TrainingBIRN Summer School BIRN Network About us
BIRN Newsletters
You can subscribe free of charge to Balkan Insight, BIRN's weekly
online publication analysing and investigating important developments in
the region.
Subscribe
22 09 2008 Caglavica - BIRN Serbia organised a round table at Caglavica’s Media centre on Friday September 12 addressing the issue of reporting from Kosovo for Serbian media.
The event gathered 15 journalists, mainly correspondents of
Belgrade-based media who were interested to discuss the picture Serbian media
paints regarding Kosovo and life there after independence was declared in
February 2008.
The panelists were Miki Mihajlovic from the Office for
communications for the Serbian Government, Tanja Petrovic, media researcher and
analyst from Belgrade as well as Pedja
Obradovic, deputy editor at the Belgrade
daily Blic.
In an almost three hour long and lively debate, the guests
from Belgrade
presented their views on the challenges of reporting from Kosovo and the impact
that it has on Serbian public.
Petrovic presented a study on media coverage of events that
followed the declaration of independence as well as the act itself. The results of the research showed that
Serbian media were mainly focused on reporting from a Serbian perspective. In
depth analysis and features about life in Kosovo took the smallest slice of
media coverage of the situation in Kosovo.
Mihajlovic gave an overview of the policy of the Serbian
government towards Kosovo, stressing that Belgrade
will support media outlets for Serbs in Kosovo. Government has no influence on
media reports, argued Mihajlovic, but is interested in keeping the Kosovo issue
high on the agenda, as well as preserving Serbian media in Kosovo. He also
called on representatives of the local media to apply for grants which the
Serbian government wants to establish for helping media.
Obradovic talked about editorial policy and the importance
of journalists' initiative. He said Kosovo is the important issue for Belgrade media but mainly
in a political context, as a part of overall Serbian political climate and
these days especially in terms of foreign policy, which leaves little space for
local reporters’ contribution. In spite of that, good stories on life in Kosovo
can always attract attention and get coverage in the media, noted Obradovic,
stressing that reporters are not offering enough attractive material.
Journalists from Kosovo used this chance to talk as well
about problems that they are facing in terms of safety, access to information
and bad economic situation. Freelance journalist Nikola Besevic from Pristina
said that everything depends on the editorial policies of Belgrade-based media
and that journalists who work for it have little scope for initiative. Refki
Alija from Prizren said that media are only interested in disputes and not the
struggles of everyday life in Kosovo, or any positive example.
The debate highlighted that journalists from Kosovo do not
have enough support from Serbia
and they were very disappointed by the treatment of the Serbian broadcasting
company – RTS. One of the participants said you could not use the same language
today in 21st century as the one have been using 20 years ago, when you report
on the situation in Kosovo.
“We need a new language in journalism if we want to produce
true stories,” he said.
This event is a part
of BIRN’s project entitled, Minority Media Training and Reporting supported by
the National Endowment for Democracy.
At the beginning of 2010 BIRN network published Digging Deeper - A Guide for Investigative Journalists in the Balkans, written in cooperation with Sheila Coronel, Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice at Columbia University, New York.
Komentari:
Nema komentara.