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BIRN is a useful source of knowledge

25 01 2007  Italian media don't cover the Balkans properly. You can find some articles only when there are events that can't be avoided like, for instance, Milosevic's death. War crimes suspects Mladic and Karadzic are also important to the press.

But one can't see articles about Serbian economic growth, the efforts of the Balkans to catch up with the EU and NATO, nor the economic and political consequences of Montenegro's independence.

The Italian press writes about the migration (right-wing journals call it invasion) of Romanians and Bulgarians instead of describing the social and political situation in those countries and their future in the European community. Also the ongoing political crisis in Albania hasn't attracted any media attention, even though Albania is very close to Italy both historically and economically, and lots of Albanians have come to live in our cities, supporting local economies with their work.

Our press covered the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and especially in Kosovo because Italy was committed to trying to solve these conflicts. But once the conflict stopped, the press started to ignore the Balkans because our governments began to forget that Italy and the Balkans are neighbours.

So people got the impression that nothing has changed after the war. They think the situation in the Balkans has not developed. There is only one specialised website, www.osservatoriobalcani.it , that covers the region continuously and properly. Journals and weeklies have forgotten the Balkans.

We discovered Balkans Insight two years ago after browsing the web. Since then, we visit it every week because it gives us ideas for articles and general knowledge about the region's problems. When we went to Montenegro to cover the referendum on independence, we downloaded analysis and reports from Balkan Insight and we found lots of interesting suggestions. When we visited Bosnia last August to cover ethnic divisions in Mostar, Sarajevo and Banja Luka, there were good ideas on your website. We'd also like to stress
how well Balkan Insight covers Serbia and Kosovo, talking not only about diplomatic and geopolitical issues but also about how ordinary people live.



Matteo Tacconi
Carlo Maria Miele


Matteo Tacconi and Carlo Maria Miele have studied journalism at LUISS University in Rome. They are freelance journalists specialising in the Balkans. Matteo writes for the newspaper Europa and the weekly Diario della Settimana, Carlo for the newspaper Liberazione.