BIRN Kosovo News and Events

RTK, Pristina
The BIRN-organised TV show Life in Kosovo on January 26 will turn its attentions on the people who have returned to live in Kosovo.

This programme aims to raise public awareness about issues related to the return and reintegration process, looking primarily at groups of ethnic minorities living in Kosovo.

The BIRN-organised televised show Life in Kosovo will present “Whose Security?”, a documentary exploring how women in Kosovo have been affected by war and how they now perceive the notion of peace and security in their day-to-day lives.

In its special New Year’s edition, Koha Ditore, Kosovo’s daily newspaper, ran a short review of the Life in Kosovo debates, saying the show is the “most watched TV programme in Kosovo after the Latin-American soap-operas”.

A storm of comment was provoked by the BIRN-organised “Life in Kosovo” debate on Islam. Over 70 emails were sent to BIRN after the television show was aired on December 8.

Arbana Xharra, a BIRN contributor, won first prize in a journalism competition organised by Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency, AKA, the UN Development Programme, UNDP, and the OSCE mission in Kosovo, on December 11.

An editorial workshop for six journalists from South Serbia was held from December 8 to 10 at the Nis Media Centre, as part of BIRN’s ongoing Minority Training and Reporting project.

Krenar Gashi, BIRN Kosovo Assistant Editor, was interviewed by the Serbian programme of Radio Free Europe on a BIRN investigation into the illegal trade in passports.

The positions of the American, Russian and French governments on Kosovo’s final status will be featured in a special edition of the BIRN-organised RTK programme “Life in Kosovo” tonight, Friday, November 10, at 20.20. The show will feature interviews BIRN Kosovo director Jetta Xharra conducted with Richard Holbrooke, the ex-US envoy to the region; and Frank Wisner, Andrei Dronov and Thierry Reynard, the current US, Russian and French envoys in Kosovo, respectively.

The second BIRN-organised RTK debate on cultural topics dealt with local festivals.

Since 1999, a number of cultural festivals have been organised, most of them traditional. Organisers’ main complaint is lack of funds.

BIRN Serbia organised two-day editorial workshop for Serb and Bosniak journalists living in Kosovo on August 27 and 28.

In the space of five days, four bombs went off in Kosovo, three targeting senior members of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the biggest political party here.

RTK, Pristina, September 22, 2006

Rockfeller Brothers Foundations has awarded BIRN a two-year grant to build capacity in Serbia and Kosovo and aid BIRN’s regional development and visibility. The grant will boost BIRN Kosovo high-profile local TV debates project, “Life in Kosovo” and BIRN Serbia’s drive to train more journalists in areas with a significant ethnic minority population.

Another episode of the BIRN-organised “Life in Kosovo” programme was broadcast on Kosovo public television, RTK, on June 7, looking at economic life in the region.

RTK, Pristina, June 7, 2006.

A BIRN-organised RTK debate at the Pjeter Budi Institute on July 3 looked at the problems facing the Customs Service of Kosovo, which collects 70 per cent of the revenue of the Kosovo govenment budget.

RTK, Pristina, July 3, 2006.

Kosovo television, RTK, broadcast a BIRN-organised debate on July 19 on how politicians in the Balkans mythologise historic events, looking specifically at the Battle of Kosovo, June 28, 1389 – local Serb celebrations of which were this year attended by Serbia’s prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.

RTK, Pristina, July 19, 2006.