Radio Gorazdevac, a respected local media outlet and current grantee of the “Western Balkans Media for Change” project, celebrated its 25th anniversary by hosting a media conference.
Gorazdevac may be a small village in southwestern Kosovo but for the past 25 years a local media outlet has been independently putting it on the map of a divided society.
Radio Gorazdevac celebrated its anniversary on October 10 at the local Cultural Centre, transforming the event into a small “media festival,” as its editor-in-chief, Darko Dimitrijevic, humbly but proudly remarked.
The conference drew journalists, NGOs, and speakers from diverse backgrounds, speaking both Albanian and Serbian among others.
BIRN and Radio Gorazdevac are long-term partners in two projects delivered in cooperation with British Council, Intrac and Thomson Media.
The Media 4 All project has significantly improved the station’s reporting quality and internal capacity, particularly by bringing young people onto the team.
Thanks to the Western Balkans Media for Change project, Radio Gorazdevac has expanded into new formats, such as podcasts, and has continued using the Engaged Citizens Reporting tool, provided and developed by BIRN as part of the Media 4 All project, to encourage citizen involvement in reporting. Its “E-reporter” page now invites citizens to report issues in their communities proactively.
Dimitrijevic has been with Radio Gorazdevac since its birth in the aftermath of the Kosovo war in 1999. Since then, he has witnessed the station’s struggle to report in Serbian and bring community stories to light, despite daily challenges.
“I was really surprised by the turnout of more than 80 people in small Gorazdevac, including representatives of the international community. This event is the crowning achievement of our work, and it shows what we’ve accomplished as a small local media outlet in Kosovo,” he said.
Among those who congratulated Radio Gorazdevac was Maja Sever, President of the European Federation of Journalists. In her video message, Sever said: “Only those of us from this region know how successful it is and what it means to survive and work as an independent journalistic radio station for so many years.”
Over time, Radio Gorazdevac has expanded to include a small TV production, and, with the growth of the internet, it has established a strong online presence.
“Many people learn about local events thanks to Radio Gorazdevac. We address the problems citizens face with institutions, and often citizens reach out to us directly to report issues in their daily lives. We’ve earned their trust but the path has not been easy, especially considering the challenging political climate in Kosovo,” Dimitrijevic added.
To celebrate its anniversary, Radio Gorazdevac organised a conference with two panels. The first discussed the role of local media outlets in an era dominated by social media. The second focused on crisis reporting and the safety of journalists, especially given the daily online and physical threats faced by independent journalists in Kosovo.
“What would happen if Radio Gorazdevac didn’t exist, producing news for the local community?” asked one of the panelists, Ardita Zejnullahu, director of the Association of Broadcast Media in Kosovo, AMPEK.
“People would likely turn to social media where misinformation and disinformation are rampant. The average citizen doesn’t fact-check what they see in these spaces. This poses a significant risk, as highly politicised communities form when there are no local media outlets to produce, verify, and deliver credible information,” Zejnullahu noted.
Ana Marija Ivkovic, journalist and editor at Alternativna and a civil activist from Northern Kosovo, highlighted the challenges local media face in reporting crises and obtaining accurate information amidst a sea of misinformation.
“We have a huge responsibility to report on crises, even though we are often not trained for it. We do the best we can,” she said.
The panelists agreed that media outlets are a powerful tool in combating misinformation and disinformation but acknowledged the challenges they face.
“There are only a few media outlets and journalists in Kosovo that can truly be called independent. In my opinion, local media outlets are the bravest when it comes to independent reporting,” said Andjelka Cup, editor-in-chief of Gracanica Online.
The conference also provided an opportunity for Radio Gorazdevac to reflect on its future direction.
“Media 4 All and Western Balkans Media for Change are programmes that have helped us grow and I can already see the direction we’ll evolve in the coming years. This progress is a result of the project funding, training and mentorship we’ve received from BIRN over the years,” Dimitrijevic concluded.
Visar Prebreza, BIRN investigative journalist and a mentor to Radio Goraždevac as part of the Western Balkans Media for Change project, praised the station’s commitment to journalism.
“They have also been proactive in finding media partners to produce regional stories, recognising that many issues in the Balkans are shared and require the collective efforts of all countries to be addressed,” she said.
“I believe the project has contributed to enhancing the radio’s professional and technical capacities, bringing it closer to the public while also enabling it to evolve in line with modern times and competitive media,” Prebreza remarked.