as the editor-in-chief of the city newspaper Glas Pregrade, as well as the local youth coordinator. Prior to joining Faktograf, she worked for ten months in the Administrative Department for the Affairs of the County Prefect and the County Assembly of Krapina-Zagorje County in protocol and public relations tasks.

Newsroom

Sanja Despot

Sanja Despot is the editor-in-chief and a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. She graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science. She has worked at editorial boards of leading Croatian daily newspapers such as Novi list, Jutarnji list and Večernji list, and at editorial boards of the Tjednik and Forum.tm magazines. She deals with issues of internal and external politics, the functioning of state institutions and topics connected with human rights protection. She is the winner of the Marija Jurić Zagorka award for written journalism.

Ivica Kristović

Ivica Kristović is the deputy editor-in-chief and the editor of the section Debunked at the Faktograf.hr portal. He started working as a journalist in 2008 at the Javno.hr portal and transferred to the Index.hr portal that same year, where he worked until 2012. He worked as a journalist and editor at the Večernji list portal from 2012 to 2018. After working as a journalist at the N1 television portal, he transferred to the RTL’s portal Vijesti.hr, where he is also deputy editor-in-chief. Before coming to Faktograf, he was a journalist and executive editor at the Net.hr portal. He deals with topics in internal and external politics.

Petar Vidov

Petar Vidov is the editor of the Climate Portal, a new publication of the Faktograf Association. He was the editor-in-chief of the Faktograf.hr portal from its launch in 2015 until October 2023. He worked as a journalist and editor at the Index.hr portal from 2006 to 2015. He has worked with the Novosti weekly newspaper and the non-profit internet portal Lupiga.com. He is a member of the Association of Croatian Investigative Journalists which operates under the Croatian Journalists’ Association. He is the author of “Opasne priče”, a nonfiction book, and the co-author of the research study “Zarobljavanje plinom”.

Ivana Živković

Ivana Živković is the managing editor at the Faktograf.hr portal. She worked as a television journalist at the Croatian National Television from 2015 to 2018. She worked at the N1 television portal from 2018 to 2020. She is a member of the Croatian Journalists’ Association. She graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb.

Ana Benačić

Ana Benačić is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal and the Climate Portal. She is the winner of the Ministry of Culture scholarship and the 2012 Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. She worked at the Danas.hr portal and together with Jelena Šimac she won the Marija Jurić Zagorka award for internet journalism. She has also worked for the N1 television portal, Lupiga.com, Index.hr, and she has collaborated with numerous media – the professional newsletter Novinar, Croatian Radio, Bilten portal, OCCRP…

Andrej Dimitrijević

Andrej Dimitrijević is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. He studied journalism at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, specializing in Print and Television. He first worked as a television journalist at the Croatian Radiotelevision, and then at RTL. In 2019, he began working as an investigative journalist at the portal Telegram.hr. He joined the Faktograf team in April 2024. For his investigative stories, he has received several awards from the Croatian Journalists’ Association.

Gabrijela Galić

Gabrijela Galić is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. She started working in journalism at the daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, and she worked at Novi list from 1993 to 2019. She deals with the economy, the labour market and salary policies, as well as political topics.

Matea Grgurinović

Matea Grgurinović is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal and the Climate Portal. She is the winner of BIRN’s Reporting Democracy scholarship for 2020. She worked at the N1 television portal from 2019 to 2021 and has worked with a series of media on a honorary basis. The topics she is particularly interested in include poverty, housing policies and homelesness. She is the winner of the 2017 Svjetionik award for dignified reporting on poverty. She holds an MA in English and Russian and is learning Chinese.

Ivan Nekić

Ivan Nekić is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. He obtained his master’s degree in journalism at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb. He has been a member of the Society for Communication and Media Culture since 2013, where he holds lectures and workshops on media literacy for primary and secondary school students. He started working as a journalist in 2018 for the Zagreb.info portal. From 2019 to 2022 he worked as a journalist on the N1 television portal. He is the vice president of the Association of Former Students of the Faculty of Political Sciences.

Anja Vladisavljević

Anja Vladisavljević is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. Since 2015, she has worked for various media, including the Croatian edition of the monthly magazine Le Monde Diplomatique and the regional portal Bilten. She gained her reporting experience as a correspondent for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and later as a journalist for the research portal Oštro. She writes for the social magazine Nada and the portal Radnička prava. She graduated in history from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.

Melita Vrsaljko

Melita Vrsaljko is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal and the Climate Portal. During her journalism studies at the Faculty of Political Science she won the Ministry of Culture scholarship for her texts about deinstitunalisation. She participated at the media literacy workshop held in Vienna in 2017 as part of the Media against hate project. She has written for the non-profit portal Forum.tm and has worked at RTL television and at Al Jazeera Balkans.

Ana Sorić

Ana Sorić is a journalist at the Faktograf.hr portal. She graduated Comparative literature and Latin language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, and started working in journalism during her studies. She worked at tportal, and then wrote for the portals Jutarnji list, N1 television, Teatar.hr, Kulturpunkt, Forum.tm and others. She deals with social issues, culture, education and animal rights.

Jordi Ilić

Jordi Ilić is a social media and audience development specialist working at the Faktograf.hr portal and the Climate Portal. From 2020 to 2022 she worked at the Fierce Women social enterprise as a marketing specialist and graphic designer. In the period from 2015, she has collaborated with numerous associations, organisations and companies on jobs related to social media and design. She graduated in sociology and ethnology and cultural anthropology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.

Vedrana Bibić

Vedrana Bibić is a social media and audience development specialist working at the Faktograf.hr portal and the Climate Portal. As a culture worker, she has dealt with a wide array of organisational jobs: she has produced the European Short Story Festival and the Subversive Festival, she has worked as head of public relations at Goranovo Proljeće, as the administrator of Centre for Dramatic Arts, as coordinator of Centre for Creative Writing and as head of social media for the V.B.Z. publishing company. In addition, from 2019 to 2022 she has worked as the secretary and administrator at the weekly newspaper Novosti and until April 2024, she served as the head of office and administration at Faktograf Association. She writes for the social magazine Nada.