Media Freedom and responsibility
The 13th edition of Balkan.Perspectives has been published in four languages on the regional website Dealing with the Past: www.dwp-balkan.org.
In the western Balkans, where post-war societies are still trying to rebuild their lives and tensions lie just below the surface, media messages influenced by the politics of the day are destabilizing. For some, this is poorly disguised propaganda, a kind of political “spin”, “spun” by many of the same political elites who were in power in the 1990s and delivered to the public by the mainstream media. In doing so, the media is perpetuating divisive rhetoric, and not allowing societies to have reprieve from, or to reflect on their traumatic pasts.
In this kind of environment, the space for journalists and actors to investigate all sides of a complex story, and to report on present and past events based on facts, in turn challenging dominant societal narratives, is limited. And not only limited, but dangerous.
In this 13th edition of Balkan.Perspectives, authors from academia, journalism and law, Dafina Halili, Dinko Gruhonjić, Dushica Nofitoska, Dr. Lejla Turčilo, Sara Velaga, Serbeze Haxhiaj, Teofil Pančić, and Zhaneta Zdravkovska, reflect on the current state of media in the region, the structures supporting it, and what could change to give space and attention to all sides of a story, in order to challenge dominant interpretations of the past and bring about constructive discourse on these topics.
We hope you find this edition of Balkan.Perspectives a reflective, challenging and interesting read. As always, your feedback is welcome.
Contents of the Balkan.Perspectives, No. 13:
- News & Updates - regional
- Vox Populi: Is it “taboo” to report on or speak about war crimes in our society? - regional
- Challenging the Truth - Kosovo
- The Burden of Reporting on War Crimes in Kosovo - Kosovo
- Truth Not Spoken on Time is worse than a Lie - North Macedonia
- Media as Society’s Alarm to Deal with the Past - Bosnia and Herzegovina
- The Serbia Case: Tabloid Journalism and Dealing with the Past - Serbia
- Media Reporting on the Past: Continuation of Conflict or Peace Building? - Bosnia and Herzegovina
- The Law on Free Access to Public Information and Access to Public Information in Practice - North Macedonia
- The Media and the Past that is not Passing - Serbia