deScripto - univie.ac.at · basic intention is to help set a positive tone and an understanding of...

deScripto

www.deScripto.info published by the South East Europe Media Organisation - SEEMO

Changing FacesIdentity in South-Eastern Europe

Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 2004 € 15,-

How PsychologyBecomes Politics

Milo Dor: Where Mythand Reality Meet

Country Focus:Bulgaria

Media Reports on all SEE Countries

A Journal of Media in South Eastern Europe

deScripto 1

Letter from Publisher

Dear Readers!It is my honor to present

the first issue of deScripto,the new magazine pub-lished by the South EastEurope Media Organ-isation (SEEMO). The aimof this quarterly publication is to serve as a source ofinformation on media developments in South EastEurope, to report on the state of press freedom andto cover developments in journalism in the region.

SEEMO is the owner and publisher of thismagazine, but the real work was done by Prof.Thomas Bauer and his team from the ViennaUniversity. Herewith I would like to express mysincere gratitude to them, and to our correspondentsand sources in the region.

Feedback, comments and suggestions areencouraged, and should be sent to our SEEMOoffice in Vienna (by e-mail to: [email protected] to SEEMO-IPI, Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna,Austria). This will be of assistance in preparing thenext issue of deScripto magazine.

Oliver Vujovic, Publisher South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

deScripto Autumn 20042

imprint

Media in South Eastern EuropePublished quaterlyContactdeScripto, Thomas A. BauerDepartment of Media and Communi-cation Science, University of Vienna Schopenhauerstrasse 32,A-1180 Vienna, Austria+43 1 4277 [email protected]

Editor in ChiefThomas A. Bauer,Professor, University of Vienna

Executive EditorDardis McNameeProfessor, Webster University ViennaManaging EditorAxel MairederTutor, University of ViennaStudents CoordinationDaniela SüssenbacherAssistent, College for Journalism,FHW ViennaContributing WritersStefan ApflJulia AsslKarla BavoljakMargaret ChildsValerie CrabMazin ElfehaidEndri FugaLisa-Marie GotscheMathias HuterWolfgang Luef CorrespondentsMedia Monitoring Agency (official partner of Reporters WithoutBorders), BucharestOgnian Zlatev,Media Developement Center, SofiaMihajlo Lahtov,Macedonian Institute for Media, SkopjeMedia Plan - Media online, SarajevoJorgos Papadakis, AthensMarta Palic, Novi SadGregor Repovz, LjubljanaKosovapress, PristinaGraphic DesignAxel Maireder, Art DirectorLisa-Marie GotscheSubscriptionStandard: € 24,- /yearStudents: € 12,- /yearorder by • email: [email protected]• Fax: +43 1 4277 48344Advertising ContactThomas A. [email protected]+43 1 4277 48 336Photos & IllustrationsAnnette Tesarek (Title Photo)Ivan Igor Sapic (Illustrations)Publisher & OwnerSEEMO - South East Europe MediaOrganisation, Oliver VujovicSpiegelgasse 2, 1010 Vienna, [email protected]+431 5133940Marketing & ResearchKristina Benkotic, [email protected] byDan Graf d.o.o., Belgrade in coopera-tion with Standard 2, BelgradeMission StatementdeScripto is committed to the enhance-ment of a climate of critical reflectionon media culture and communication,in and among the SEE countries.Published quarterly as a joint project ofthe University of Vienna, WebsterUniversity Vienna and the ViennaProfessional School for Journalism,under the auspices of the South EastEurope Media Organisation (SEEMO),deScripto is an independent, journal ofanalysis and opinion dedicated to thedemocratization of the media and thedevelopment of civic society in the SEERegion.The views expressed in deScripto areentirely those of the authors and do notrepresent the positions of SEEMO/IPI.

Dear Readers!You are holding the first

issue of a new magazinethat we hope will give yousome insight into themedia landscape in SouthEast Europe. BothSEEMO and its parent organization IPI are dedicat-ed to supporting any idea that helps shine some lighton the movements and developments in the fields ofmedia, society and democratization.

deScripto means “of the written word,” a way ofsaying that we are a journal of writing about writing,in particular, of writing about the media. This jour-nal hopes to become a reference point for what youwant or need to know about media and communica-tions development in South East Europe, and how itaffects public discourse in those countries.

deScripto sees itself as the mouthpiece for this dis-course. It aims to actively integrate a great diversityof media-relevant ventures, to bring issues andevents from the worlds of economics, politics, man-agement, professional education and society into thediscussion. To achieve this, we will give you an up-to-date account of relevant facts, developments andchange in the South East European media landscape;we will deal with fundamental issues of how themedia intersect with politics culture, and to evaluatethem critically and independently, through theyouthful, yet sharp eyes of journalism students. Theaim is to mobilise the discourse on media and mediademocracy between decision-makers in media, poli-tics, economy, science, culture and education – andto support them in their responsibilities and effortsfor social, interactive and mutual understanding

If it then happens that experts working in themedia come together in order to get involved in dis-cussions on the range of media issues and learn fromeach other, or come together in cooperation acrossthe country – then deScripto will have reached itsaims: an agency of intellectual exchange on mediadevelopment, media quality, media culture, andmedia cooperation. This is not a scholarly journal,but rather one that hopes to shed light on and con-tribute to critical media analysis. Media communica-tion is a fragile and sensitive resource of societaldemocratization, and it needs to be taken seriously.

deScripto will be published quarterly a year, begin-ning September 2004, followed in December,March and June. Each issue will have a dual, the-

Letter from Editor

matic and a country focus. We start with a themat-ic focus on Identity, a topic central to the evolutionof media democracy in each of these countries, andconversely, so closely tied to the societal function ofmedia itself. The country focus begins with Bulgaria.The journalistic work is done in great part by youngpeople – students, who study communications andmedia at the University of Vienna, at the ProfessionalSchool of Journalism in Vienna or at WebsterUniversity Vienna, with the support of faculty men-tors. The students join the project as a voluntary pro-fessional internship, thus learn to get involved in amedia related discourse – and learn to know theBalkan and the South East European countries as animportant part of our European future.

Thomas A.Bauer, Editor-in-Chief

▼

▼

Ana MagerovaArdalan MaherIzvor MoralicRita PollozhaniFilip RadunovicPetya SabinovaAna SimundzaM. ZiegelwagnerAna Znidar

deScripto

Phot

o:Pe

rspe

ctive

- Co

smop

olita

in p

hoto

grap

hy (V

lade

n De

lic)

Table of Contents

3deScripto Autumn 2004

Table of Contents

Creating Common GroundInterview: Thomas A. Bauer, Editor-in-chief

by Daniela Süssenbacher

Opening Dialogue WindowsIPI Director Johann P. Fritz

on SEEMO and Media Developmentin South Eastern Europe

by Axel Maireder

Dossier IdentityThe Face in the Mirror

How Psychology becomes Politicsby Thomas A. Bauer

The Quest for IdentityWhere Exactly are the Balkans?

(And who is Willing to Admit it?)by Axel Maireder & Ana Znidar

Knowing Who We AreReassessing the Role of Culture

Stability Pact Coordinator Dr. Erhard Busek by Dardis McNamee

Where Myth and Reality MeetInterview with Author Milo Dor

by Wolfgang Luef

The Same... Only DifferentTaking a Closer Look at Balkan Identity

by Stefan Apfl & Wolfgang Luef

Country Focus BulgariaBulgaria Media Portrait Review 2004

by Ana Magerova, Maria Ivanova and Petya Sabinova

New Code of Ethics for the Bulgarian Journalistsby Petya Sabinova

Press Freedom in Bulgariaby Petya Sabinova

SEE Media Reports Country by Country

SEEMO Activity Report

Review

Preview

4

5

7

10

12

14

15

17

19

20

21

36

38

39

Media Reports from SEECountry by Country from p. 21

Country Focus Bulgariafrom p. 17

deScripto Dossier Identityfrom p. 7

on deScripto

South Eastern Europe is an enormous, multinationaland culturally-mixed area that has risen to the top ofthe European agenda. The expansion of the EuropeanUnion dominates today’s political, social and economicdiscourse, and with the Milosevic trial currently under-way at the International Court of Justice in the Hague,residual issues from the Balkan conflict still dominatemedia coverage.

In this setting, a range of projects have been initiat-ed by the EU and other international organizations tostrengthen ties with the region. With the journal younow hold in your hands, we launch a publication thatwill focus on the issues and perspectives of the countriesof South Eastern Europe, in the hope of shedding lighton these pressing concerns.

In a recent interview, director Thomas A. Bauer, dis-cussed his goals for deScripto, and the possibilities, con-sequences and potential problems facing a project of thiskind.

Reinforcing a Communication ProcessFirst and foremost, says Thomas Bauer, deScripto

involves the creation and organization of a specialcommunication space, providing both a frameworkand a foundation for community building. Beyondthe technologies themselves, the media need to chal-lenge us to fulfil our social and cultural responsibil-ities. So also in the Balkans, the media need to pro-vide a social and cultural framework. To accomplishthis, will require a renewing of the existing commu-nication infrastructure, and a rethinking of the exist-ing culture of media production and consumption.

According to Bauer, the challenges of this projectare to “create a kind of common ground through thesharing of ideas, through empathy, participation,and an acknowledgement of difference,” while con-fronting the range of cultural, social, political tradi-tions and the variety of religious experiences. Thebasic intention is to help set a positive tone and anunderstanding of the close ties – both geographical-ly and culturally – within South Eastern Europeitself and between these countries and the EuropeanUnion.

Is Unity a Plus for South Eastern Europe?Most western communities seem to be frightened

by “dividing lines,” while recognizing that thesealone can never maintain peace. That’s why the pre-ferred expressions used to describe the shared qual-ities of a national area seem to be “unity” and “iden-tity”.

The conflicts within South Eastern Europe showthat there can often be less connecting countries andcultures than dividing them, even within a small geo-graphical area. This phenomenon represents “onecommon European stereotype of dealing with prox-imity,” Bauer says. But the issues this project is hop-ing to address, have more to do with the perceptionthat these circumstances do not necessarily have tolead to separation and disconnection.

Thomas Bauer thinks of the name South EasternEurope as a kind of code for a minority culturalorientation. As a “historically evolved accumulationof different cultures, the region offers an extraordi-nary tradition of difference,” he says.

In an area like the Balkans that has always beensuch a mix of cultures, we find specialised culturalarchives and memories that crisscross through relig-ion in an extraordinary way – so that nearly all statescan be seen as “multicultural societies” with manypositive as well as negative consequences.

deScripto is not, however, intended as a kind ofsocial therapy for the Balkan, insists the project’sfounder. Referring to the complex cultural-historicalchanges the area faces, more effort should be placedon a special sort of cultivation process, that involvessuccessful communication and networking eventswhich will undoubtedly always be carried by, trans-formed or rebuilt through the media itself.

Media Culture as a Workshop forCooperation

The project also focuses on aspects of Europeanculture and society, its many areas of interest andopportunities to learn, and launch the existing cultu-ral framework into a transformation process. At leastin the context of media production, the building of


Creating Common Ground

ad personam

Thomas A. Bauer is full-timeprofessor at the Departmentof Media- and Communi-cation Science at the Uni-versity of Vienna.Head of two South EastEurope - related projects:JetiC: An EU-Tempus projectfor establishing a sustainablejournalism qualification inCroatia – together with ICEJOpatija, Croatia and Uni-versity of Zagreb, JournalismStudies: an educational coop-eration between universitiesof Vienna and Zagreb.Research focus: media theory,media culture, media educa-tion, transversal subjects inprofessional development:health-communication, envi-ronmental communication,inter-religious communica-tion.Last publication:The Culture of Diversity. ATheoretical Orientation forthe Cultural Practice of SocialCooperation. Zagreb 2004

Interview with Thomas A. Bauer,Editor in Chief of deScriptoby Daniela Süssenbacher

“A diverse European Vision and a Flood of New Ideas”

4


open-minded communication cultures is veryimportant for all afflicted and concerned commu-nities.

For more than two decades, Thomas Bauer hasbeen intensely involved with analysis and discourseon the issues of South East European media and itsrelation to the rest of Europe. His activities as bothinstigator of and participant in a broad range ofscholarly media projects have continually remindedhim that responsibility needs to be faced, reflectedand seen in a wider social and geographical context.The most important issue – the communication flowbetween the different communities – needs to beaddressed in a media dialogue.

Bauer sees the purpose of a project like deScriptoto mobilise the media discourse, to encourage a face-to-face active dialogue on the economic, political,religious and cultural issues in the public forum themedia provide. But beyond these goals of new ideas,impulses or information pools, we can bring thecommunicative setting down to a local level, to alevel that allows the local communities to learnsomething about themselves through confrontationand engagement with others, a process that benefitsall involved. Rather than removing or avoiding prob-lems, it is a process of working towards a betterunderstanding of the problems themselves.

The project’s profile, says Bauer, is “a critical anal-ysis and discourse-related reflection on Europeansociety and media cultures, that works with intro-spection and self-knowledge as positive result ofexchange and confrontation with the experience offoreign-ness”. In short: The project contributes toself-actualisation – for the Balkan Region and forEurope itself.

Cracking InvisibilityThomas Bauer argues that the concept of “Balkan

as a region” should only be seen as a metaphor forEurope itself. Balkan questions can only be askedand answered – if ever – through a discourse on theterm “European Identity.” For example, simply theway the “Balkan file” has been treated during the lastdecade shows an implicit denial of our shared histo-ry, and thinking back to World War II, the refusal ofEuropean cultural, political, and intellectual centresto work on human problems like “subjection toauthority”. At the very least, it is possible in this con-text to protest the phenomenon of invisibility thathas characterized these countries so long “hidden”behind the Iron Curtain.

“deScripto is a gesture of sheer cultural curiosity,”says Bauer. “These young journalists – from Austria,Central and South Eastern Europe and beyond – canbecome professionals and experts, if we force themto reflect.” The confrontation with a problematicregion can be “quite fruitful,” he says, “if we can

draw an important connection between social andcultural problems and future strategies.

“We are not missionaries”, Bauer emphasises, “butwe are inspired by a wonderfull European Vision anda flood of new ideas.” It is with these, that thedeScripto team will move ahead on a kind of new cul-tural Diaspora, providing an impetus and creatingthe systems to put these complex themes into a crit-ical perspective. And at the very least, the studentswill work to build on a virtual space of reflection,communication and empathy with the media worldof South Eastern Europe. ■

Information: Irma Oswald, Institute for the Danube Region and CentralEurope. Open from Monday to Thursday: 11:00-17:00.Adress: Hahngasse 6/1/24, A-1090 Vienna.Phone: +43/1/319 72 58/23.Email: [email protected] www.idm.at

Institute for the Danube Regionand Central Europe

Comprehensive programme of events, up-to-datedocumentation, publications, support of diplomapapers and dissertations, post-graduatestudy course “Interdisciplinary Balkan Studies”

...is a new publication realised by South East Europe MediaOrganisation (SEEMO). Its aim is to enhance better under-standing of the media situation in South East Europe and toserve as a source of information concerning press freedomviolations in 2003. Next to detailed country reports, the pub-lication contains a database of all important media in theregion.You can order ”South East Europe Media Handbook2003/2004“ for a payment of 30 Euro. Contact:

SEEMO - IPI, South East Europe Media OrganisationSpiegelgasse 2/291010 Vienna, AustriaTel: +43 1 513 39 40Fax: +43 1 512 90 15e-mail: [email protected]

South East EuropeMedia Handbook2003/2004

Advertisement

on deScripto


Opening Dialogue Windows

IPI Director Johann P. Fritz on SEEMO and Media Developement in South Eastern Europe

ad personam

Johann P. Fritz has beenDirector of the InternationalPress Institute since 1992

Think about it: Public Broadcasting stations areacting less and less like state propaganda centres;there is increasing private competition to the statenews agencies; and throughout the formerYugoslavia, hate speech is in decline – these are someof the important changes to South Eastern Europe’smedia landscape in the last 10 years, Johann P. Fritzsays proudly. As Director of the International PressInstitute (IPI), he has worked hard to nurture thedevelopment of personal networks among journal-ists that will be the foundation of an emerging pro-fession in the region.

“If there is something happening in another SEEcountry, people now know someone who can getthem the background information,” he says. It’s away of opening dialogue windows to the outside, aphenomenon visible in the recent increase of storiesappearing in local media on events and issues inneighbouring countries.

“There are fewer blinders, less artificial demarca-tion now,” he says. “People used to be consideredtraitors when they tried to get another party’s view.This has improved significantly in recent years.”

But there are still a lot of problems for media busi-nesses, principally financial, as the economic situa-tion in most of the SEE countries is fragile. Onething that Fritz finds particularly discouraging isthat the media companies and journalists whofought for democracy during the nineties are oftenthe ones who are in a very bad situation now.Western investors primarily purchase former state-owned broadcasting and press firms, as these havethe most valuable assets and the strongest client lists,and leaves the other aside.

The purchase of SEE Media companies byWestern investors is a mixed blessing for the region’smedia landscape as a whole, Fritz says. Firtsly, it ispositive because Western investors are only interest-ed in cashing in, and have no interest in party poli-tics or any special ideology. And secondly, foreigninvestments allow a business to build up the neededinfrastructure.

But, and this is the other side of the coin, Westernowners tend to ignore objective journalistic ethics or

the media company’s principles and they mostly arenot interested in an editorial role in decision making.

“The editors in chief need to have more courage,and fight harder to ensure their editorial indepen-dence, to resist manipulation from the outside.”

The South East Europe Media Organisation(SEEMO) was founded in year 2000 as an affiliate tothe International Press Institute and has played animportant role in South East European media devel-opments. Focusing on international seminars andworkshops, SEEMO was one of the first organiza-tions to bring media professionals of all the SEEcountries together to discuss the standards of journa-listic practise and to fight national and ethnic preju-dice.

But there are national problems to solve as well,especially in those countries that are home to differ-ent ethnicities and ethnic minorities. TheMacedonian “dialogue seminars”, brought togetherSlavic, Albanian and Macedonian journalists as wellas those of the Turkish, Serbian and Roma minoritiesto discuss how to deal with problems of theMacedonian media, and to look for common solu-tions.

“The dialogue among media professionals”, Fritzsays, “is also the first step to a dialogue in politics.”

But not everyone appreciates SEEMO’s involve-ment, especially nationalist parties and media com-panies, who still do not accept the organisation’sefforts to initiate dialogue among different groups.

Fritz feels confident, however, that “those nation-alistic editors will gradually disappear, and newspa-pers that present a narrow, one-sided view, will notsurvive.”

by Axel Maireder

Phot

o:IP

I

Making New Pathways to Communication

Dossier Identity

Each of the countries of South Eastern Europefeels a strong sense of identity. They work hard todistinguish themselves from one another, to be a pic-ture with sharp edges, and to not let their neighbor’simage bleed over the border into their own.

Nevertheless, together they share a regional iden-tity, and recent history has shown that this doublebind can cause hateful conflicts. At the same time,however, the recent systemic changes in society, pol-itics and economics also support a culture of learn-ing: Open horizons create new paradigms.

A Face in the MirrorIdentity is both history and future. It is history in

the sense that history is the narrative construction ofidentity as it has become. It is the future as the sus-tainable construction of the identity that will evolve.As history, we see our identity as in a mirror, ourfaces a map tracing the path of all that has gonebefore. But does it help to look into the mirror ofhistory in order to get an idea of the future?

If you look into the mirror you think you seeyourself. But you do not, not really. Not as others seeyou. In nature, the image in a mirror is reversed fromthe way we look to the outside world. Reflected backto us directly, side for side, the mechanics of perspec-tive are oversimplified. The contribution of anothermind, an outside observer, is missing. It is only you.You are considering yourself considering yourself.

In a mirror, there remains something you cannotsee on your own, something for which you need theother to learn. The less you express yourself openly,or the more your revelations are burdened with self-justification, the less you will get feedback which youare ready to accept. What others offer you as aninterpretation of yourself is not what you were think-ing. You may find their picture false, perhaps evendeliberately distorted; they clearly do not know any-thing about you.

But how could they, if you do not reveal anything?Openness may not come easily, but culturally, it isthe first step toward becoming yourself. Identity is aconstruct of communication, not of self-mirroring,not of repeated depiction of one’s own values as theyhave been, oversimplified. It becomes complete onlythrough the intervening observation of others.

Avoiding openness creates blindspots: When you do not knowwhat others really think about you,you can never know whether yourposition an outlook are sustainablefor all the crises to come.

The Myth of IndependenceFor as long as politics has had to do with

the wielding of power, identity has beenused, or misused, as a factor of that power.The underside of identity is the fear of weak-ness, of powerlessness, or worst of all, irrele-vance. Not to be considered, not to be valued foroneself, not to be somebody, means not tocount, or to be only an appendix to the lives ofothers. One gains a life of one’s own onlythrough independence. Whenever power hasbeen in the hands of one person or one system,identity has been abused as political drug. Allauthoritarian systems have legitimized theirtotalitarian leadership by setting a dogma ofidentity. History, heroes, culture, ethnicity orreligion – or all those together – have been sourc-es of political manipulation, because they are thecultural archives of identity.

In the media throughout the countries ofSouth Eastern Europe, the Sunday-sermons ofthe politicians are filled with belligerent lan-guage, serving up in a rather insolent manner thestereotypical dogmas of “us” and “them;” of we,the heroes, and the others, the cowards; of we,the peace-loving, the others, thetraitors. This view of oneself bygaining distance from others fol-lows a simple mechanism of theautosuggestion of independence:To be myself, I don’t need anyone.

“If you look into the mirror youthink to see yourself. But you donot. You consider yourself consider-ing yourself.”


The Face in the Mirror

Illustration: Ivan Igor Sapic

by Thomas A. Bauer

How Psychology Becomes Politics

Dossier Identity

Thus independence has a long history as the para-digm for national identity. As national independencehas long been understood as a concept of power:Independent are they who do not need anyone’s helpto realize their own needs and wishes. The only wayto achieve this is the symbolizing of domination byritualizing the wording of own identity in terms ofpower and at the same time, concentrating on theweak points of others. Is self-defense all there is toself-awareness and self-realization?

Power or Competence?In the face of instinctive anxiety, it is easy to

believe that power (over others) is the most effectivemeans of living your own life. And of course, in asense, that is how it works: To maintain yourself is aquestion of power. But maybe it is more than that;maybe it is also a question of competence.Competence is an intelligent concept of power.[Compeence is power with intelligence.] It bringsthe capacity to modify the resources of the environ-ment to the needs of one’s life, as well as to help youadapt to the conditions of social and cultural worldaround you.

Human beings gain knowledge by using knowl-edge. The instinct to survive is altered by experienceand may become culturally enriched by reflection onthat experience. Culture is a framework for under-standing biological contradictions as challengingparadoxes. Understanding paradoxes gives a positionof sovereignty and differentiation.

Concerning the concept of identity, the paradox isa therapeutic tool of transpersonal psychology, whichis still to be discovered by those who play a role inshaping public identity – i.e. politicians and themedia. Caught up in defensive concepts of identitybased on mistrust, they project hidden attitudes ofself-negation, having internalized collective feelingsof inferiority and weakness. This habit creates diffi-culties for everyone, for themselves and for the oth-ers. In this manner the closest neighbor becomes thebiggest threat, each kind of competition turns to adrama of jealousy. In this state, it is difficult to be, orto become, accepted as a partner with an open face,as a challenging partner who knows what he wants.

From Defensive to Interchanging ModelsThere is a psychological circle of give and take,

that individually, but also collectively, represents thewisdom of life: Self-respect is the healthiest basis forrespect for others. Disrespect for others always hasbeen an aggressive attitude. Aggression is a lack ofacceptance – a mechanism, which always starts withone’s attitude toward oneself. This was one of themost important insights of the “logo therapy” of psy-chologist Viktor Frankl, and also one of the simplest,that self-acceptance is the first step toward a mean-

ingful life. It begins with the decision to accept oth-ers. Respecting others gives you respect in return and– that is the most important effect – gives you themaneuvering room to come even closer to yourselfby creating and working out undeveloped potentials.Thus authenticity enables you to shape your identityby means of changing yourself according to the con-ditions of your life.

A healthy concept of identity works openly andoffensively: By experiencing others, you experienceyourself and you learn to express it in new ways.

Negotiating identity in the context of national andinternational institutions (public affairs), as well as inthe context of national and international discourse(the media) is a question of performance and com-munication skills, the conscious, creative ability, pre-paredness and responsibility to attract another’sattention in one’s own interest, by developing anopen mind toward the interests of others. This abil-ity is, of course, an ethical effort (an effort of creat-ing consciousness, and of critical reflection), whichneeds pro-active self-expression of and open commu-nication on cultural fundamentals within the variousnations or ethnic groups. The lack of internal com-munication (which means to discover and to acceptinternal difference or variety) indicates a lack of self-knowledge and self-confidence – which can some-times best be healed through the attention andacceptance by others. Their empathy can help usaccept ourselves.

A new paradigm: InterdependencySince political or public power is no longer in any

one person’s hands, having over the last century beengiven to the people in most countries, the construc-tion of identity becomes an exercise in deliberationfrom the national, or other political leadership andcan be turned into a lateral, cooperative work ofinterpretation, of collective self-realization. Togethera government and a people can determine what givesa face to a nation or to a community in order to rec-ognize and accept itself and its identity and to getrecognized and accepted by others. Under the condi-tions of democracy, of plurality and of diversity, thisprocess is accomplished by a multilevel public dis-course, where media play a decisive role. Under theconditions of market-driven politics, of globaliza-tion, of transition, and of transformation of systems,the question of identity became a category of compe-tition. And a question of to whom to belong.

For over two centuries, the paradigm of nationalidentity was independence. In a multi-dimensional,connected world, however, identity has become aproduct of communication and cooperation, andindependence becomes a feature of partner-relation.As a result, the new paradigm of identity in a multi-faceted world is inter-dependency. Identity and iden-

“There is a psychologicalcircle of giving and taking,

which is individually butalso collectively represent-

ing the wisdom of life: Self-estimation is the healthiest

base to estimate others.”


tification are results of dialogue, and the self-realiza-tion of nations, minorities and communitiesbecomes real through an open, unguarded interest inunderstanding the other. Nothing offers a greateropportunity – and also a greater challenge – to get-ting to know and accept oneself than to engage withand understand others.

The Responsibility of Media It has become a remarkable aspect of communica-

tions research that former reference points in shap-ing identity – borders of religion, culture, ethnicity,nationality, race, etc. – are going to be replaced bymuch more mobile, hybrid and virtual ones, by thediscourse models of media communication. Media,as the agencies of public discourse, have to take overthe task of critical reflection on the working society.They are the instruments of a cultural catharsis,when and where a society is in need of restoring orre-inventing itself. Media have the connective capac-ity to observe the public conversation (meta-com-munication), to enlarge it where information is toolimited, and to enrich it where the discourse-contentis too thin or too shallow, to intervene from the out-side when conversation is too introverted, to steerfrom the inside when the discourse gets lost in trans-lation. And while they may be under pressure toreduce the complexity of programs for financial rea-sons, it may also be their responsibility to return areasonable complexity to their consideration ofsocial and political life.

Meta-communication (how we interact) and com-munication exchange (what we give and mean toeach other) both involve catharsis, involving person-al communication with psychological weight. Whyshould this self-therapeutic potential of communica-tion not work in societal context? The only require-ment, as in a personal context, is what therapists callthe “insight into and the acceptance of unequal sta-tus.”

Mobilizing this critical self-awareness is a questionof competence in living and surviving under condi-tions of an ever-changing environment; it is a prag-matic view of ethics and an ethical use of practice.This pragmatic and ethical horizon of self-realizationhas to be brought into the public discourse; it is akind of intelligent and therapeutic rule breaking that– in context of society – can only be done by thekind of collective power the media represent. As themedia are agencies of topical social interaction, theyrepresent the social competence of a society, forwhich critical self-observation is one of the key skills.

This of course demands a media culture that caresabout the stakes of all participating individuals, peo-ples and institutions, where owners, editors, journal-ists and the public – all by their own capacities –share the responsibility of public consciousness. ■

“Media, as they are agen-cies of public discourse,have to overtake the taskof critical reflection ofsociety. They are theinstruments of a culturalcatharsis, when and wherea society is in need ofrecovering itself.”


Illustration: Ivan Igor Sapic

Dossier Identity

Chaotic, violent, backward – this is how theBalkan region is often identified from outside. Theterm “Balkanization,” originally referring to the frag-mentation of the region into a number of small statesafter the breakdown of the Ottoman and theHabsburg Empires in the early 20th century, hassince been used to describe violent ethnic conflictsand unclear, morally shaky political situations. TheYugoslav war in the 1990’s, often referred to as the“war in the Balkans”, contributed to this view. Nowonder that countries like Slovenia or Croatia prefernot to be called “Balkan” countries, thus contribut-ing to the troubled Western picture of the Balkanregion.

The Balkans, as portrayed by the media, were andstill are to some extent seen as the “barbarian” coun-terpart of “civilized” Europe, a region lacking a tra-dition of liberal thinking and democratic values, thatneeds Western help to develop. Today, WesternEurope still sees the Balkans as the underdog, theperiphery of the continent of which they are the cen-ter. Vaclav Havel, former president of the CzechRepublic, cautioned NATO to be open to everyone,yet saw among the former communist countries,only the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Polandand Hungary as part of the “Western hemisphere ofEurope,” as the countries that have “common valuesand are inspired by the same traditions.” The boun-daries of the Western hemisphere are Eurasia and theBalkans, which he considered “traditionally unsaferegions.”

But what are the values that the Balkan countrieslack, those things they supposedly do not have incommon with Western Europe? And is there some-thing that can be called “Balkan” values?

The boundaries of the Balkans, or South EasternEurope’s boundaries have never been completelyclear. While Clemens Prinz von Metternich, thelong-time Austrian chancellor in the mid-19th cen-tury, famously described the Balkans as beginning inVienna’s Rennweg heading south from Schwarzen-bergplatz in central Vienna, today’s geographers arestill discussing which countries should be consideredpart of the Balkan peninsula. Some arguing the Sava-

Danube-line to be the northern boundary, excludingHungary, Romania and Slovenia, while other, broad-er approaches include Moldavia to the east, andTurkey and Cyprus to the south.

While not even Geographers seem to have agreedas to what the Balkans are exactly, the search for atrue Balkan identity is even harder. Focusing on eth-nic, religious or linguistic similarities does not solvethe problem, since there is no other region in Europethat is as fragmented. The Southern Slavic languagefamily is quite spread out, yet not even 40 percent ofSouth-Eastern Europe’s population speak a Slavictongue. Both the Orthodox and the Catholicchurches as well as the Islamic faith have a foot holdin the Balkans. And none of those can claim a clearmajority of believers in the region.

Does history give a clue? There are large areas thatwere under Ottoman rule for centuries, and since thebreakdown of the Empire, according to Western his-torians, there seems to have been a kind of “traditionof instability” in the region. In recent decades, largeparts of the peninsula have suffered under commu-nist regimes, and their traces are still visible in all ofthose countries. But can you call such a history acommon identity?

Yet another possible approach, used by CristinaBradatan in her essay on the cultural identity of theBalkans, is the attempt to prove the existence of acommon cuisine and some typical facial features rec-ognizable in people from Balkan countries encoun-tered on the streets of foreign cities.

When asked what a Balkan identity means tothem, people from the region will answer in very dif-ferent ways. Their responses are undoubtedly con-nected to their diverse cultural backgrounds withinthe Balkans, but also vary depending on their politi-cal beliefs.

While a nationally-minded Slovene will place littlevalue on a Balkan identity, a left-wing compatriotmay happily consider himself an inhabitant of theBalkans.

To the fans of Kusturica-movies, the Balkans areconnected with a nonchalant, chaotically unordered,but nevertheless well-lived life, with human originals,

Chaotic, violent,backward – this is how

the Balkan region isoften identified

from outside.

Is there something that can be called

‘Balkan‘ values?


The Quest for IdentityWhere Exactly are the Balkans? (And Who is Willing to Admit it?)

by Axel Maireder & Ana Znidar

with playing and singing, with mutton and home-made brandy. The nay-sayers today still see theBalkan identity as critically as the Balkans elites didin the 19th century, people who regarded themselvesas economically, socially and politically backward.The region’s wars were, in fact, the only thing thatchanged, while the labelling of this part of Europe asbarbaric, reactionary, bloodthirsty, avengeful andaggressive remained.

In recent decades, people in many WesternEuropean countries encountered people from the‘East’ mainly in the form of “Gastarbeiter” and polit-ical refugees. But in fact, the same is true for moredeveloped countries of the East, where many do notwant their country to be considered as Balkan, aterm they hear too often used as an insult, and oneimplying an undisciplined, “southern” mentality.Assigning this undesirable “Balkan” character to oneanother, the Balkan countries themselves contributeto a negative construction of the term.

But, while it is not desirable to be associated withthe many negative connotations and stereotypesascribed to the people of the Balkans, there are signsthat this image is slowly changing. Balkan culturebeing at heart a very self-confident one, many inhab-itants of the Balkans are particularly proud of theirroots and their world view, which for them meanstheir national pride and sense of tradition. Toobservers from abroad, the need to express and cele-brate their national identity may even appear, attimes, overdone.

The other observable trend is a more recent one:Among the generation under twenty, the Balkans arebecoming “hip.” As in the U.S., where rappers fromthe ghettos are enjoying a cult status, in Europe theBalkan culture is becoming “in.” It has just a touchof the criminal; people from the Balkans love toparty, the kids explain. And the Balkans mean a lit-tle wildness, macho and hot temper.

But after concentrating on positive and negativeaspects of a possible common identity, peoplefrom the various Balkan countries answer with-out exemption – and that is a conviction theyshare – that no such differences exist.

Maybe it is safest to conclude that nation-al diversity on this scale in a region that wasand still is strategically crucial, is what thecountries from the Balkans share in the firstplace. In the same way as a Norwegian and aSwede will emphasize the differences betweenthem, while Central Europeans tend to talk aboutthe common characteristics of “Scandinavians,” thepeople from the Balkans stress that a commonBalkan identity can only be assumed by foreignerswho do not understand the situation and vast differ-ences among them. ■

Voices from the Balkans:

“Maybe the most prominent characteristic that many countries of the Balkans are sharing isthe flair that remained in these countries from the only recently stripped Socialism. You cansee how the Capitalism is only beginning, and many people still cannot decide in which waythey want to think. In a local shop or a tavern they will be happy to charge you one or twoless, if that is the sum you are short, which you just won’t experience in the West. In Austria Ihave seen a cashier sending a small kid home, because he was short of 15 cent – that waswhen I was thinking this is the difference. This is why I love my country and our way of think-ing.” (Rok Z.)

“The people of the Balkans also lack the knowledge of a golden mean. In these countries youwill face e.g. either an exaggerated friendliness and hospitality or naked hatred – there is sel-dom something in-between.” (Rok Z.)

“There is a fact that in the Balkans there was always some fighting, always some ‘shit’ hap-pening. There is even a saying used quite often ironically in Croatia, translated it says ‘andpeaceful Bosnia!’, because Bosnia never was a peaceful place.“ (Margareta H.)

“If you hear somebody in Slovenia saying “You are from the Balkans!” you can be sure thatthis person is not addressing another Slovenian person. The situation is similar when youhear the same sentence in Croatia – a Croatian does not tell another Croatian that they arefrom the Balkans, but they do address this definition to any country that lies southern ofCroatia, but the further south you go, the less people will object to being called ‘Balkan’.”(Bojan W.)


Dossier Identity

It is impossible to talk about the countries ofSouth Eastern Europe today without including thevoice of Erhard Busek. Former Vice Chancellor ofAustria, Chairman of the Institute for the DanubeRegion and Central Europe, Austria’s Representativefor EU Expansion, and Special Coordinator for theStability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Busek hascommitted much of the last decade and a half to aid-ing the economic reconstruction and democracybuilding efforts of the post-communist countries ofCentral and Eastern Europe.

And with 10 new-member countries having joinedthe EU on 1 May, and more to follow, he feels bothpride and satisfaction at how much has been accom-plished.

But Busek asks more. Unlike many of thoseactively involved in EU expansion, he has held firm-ly to the central role of culture and cultural identityas essential foundation stones of the successful tran-sition to a free society. He is concerned with the larg-er changes since 1989, in relation to what we had,and what we have lost.

“There is more to the answer than the technical oreconomic dimension,” Busek told the graduates ofWebster University Vienna in May. It was to learnabout that “more” – the “spiritual and intellectualcapacities,” the qualities of a people that add up towhat we call “culture”– that I went to pay a call onDr. Busek at the Institute offices in Vienna.

On a sweltering hot day in July, when every stepalong Vienna’s Hahngasse was an effort and the oneshort flight to the Institute offices felt like a smallmountain, Erhard Busek found a free hour to talkabout Southeastern Europe, about developments inthe media and the struggle for identity in a rapidlychanging economic and political climate.

The offices are not air-conditioned, but the cleanlines of the décor made it somehow ‘cool’ to the eye.Having doffed his suit jacket, Busek too seemedcool, relaxed and greeted his guest with an energybeyond the capacity of ordinary mortals in theoppressive heat. With the offer of a seat and a coolglass of water, he trotted off to replace his“Parkschein” (parking ticket) and his two assistantsreturned to sifting through a sheaf of papers, pullingreports off the shelf, typing, phoning. There is clear-ly a lot going on here.

The Stability Pact takes up much of ErhardBusek’s time these days. Created at the EU’s initiative

in 1999, the organization is intended „to fosterpeace, democracy, respect for human rights and eco-nomic prosperity in order to achieve stability in thewhole region“. It grew out of the experiences and les-sons of worldwide international crisis managementand is considered “the first serious attempt by theinternational community to replace the previous,reactive crisis intervention policy in South EasternEurope with a comprehensive, long-term conflictprevention strategy.”

On the day we spoke, Busek was preparing for theannual meeting of the Prime Ministers of the coun-tries of SEE, to take place in Salzburg on 27 and 28July, where he planned to press for trade liberaliza-tion and a common energy policy, issues he sees asthe “driving force” for eventual economic and politi-cal coordination with the EU.

“These issues need both urgent attention and seri-ous political commitment,” Busek says. And whilesome progress has been made, the SEE countries lackboth a network of free trade agreements and a formalregional energy community – both of which hehopes to see in place by 2007.

However the agenda of the Stability Pact is long,with upcoming conferences in September on bothtrans-border crime and housing shortages jostling forDr. Busek’s attention, as well as education, democra-cy building, gender issues, and the media.

Continuing state control in some countries, dom-inance by foreign publishing conglomerates in oth-ers, poor training and lack of resources, and theabsence of any tradition of a free press all hinder theemergence of independent media – one that caninform the citizens of nascent democracies and con-vey the authentic experience of societies and peoplesgoing through extraordinary change.

All this is a recurring theme in Busek’s writing andpublic remarks.

“An ideological political system has robbed the cit-izens of these countries of their biographies and theirnational identities,” Busek told the graduates ofWebster University in May.

More than anything, he sees it as a question of cul-ture. The Bosnian War has shown “how vital cultureis for the protection of human rights and mutualunderstanding,” he said in remarks before the EUCommission. Culture lies at the base of all of ourpolitical and social institutions: “History and law arethe basis for the development of constitutions,


Erhard Busek, former ViceChancellor of Austria, beganhis professional career aslegal advisor to the associa-tion of parliamentarians ofthe Austrian People’s Party.He then served in a numberof administrative positionsincluding Secretary-Generalof the Austrian Federationfor Trade and Commerce,Secretary-General of theAustrian People’s Party,Deputy-Mayor of Vienna,Minister of Science andResearch, Minister ofEducation, and, most recent-ly, Vice Chancellor. He is cur-rently editor of a monthlynewspaper Wiener Journal,chairman of the Institute forthe Danube and CentralEurope, member of theCommittee on Education inthe European Union, andcoordinator of the SoutheastEuropean CooperativeInitiative (SECI), a new pro-ject created to enhancestability in SoutheasternEurope through the develop-ment of economic and envi-ronmental cooperation.

Busek is Visiting Professor ofthe Practice of Public PolicyStudies at Duke University,and Co-Chair of theCommission on Radio andTelevision Policy: Central andEastern Europe.

Knowing Who We AreStability Pact Coordinator Erhard Busekby Dardis McNameead personam

Phot

o:St

abili

ty P

actf

or S

outh

Eas

tern

Eur

ope

Reassessing the Role of Culture in the Transition to a Free Society


human rights and international law – and are there-fore imperative to the future of Europe.”

Busek sees the media as the voice of culture withthe widest reach in contemporary life, and the mostimportant vehicle for dialogue among citizens.Without an independent, multi-voiced media, thisdialogue cannot take place. The media are the waysocieties tell their ongoing stories, and are thus theway they know who they are.

Withdrawing into the inner office, Busek settledhimself at the round table piled with journals andreports and began to lay out the challenges he sawfacing the media in South Eastern Europe. Half wayinto the first sentence, he was on his feat again, pac-ing back and forth as he talked. The issues areurgent; action is required.

To begin with, there is the problem of who ownswhat. In countries with struggling economies,financing independent media is a daunting proposi-tion.

“They desperately need foreign investment, andsome of that is good,” Busek explained. “But it alsomeans loss of control locally.” Western media com-panies – including publisher WestdeutscheAllgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) in Germany, Ringier inSwitzerland, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung inGermany, Le Monde in France – are buying upnewspapers and broadcast stations throughout theregion, bringing Western European managers andideas with them.

“Important as this investment is, it brings with itreal danger,” Busek warned, “that in the end, themessages will all sound the same – more the voices oftheir West European owners than the communities”they are serving. WAZ now, for example, owns some50 newspapers in the Balkan region alone.

The result in much of the region, Busek said, isthat “nothing much of significance” is happening.

“In publishing there are two tracks: the post-com-munist newspapers – often still state-owned – areessentially the same as before. The second group, therainbow press, are doing nothing of any consequencepolitically. In television you have (the German chan-nel) RTL and all those soap opera from the US, oryou have state TV – so it’s pretty bleak.”

But all the blame for the poor quality of the SEEmedia cannot be placed at the feet of the owners.“The level of journalists has also been a serious prob-lem,” Busek said. Without the traditions of a freepress, well-intentioned owners find hiring in SEEmedia markets often extremely difficult. “Most ofthe journalists are very weak, with no experience inresearch or in questioning the government.

“Too often, they are just after the next scandal,” hesaid. “They will ask me, ‘Do you know about suchand such a scandal,’ and when I say, ‘No, I don’tknow,’ they write, ‘Busek is not denying the exis-

tence of this scandal.’” The situation is improvingwith the development of democracy. “But,” he said,“sometimes I think that to be patient is not enough.”

Busek disappeared briefly and returned with sever-al green journal volumes: the reports from the annu-al conferences of the Commission on Radio andTelevision Policy: Central, East and SoutheastEurope that the Institute for the Danube Region andCentral Europe sponsors each October jointly withDuke University in the United States. Topics haveincluded “Expanding Choices, FragmentingAudiences: Dilemmas for Democracy,” and “Crisisand the Press, Balancing Civil Liberty, Press Freedomand Security.

However the defining challenge to the SEE Mediais what Busek describes as a “crisis of culture,” that hesees facing all Western society. Repeatedly in speech-es he has quoted Prof. Carlo Monjardini of LaSapienza University in Rome that “social life must bea balance between the market place and the temple.”

“The market place is democracy as it has developedsince Athens and it’s Agora. It represents the stabilityof ideas, the high status of thought and creativity, thevalue and importance of culture. And it seems tome,” Busek says, “that in the west, despite all the free-doms we enjoy, the temple is empty.” The temple, hesays, represents who we are as Europeans and simplyas human beings – the life of ideas we must have ifwe are to be open to each other without fear.

“In the globalized world economy – of marketforces, technology, media and telecommunications –cultural issues are excluded from the political agen-da,” he says. “Questions of cultural identity, differ-ence and heterogeneity remain underestimated andmarginalized.” Unacknowledged, these issues be-come a time bomb, often poorly understood by thosewho themselves are struggling for identity.

But there need not be a “clash of civilizations,” Dr.Busek insists, “if we know who we are.”

With our time nearly up, I find myself wonderingwhere all this passion comes from, why Erhard Busekcares so very deeply about the success of the countriesof the former communist block. Is it a sense of kin-ship with the lands of the old Austro-HungarianEmpire?

“It’s deeper than that,” he said, and tells me aboutworking with Catholic Youth when he was a student,and contacts he made with young people in Prague in1967 in the days following the Warsaw Pact. Heremembers asking them, what he could do: Did theyneed books? Food?

“Do not forget us!” the young Czechs had pleaded.“I never thought I would see communism fall in

my lifetime,” Dr. Busek told me. “Yet here we are.And as you get older, you find you want to do some-thing substantial.

“Now, perhaps, we have a chance.” ■

“The situation is improv-ing with the developmentof democracy. But some-times I think that to bepatient is not enough.”

Dossier Identity


deScripto: One of your books is titled "Europe –Myth or Reality?” How would you approach this ques-tion today?

Dor: Europe is a myth and reality simultaneously.It is a single cultural entity. People tend to speakmuch too much about the European economy andnot enough about the culture. But in actual fact, cul-ture is the most important link between us all. TheEuropean national cultures are only different varia-tions of a single culture. For instance, our way ofwriting and our monotheistic religion come from theMiddle East. That is part of our collective inheri-tance, just like the humanism of the Middle-Ages,the Renaissance, the Enlightenment. That’s whatbinds Europe together; and by this I mean all thecountries from Spain to the Urals.

deScripto: Many authors draw on experiences fromtheir childhood in their writing. Is Belgrade importantto you as a source of inspiration?

Dor: At the beginning, certainly, but since I’velived in Austria for so long, that source of inspirationhas diminished. My first novel takes place inYugoslavia during World War II, depicting the sense-lessness and absurdity of war. I partly wrote it frommemory, because there can be no better inspirationthan experience. I’ve lived in Vienna for 60 years, sothis is my homeland now. But I don’t care about bor-ders, I am a fundamental anti-nationalist. Nobody isentitled to think of himself as something better, justbecause of his nationality. For what reasons? Thereare intelligent and good people everywhere, just asthere are idiots.

deScripto: How would you judge the panorama ofauthors throughout the rest of Yugoslavia?

Dor: I have translated many books by authorsfrom the region into German and made some ofthem famous here. There is a whole array of verygood authors in that region. Miroslav Krleza, forexample, or Ivo Andric. These two have grown up inregions that were a part of Austria back then, sothere’s a bit of the Austrian mind set in their books.This is what I mean, when I say that Europe is a sin-gle cultural entity.

It is interesting to note that even under socialism,a critical culture survived, to an extent that is reallynot comparable to any other communist country. To

a certain extent, even criticism of the governmentwas allowed. In the 60s, there were books about thedetention of dissidents. But more recently, manypeople have begun to rethink their own history; art-ists are beginning to wonder about our Central-European heritage and how we can make an impactin the future.

During the war, many Serbian and Croatian intel-lectuals came to visit me. I offered a place of refugefor many Balkan writers, and because I had translat-ed so many of their works, I was also able to helpthem become known. I feel that there were and are alot of important critical minds in Serbia. But mostof all, I think of Belgrade now as a graveyard. Mostof the people I have known well there have died.

deScripto: What did the events of 1989 do to theway people thought?

Dor: Slobodan Milosevic set in motion some hor-rible things. He rekindled terrible aggressions by therevocation of the autonomy of Kosovo andVojvodina. National antagonisms that had long beenhidden were unleashed anew. Everyone wanted tosettle ancient scores and waged those terrible wars. Iwas personally distressed about all the people tram-pling portraits of Tito under their feet. Before, theyhad praised him to the skies, and suddenly he hadbecome the Public Enemy.

In some ways, there is still a very unhealthy atmos-phere in Serbia. For example, a majority of people areagainst the extradition of war criminals to the Hague.Some people still regard them as heroes, because theyfought for nationalist causes or because they simplycarried out orders. What kind of excuses are these?This is a distorted picture of history that has no basisin fact. There are no national causes, because theconcept of a nation is imaginary to begin with.

What happened during that war were heinouscrimes, and that’s how they should be treated. Isometimes have the feeling that mankind breedsmurderers who are just waiting for an official excuseto commit their crimes.

In Egypt, there’s an awful desert wind that drivespeople crazy every year. So they made a special lawthat crimes occurring during this time are judged ashaving been committed under extenuating circum-stances. So people sharpen their knives all the year,

Milo DorBorn in Budapest, Milo Dormoved to Belgrade to attendschool in 1933. After theGerman invasion in Serbia,he joined a resistance-groupfor which he was jailed andtortured. He was released in1943, under the conditionthat he would go to Viennato work. Later, he studiedDrama and Classics inVienna. Over the last 60years he has worked as afreelance author, translatorand journalist and has wonseveral prizes for his work.Milo Dor is now 82 and livesin Vienna.

ad personam

Where Myth and Reality MeetMilo Dor on Europe, National Identity and the Future

Interview by Wolfgang Luef

Phot

o:M

ilo D

or

Dossier Identity

Milo Dor “To My Son”, 2003Try to withstand those aroundyou, no matter how kind theyappear, no matter what theyprofess to be doing, and nomatter what kind of garbagethey want to pass off as truth.If you give an inch, they willtake a mile. Above all, do notbelieve any prophets whopromise you eternal life; theyare all lying. And besides that,they are all a bunch of imita-tors. The great non-conform-ists all ended up either on thecross, the gallows, at the stake,or in an asylum. Their follow-ers are only trying to makemoney out of them. Therefore,be wary of all so called worldviews and those who propa-gate them. In this life - and Ihave my doubts there isanother - deeds are the onlything that count, not words.One needs to prove here andnow that one really meanswhat one says. Be radical inyour doubts and in your criti-cism. If you should fail, youcan be comforted in theknowledge that your ances-tors, both physical and spiritu-al, also failed in the end. Youare the descendant in a wholeline of failures, and you shouldbe proud of it.

extractwaiting for the desert wind to come, so they can killtheir enemies and be granted "extenuating circum-stances.” It’s exactly the same logic in wartime.Defending your home is not an adequate reason forheinous crimes.

deScripto: Can there be peace in the future?Dor: There is no alternative to peace. People have

to be able to rely on each other. They live in the samehouse. Ground floor against first floor against secondfloor - who wants a relationship like that in his ownhouse? On many levels there have been positive rela-tions between Serbia and Croatia.

Many authors, for example, have been visitingeach other for years, exchanging ideas. Croatian andSerbian are officially two different languages. But ifSerbian literature is not written in Cyrillic script, itcan also be sold in Croatia, and vice versa.

Because it is one culture, peace is both necessaryand possible. I can take the bus from Belgrade toZagreb and only switch busses once, at the border.The conservative Croatian chancellor, for instance,welcomes the return of displaced Serbians to Croatia.All these signs are very positive and give me hope.

Of course the relationship is burdened with all themurders and cruelty that took place. But even dur-ing the war, Croatia and Serbia shared oil and electri-cal power. That shows how reliant the countries areon each other.

deScripto: How did people’s sense of identity changeafter the war?

Dor: From the reactions I encounter, I know thatmany people are beginning to alter their thinking.More and more are questioning themselves abouttheir own guilt. You can only set yourself free if youstop blaming other people for what has happened.When people can start to admit their own guilt andliability, that will be the start of a peaceful future. TheEuropean Union can help in this respect. Forinstance, Croatia is strongly supporting Serbia’sapplication to the EU. They know that there is sim-ply no other way.

Regrettably the people who understand this arestill a minority. The fabricated national ideologies arestill very strong. Many people have yet to understandtheir own history, and are befuddled.

But there are already some independent newspa-pers in the region, and with a EU-membership theirnumber should only increase. Among other things,foreign countries guarantee press freedom. TheGerman company WAZ has acquired a newspaper inBelgrade, that guarantees the paper an independent,centrist editorial slant. Also, there have been a num-ber of newspapers with critical perspectives foundedrecently in Serbia and Croatia. I quite often giveinterviews to the media there, with whom I speakfreely and honestly. And the interviews get printed.That gives me hope. ■

deScripto Order Now for € 24,-/year (Students € 12,-/year) + mail costs

Name

Organization/University

Adress

ZIP Code/City

State

FAX +43 1 4277 48344or e-mail your information to [email protected]

Yes, I would like to receive deScripto - Media in South Eastern Europe quarterly for € 24,-

Yes, I am student and would like to receive deScripto with student discount for € 12,- /year

Please send this order form per fax to thenumber below. The subscription starts assoon as the money is booked to ouraccount:PSK - Österreichische Postsparkasse Account Number: 78.925.526IBAN Code: 716000 0000 78.925.526 Account in the name of:Professor Thomas Bauer / Projekte

15


Cross-cultural identity is nurtured by a sense ofcommunity and interdependence, yet in order tocreate a common identity for the countries of SouthEastern Europe, it is also necessary for the separatecultures to be well established in this new constella-tion and to feel secure as individual cultures withina confederative whole.

So the critical question to be answered during thistransition is: How can countries maintain an inde-pendent direction while still building and preservingcross-cultural ties? To find an answer, deScriptospoke with leading voices from several Balkan coun-tries, and from these countries, a preliminary picturestarts to emerge.

The issue of difference seems to dominate thethinking in several of the SEE countries.

“We are not like the Polish,” says Albena Vutsova,Director for the Sciences at the Bulgarian Ministryof Education. “We don’t have to prove each hourand each minute how proud we are of our identityand how strong our national feelings are.”

Education Minister Iulia Mihail definesRomania’s regional identity partly by a shared senseof community between the non-Slavic countries.“We are the only Latin country in South EastEurope,” she points out, “surrounded by Slavs. So ifyou come to Romania, it feels like Italy a bit, orSpain. And we are proud of that.”

But while Bulgaria’s Vutsova turns away from toomuch national pride, the identity gap may turn outto be as much as anything a result of political bor-ders that are often arbitrary. Through a shared pastand geographical proximity, Balkan cultures havedeveloped similar attitudes and similar traditionsthrough which they can be seen, at least to someextent, as parts of a common culture.

“South Eastern Europeans share the same geo-graphical identity as North Eastern European peo-ple from Baltic area,” says Danko Plevnik, a journal-ist for Slobodna Dalmacija in Croatia. “One couldspeak of a Balkan identity, but it has become anunpopular term, especially for Western Balkannationals. “However it is certainly true that most ofus speak similar languages, have similar attitudesand, of course, share a similar history.”

This collective identity based on the shared past,language and geography might seem to rule out, orat least weaken, independent national identities inthe Balkans. But this does not seem to be an issue inMacedonia.

“We have a very strong national identity,” con-firmed Victor Stefov, of the Macedonian Ministry ofEducation.

However, a secure sense of identity is less clear else-where in the Balkans, as in Croatia, where a too-sharply defined cultural identity may raise fears of amore aggressive nationalism.

“Croatians belong to Central Europe, theMediterranean region and the Balkans,” Plevnikpoints out. "They speak three dialects, use threealphabets and have an extremely strong connectionto their past.

“But like many nations, they hesitate to strength-en their national identity.”

Plevnik believes that changes in national identitycan occur very quickly in some circumstances, whilevery slowly in others.

“It can happen quickly because of war and transi-tion,” he said, “or slowly because of lack of awarenessof modern human rights and lack of a sense of self inthe age of globalisation.”

In order for a country’s identity to be strength-ened, there needs to be a nation-wide sense of com-munity.

Romania’s Mihail suggests that there are ways ofinfluencing the complex process of changing anation’s identity, through strong political institutionsthat give a sense of security, fairness and predictabil-ity to the life of a society.

“Changing the legislation is one way,” she says.“We need to model our national legal system afterthe European Union. We have had too much free-dom for too long. From now on, we will have to goa stricter way.”

She is not the only one who feels this way. “We want to be part of the European Union,” says

Victor Stefov. “Not only geographically, but alsopolitically and socially.”

Does that include the adaptation of a shared iden-tity? A more defined, clearer legal code could bring anation closer together.

On the other hand, the nationals of various coun-tries could resent the outside influence and becomemore distanced from one another. Iulia Mihailbelieves that conforming to European Union policieswill strengthen Romania’s national self-respect. Butcould internationalisation pose a threat to the senseof knowing who they are?

“No,” she insits unequivocally. “We won’t ever giveup our national identity.” ■

The Same... Only Differentad personas

Danko Plevnik, Journalist,Slobodna Dalmacija, CroatiaIulia Mihail, RomanianMinistry of EducationAlbena Vutsova, Director forthe Sciences, BulgarianMinistry of EducationVictor Stefov, MacedonianMinistry of Education

Dossier Identity

Taking a Closer Look at the Prospects for a Balkan Identityby Stefan Apfl & Wolfgang Luef

Bulgarian MediaReview 2004

Bulgarian media focus primarily on local issues,although with a new intensity now that the countryis preparing for EU membership, which could comeas early as 2007. Bulgaria is also a full-fledged mem-ber of NATO as of April 2004. Nearly all media out-lets and publications are in Bulgarian.

Bulgaria was one of the last East European coun-tries to pass a broadcasting law, made official in July1996. This delay had an adverse effect on the devel-opment and expansion of both commercial andpublic broadcasting and because of it, there was onlyone TV channel with the rights to broadcast nation-wide – Bulgarian National Television (BNT) – andseveral cable stations. The situation changed in1999, when the Balkan News Corporation – a newlycreated branch of Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorporation – launched Bulgaria’s first nationalcommercial channel, BTV. Since July 2003, NovaTelevizia (NTV), owned by Antenna Bulgaria, a sub-sidiary of the Greek media giant Antenna Group,became the second commercial national televisionstation in Bulgaria. Today, there are more than 450privately owned cable TV stations.

Currently Bulgarian television offers a wide varie-ty of programming, both local and syndicated, andalthough the larger channels try to differentiatethemselves, some elements are present in all of them.All carry evening news shows, and more recently,weekday morning “belt,” or sequence, like that firstdeveloped by NTV.

BNT is a state-owned public TV channel, andcontains more local and culturally oriented pro-grams than the rest of the channels. BNT also ownsBulgaria TV, a satellite channel that airs local pro-gramming only, including old movies, andup to about a year ago, was the onlyBulgarian satellite channel, providedmainly for the Bulgarians who live abroad.Since mid-nineties BNT also has one news pro-grame in Turkish, a practise that raised a lot of ques-tions, since Turkish is not an official language in thecountry.

BTV has broadcast for over 5 years now and hasproved itself to be a leading channel in Bulgaria withover 40 % share of the TV audience. It has a 24-hour schedule with a rich variety of programsincluding news, sports, weather forecast, public

affairs, talk shows, children programs, entertainmentetc. Most of its prime-time programming is syndi-cated, mainly from Fox and during the weaker hourbelts the channel relies on locally produced TVgames, talk shows and a series called “She and He.”It’s leading position on the TV advertising market inthe country is aided by the fact that now it airs viasatellite as well, and has become the main interest ofBulgarians abroad.

NTV is struggling for a larger share from theBulgarian audience by relying on big budgets andnovelties. Apart from the morning belt, NTV hasdeveloped Bulgarian versions of the popular gameshow “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and thereality show “Big Brother.” In fact, the interestshown by the public for “Big Brother” has been verystrong, and over 7,000 people have signed up for thefirst edition of the game, to be aired this fall.

Interestingly, the channels carry few Bulgarianmovies. Usually, the prime-time movies are foreign,subtitled or dubbed, depending on the channel, andBulgarian films rarely get prime time slots on any


Country Focus Bulgaria


Official Name:Republic of Bulgaria Capital: SofiaPopulation: Total 7,97 Mio.(2001); Working population(20-69) 5,36 Mio.; Proportionof urban population is 69percent.Ethnicity: Bulgarians 84%,Turks 9%, Roma 5%Religion: Christians 6,68Mio.; Muslims 966.087;Other: 17.030; Non-Defined:312.337Language: Bulgarian (offi-cial). Also spoken: English,German, French, Russian,Turkish Script: Cyrillic - Introduced in886 AD. Bulgaria is consid-ered to be the cradle of the Cyrillic script.Independence:22nd September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)Government Type:Parliamentary DemocracyConstitution: adopted July 12th 1991

Executive Branch: Chief ofstate is President GeorgiParvanov, Vice President Gen.Angel Marin (both electedNovember 18th, 2001); Headof government is SimeonSaxe-Coburgothski (sinceJune 2001). He is Chairmanof the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister).GDP per Capita: 3,714 Leva (= 1,898 Euro)Average Monthly Wage:265 Leva (= 135 Euro)

SOURCE: Raycheva, Lilia: Mass Media inBulgaria, Working Papers inInternational Journalism, projekt ver-lag, Bochum/Germany 2004

Bulgaria Brieflyby Anna Magerova & Petya Sabinova

Photo: Maria Ivanova 17

The Sofia Echo is Bulgaria’s only English-languagenewspaper, which comes out every Friday and con-tains in-depth analysis of news and business develop-ments and has a large leisure and entertainment sec-tion. Bulgarisches Wirtschaftsblatt is an Austrianmonthly in German giving a summary of news andprofiles of local companies. As the Bulgarian mediabecomes more multilingual, the non-Bulgarianspeakers, who work or spend their holiday in thecountry are gradually starting to feel less isolated.

The Internet in Bulgaria is relatively undevelopedand as of yet to be properly regulated. Interestinglyenough, two of the largest circulation newspapers(the ones owned by WAZ) do not offer an onlineversion, while almost all of the others do. There arealso numerous on-line news portals, like media-pool.bg, and dir.bg. The lack of regulations over theweb makes it easier for people to publish online, somany small local papers, radio stations and singleTV shows have their own websites.

As far as news agencies are concerned, probablythe biggest one in Bulgaria is BTA – the BulgarianTelegraph Agency – created in 1898 by PrinceFerdinand, and regulated as an autonomous nation-al news organisation in 1994. Focus news is the firstBulgarian private online news agency, quickly fol-lowed by BGNes. Sofia Press is a NGO, created in1967 by the Union of Bulgarian Artists, the Unionof Bulgarian Writers and the Union of BulgarianJournalists. Apart from providing news, the agencyalso organizes exhibitions and helps Bulgarian writ-ers and artists.

Currently, the sources of media info are veryscarce. There is only one monthly trade magazine onthe market: Media World, published by privategroups. The weekly Capital has a media section dis-cussing and analysing the phenomena and tenden-cies in media developments. The Bulgarian MediaCoalition (BMC) is another source of informationabout the media and the professional discussions onmedia legislation. An interesting web site is theBulgarian Anticorruption Portal that prepares regu-lar reports, following the media’s behaviour on thetopic of anticorruption.

In conclusion, the Bulgarian media today is still ina period of transition, constantly changing, quiteyoung and unseasoned.

Info Sources:• http://www.newscorp.com/index2.html - News Corporation • http://www.btv.bg• “Sofia –Inside and out” Magazine, Summer issue, 2004 • http://www.distripress.ch/files/CountryReports/2004/Bulgaria_2004.pdf• www.bmc.bulmedia.bg• www.radio.bg


18

channel except BNT. This is partly because of thestate of the industry. However, the presence of inter-national movie companies filming in Sofia’s MovieCentre “Boyana,” suggest a change for the better.

Cable TV offers access to four Bulgarian musicchannels (MMTV 1 & 2, Planeta and SK Folk) aswell as to CNN, BBC World, German television(RTL, Pro7), Rai Uno, TV5, Euronews andEurosport. Hallmark, TNT and HBO movie chan-nels are also available with Bulgarian subtitles.Discovery, Animal Planet, MTV and CartoonNetwork are widely available on cable and someoffer them in Russian, still spoken by manyBulgarians, who were required to study it in Highschool under the communist regime, in some dis-tricts as late as 1994.

The radio stations in Bulgaria are usually local,with only two nation-wide, state owned stations ofthe Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) – Horizontand Hristo Botev and one private national station –Darik licensed as a national station since October2000. In total, there are 105 local radio stations inBulgaria, out of them 30 located in Sofia.

The vast choice of commercial radio stationsoffers an extensive range of musical tastes, as well aslocal programming. There are also three interna-tional stations available in Sofia: BBC WorldService, Deutsche Welle, and Radio FranceInternational. For Bulgarians abroad, the BNR airsdaily programs to stations around the world and,along with other stations, offers its programmingonline around the clock.

In spite of the vast number of newspapers andmagazines, the Bulgarian media landscape is domi-nated by a small number of owners. Out of ninenational dailies, two belong to the German publish-er Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) alongwith several other print media. Moreover, the twoWAZ dailies have the highest circulation in thecountry. Many papers are linked to a political party,or interests such as trade unions or a governmentministry.

The majority of readers show more interest in thetabloids, i.e. sensational journals. Photographytends to be very explicit, in ways that can be offen-sive to the victims’ families and distressing to somereaders. As hybrids between informative papers andyellow press, their content is graphic, and oftenpoorly written. Even some respected dailies use tab-loid formats in layout and content, where by-linesare generally left out. The national papers leave outby-lines in the smaller articles.

The number of magazines is increasing too andthere are now many international monthlies, likePlayboy and Cosmopolitan, that now come out inBulgarian.

Decline in Bulgaria’sFreedom of the PressStatusBulgaria’s ranking declinedfrom “Free” to “Partly Free,”according to the most recentstudy by the NGO FreedomHouse, reflecting increasedgovernment influence overthe public media and greateruse of libel suits againstjournalists and publishers asa means of defacto censor-ship. State-financed broad-casters are controlled bothby the government and bycriminal organizations,according to the survey,chiefly through a politicisedprocess of allocating licensesand through the manipula-tion of the advertising reve-nues. Out of fear, many jour-nalists practice self-censor-ship and reports on corrup-tion and organized crime arerare, the study said.

Bulgarian NationalTelevision (BNT) – aControversial DealThe Russian-backed mediagroup Video International(VI) signed an advertisingcontract with the Bulgarianpublic broadcaster, BNT earlyin 2004. BNT, founded by anadviser to Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, is entitled tosell advertising, according tothe contract, but must getVI’s approval on each deal.The TV station is also barredfrom selling time at any pricebelow that agreed upon withAlexander Carpov, director ofVI projects, confirmed in aninterview that the agree-ment prohibits BNT fromworking with other agencies.

in Short


A new code of journalistic ethics dominated dis-cussions at the annual meeting of the BulgarianMedia Coalition (BMC) in July. Observers wel-comed the discussion, as the old code of ethics hadbeen signed ten years ago and still carried vestiges ofcommunist thinking. The new code of ethics wasapproved during the meeting and will most likely besigned sometime this fall, according to DimitarSotirov, executive director of BMC.

Although ranked relatively high (34th out of 166countries) on the Worldwide Press Freedom Index ofOctober 2003 (www.rsf.org), Bulgaria currently hasno press council and bureau of appeal, and untilrecently, the 1994 “Rules of Journalistic Ethics” ofthe Union of Bulgarian Journalists (UBJ) were theonly broad-based code of ethics in force in Bulgaria.

The differences between the old code and the newone are numerous, starting with length. The newcode is much more detailed and deals with casesomitted in the first one. Some of the more importantarticles deal with manipulated texts, images andsounds, treatment of children, materials from for-eign press organizations, etc. Overall, the new codecovers most important areas of journalistic ethicsand has been prepared with thought and experience.

Once the new code of ethics has been officiallyaccepted, the creation of a press council or other self-regulatory body is needed.

“The question is how to convince our colleaguesto respect the code,” points out Venelina Gocheva,Editor in Chief of the daily 24 Hours and Chairmanof the Publishers’ Union. “There is a parallel marketof print media in Bulgaria that leaves unclear thequestion of who the publisher is, and where materi-als come from.”

Georgi Lozanov, chairman of BMC attracted fur-ther interest for a 10-point code of the Media Ethicsof Terrorism which won the support of most partic-ipants and are expected to be included in the journa-listic ethical code at a later point.

Nevertheless the code contains some controversialpoints, including especially that, “the media willalways take the side of the victim; objectivity in thiscase is not a professional standard.” Howeverhumane its intention, observers are troubled by thepossibility of abuse, and the ease with which allobjectivity could be disregarded. Even from thestandpoint of Michael Kunczik’s somewhat utopianideas of the role of journalism, the standard of objec-tivity has always been maintained as standard. Andbearing in mind that “terrorism” itself is a highly

subjective term – one man’s terrorist being anotherman’s freedom fighter – telling journalists to be sym-pathetic could invite an unnecessarily large reportingbias.

Given the commitment of the Bulgarian media tokeeping the society alert for possible terrorist actions,this excessive limitation of the ethical code mightsomewhat be excused as a response to a temporarypanic situation. But thus, it still falls short of the fun-damental standards of journalistic ethics and theBMC and the journalists who choose to accept it,might find themselves objects of deserved ridicule.


Media Ethics of Terrorism, Ethical Standards• The medium places in a leading position in its

agenda terrorist acts in which human lives havebeen threatened, until the threat has passed.

• The medium will always take the side of the vic-tim; objectivity in this case is not a professionalstandard.

• The medium informs about the terrorist’s messag-es, but in favor of, and in defense of, the victims.

• The medium shows the suffering of the victimsand their families only as long as it does notincrease it in that way.

• The medium shows cruelty and violence only aslong as they contain new information or presup-pose a new commentary.

• The medium places the protection of human lifebefore that of national, political and other ideasand does not cooperate in making use of the vic-tims and their families for the imposing of theseideas.

• The medium informs about the position andactions of the institutions, requires from them ananswer to all questions important to the societyand comments their behavior while serving theircrucial function.

• The medium informs about tragic outcomes onlyafter the relatives of the victims have been notifiedofficially, unless the institutions are protractingwithout reason.

• The medium conducts journalistic investigationsof the responsibilities and unused opportunitiesafter tragic outcomes.

• The medium maintains terrorism and the debatesaround it as a stable topic in its informational pol-icy. ■

in ShortBBC Sued in BulgariaA BBC television crewsecretly filmed theInternational OlympicCommittee (IOC) memberIvan Slavkov in Sofia, dis-cussing how votes couldbe bought in the cam-paign to host the 2012Summer Games. Slavkovthreatened legal actionfollowing airing of thecontroversial film on BBC,BBC World and Beogradbased B-92.The BBC’s vulnerability isbased on Bulgarian lawbanning secret filming,and Slavkov will presenthis case to the OlympicEthics Commission on 29September. Slavkov wassuspended from the IOCand temporarily steppeddown as president ofBulgaria’s NationalOlympic Committee andFootball Union in the wakeof the bidding scandal.

Fired TV Executive toSue CEMKiril Gocev, ex-ExecutiveDirector of the BulgarianNational Television (BNT) isto sue the Council ofElectronic Media (CEM)over the canceling of hiscontract. CEM broke thecontract with Gocevbecause of alleged“systematical and severe”violations of theBroadcasting Law of Radioand Television, accordingto BTV, “I am the firstexecutive director to bereplaced not because ofpolitics, but because offinancial interest.s” Gocevwas quoted in theBulgarian newspaperKultura, on 26 March.

Bulgaria: New Code of Ethics by Petya Sabinova


Translated by Petya Sabinova - Official translation may vary.



One of the most discussed issues lately has beenthe case of Svetlana Jordanova, a journalist for Trud,who was sued for libel, for quoting an official reportof the Ministry of Internal Affairs in an article aboutcorruption. Jordanova and the Editor in Chief of thenewspaper, Tosho Toshev, were both prosecuted bythe Sofia Court of Appeal and fined. This was con-sidered a serious breach of press freedom con-demned on 8 September, by the Union of BulgarianPublishers (UBP). “One reporter, one Editor inChief, and a whole newspaper have been faulted forannouncing official information concerning anarrest, for writing the truth,” the UBP said. Fromthe article it was clear that the journalists reported“word-for-word” from a document from the nation-al telegraph agency, which was not named as a partyto the suit.

Observers are watching the case closely. “If thiscase is won,” said a source close to the investigation,“it could be a dangerous precedent.”

Additional fears concern the cases of journalistsbeing assaulted by angry people eager for revenge. Inseveral cases Bulgarian journalists have been heavilybeaten and have had acid thrown in their face. Themost famous case is that of Trud crime reporter AnaZarkova, who lost the vision in one eye after an inci-dent of this kind in 1998.

There is still a lot of progress to be made in themedia, laws and society in Bulgaria with regards topress freedom, but observers are hopeful that thenew ethical code and regular protests like that of theUBP will manage to change the status to a muchbetter one.

The situation for Bulgarian media has improveddramatically compared to communist times. But it isfar from perfect and many observers feel that the riseof democracy could have brought a lot more chang-es than it actually has.

In some ways, press freedom in Bulgaria has actu-ally declined recently. (See Bulgaria in Short – page18). The are many reasons for this, but among themost important ones are self-censorship and state pr-essure through libel laws and broadcasting licences.

Bulgarian newspapers rarely attempt any investi-gative reporting and even if they do so, the majortopics - corruption, mafia, etc. - are avoided. Thisdoes not mean that these topics are not present inthe media. In fact, these are among the most dis-cussed. However, the journalists prefer to quoteauthorities, intellectuals and foreigners, and thusreduce the risk to themselves.

According to anticorruption.bg, a media portalthat monitors the media on the subject of corrup-tion, the number of articles on the topic per monthhas been steadily declining since February this year(from 961 in February to 723 in June.)

In May, only nine investigative reports dealt withcorruption, and in three of them the link was reallyremote. Generally, it is a trend that when corruption

is discussed in the media, it is mainlypresented in a purely informativeway (439 instances, as opposed tothe nine investigative pieces,) and itseems as if the journalists are justtoo afraid to deal with the “hot”topics extensively.

Press Freedom in Bulgaria:“Improved, but far from perfect”

TV Stations:Bulgarian National TV www.tvbulgaria.netBalkan Bulgarian TV (BBT) www.bbt.tvbTV www.btv.bgMSat TV www.m-sat.bgNova TV www.ntv.bgTV Evropa www.tvevropa.com

Daily Newspapers :Dnevik Daily www.dnevik.bgDuma Daily www.duma.bgMonitor Daily www.monitor.bgNovinar Daily www.novinar.orgPari Daily news.pari.bgSega Daily www.segabg.comStandart Daily www.standardnews.comTrud Daily www.trud.bg

Internet Media:Bulgaria online www.online.bgDnes+ www.dnesplus.comFocus news www.focus-news.netMediapool www.mediapool.bgNetinfo BG www.netinfo.bgNews.bg www.news.bgNovinite.com www.novinite.comNovoto Vreme www.novotovreme.bgOshte.info www.oshte.infoVseki den www.vsekiden.com

*unfortunately no online-appearences

News Agencies:Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) www.bta.bgBGNes www.bgnes.comFocus Information Agency www.focus-news.netSofia Press www.sofiapress.bg

Radio Stations:Bulgarian National Radio www.nationalradio.bgFM+ www.fmplus.netDarik www.darik.netExpress www.radioexpress.bgInforadio www.inforadio.bgRadio NET www.radionetbg.comRadio1 www.radio1.bg

Romani Media in Bulgaria(in Romani language):Roma TV*Roma Radio*De Facto Weekly*Akana Roma Monthly*Andral Magazine*

Selected Bulgarian Media (plus websites)

The rise of democracycould have brought a

lot more changes thanit actually has.

by Petya Sabinova

Photo: Petya Sabinova

The Unmet Potential of a Free Media

Thirteen years after the fall of communism and along struggle for democracy and consolidation, theAlbanian media have found themselves in a situationwhere there is freedom of the media, but no freemedia. Since the early nineties, the media, like therest of Albanian society, have been faced with a free-dom never experienced before. But at the same time,few have sorted out how to best use that freedom.The media industry itself is very unclear, and there islittle media legislation and few regulations, especial-ly in regard to print media. As best explained byAlbanian journalist Mero Baze, “(…)the Albanianpress will start to enjoy its freedom when the firstpaper that is not read, and the first television that isnot watched, but only paid to exist, go out of busi-ness.”

Self-Regulation of the Print MediaCurrently, the print media is regulated by the

1997 Press Law. This law includes just two key state-ments, “The press is free. Freedom of the press isprotected by law,” and is considered by mostAlbanian journalists and media researchers to beoverly vague.

The first attempt to draft a new law governing thepress goes back to 2001. Prepared by the MediaCommission of the Albanian Parliament, the draftwas strongly opposed by the media, who felt itwould result in an over-regulation and strong statecontrol. The Albanian media organization supportedsome form of self regulation over the statutory con-trol, which in the end prevailed. The process ofdrafting a new press law is ongoing.

Broadcast Media RegulationRegulation of the broadcast media is more detailed

than that governing print, dating back to a 1998Law on Public and Private Radio and Television,under the jurisdiction of the National Council ofRadio and Television (NCRT). In the past fouryears, NCRT has been widely attacked by someTelevision and Radio Networks as well as by theopposition Democratic Party. The main controver-sies concern its independent status. Supporters of thelaw claim that NCRT should operate according torules and regulations approved by the AlbanianLegislative branch, while critics of the law argue thatsuch a body can not be independent if its membersare appointed by the Parliament, where theGovernment obviously holds the majority.

One of the most contested actions of NCRT wasthe first wave of licensing in Autumn 2000, when

many broadcast stations and the opposition accusedthe NCRT of bias in national licensing decisions tobroadcasters close to the ruling Socialist Party.

At present, the NCRT seems to have gained someexperience and has achieved some successes especial-ly in regard to the fight against pirate broadcasts.

Albanian Media LandscapeWithout laws to protect editors and journalists and

safeguard free expression, the ownership structurebecomes a crucial factor in determining editorial pol-icy. Since most journalists, as well as many editors,do not have permanent employment contracts, it isalmost unthinkable for journalists to oppose the edi-torial policy of the media outlet. And even whensomeone has a contract, the law is very general, stat-ing only that “editorial independence is guaranteedby law”.

According to a 2003 study conducted by theAlbanian Media Institute, 98 newspapers and 70magazines are published in Albania, along withbroadcasts by 54 radio and 79 TV stations.

Because of cost factors, the first media outlets thatemerged in the early 90’s were newspapers. It wasonly after 1995 that the broadcast media started toblossom. Although the number of daily newspapershas increased rapidly in less than 15 years, their dailycirculation is not believed to have changed. The over-all circulation of all daily newspapers is believed to bearound 60,000 copies, almost exactly the circulationof the few dailies in the early 90’s.

Media OwnershipCurrently there are three main media ownership

groups in the country. The most prominent one isSpekter JSC, which owns the dailies Shekulli (con-sidered the biggest in the country), Sporti Shqiptarand Biznes (two other dailies covering sports andbusiness), as well as the weekly magazine Spekter,which is considered the second biggest in the market.This company also owns TV Balkan and has 40 per-cent of shares of +2 Radio.

Another important media company, Klan Group,owns the national television station Klan, 51 percentof Korrieri (one of the top selling newspapers), andthe weekly Klan Magazine that is considered to havethe largest circulation in its genre.

The Koha Group owns the daily Koha Jone, thefirst independent newspaper and the sports dailySport Ekspres as well as 40 percent of shares of RadioKoha. The only foreign ownership in the Albanianmedia sector is the Edisu JSC, an all-Italian mediaownership that owns Gazeta Shqiptare (a very repu-table daily newspaper), Radio Rash, TV News 24(holding a near monopoly in news broadcasting), aswell as Balkanweb, an online news agency.

Media Report: Albania

in ShortAlbanian DemocraticParty Boycotts News24 TV StationThe leading Albanianopposition party hasaccused one of the mostprominent News Stationsin Albania, News 24, ofbeing biased and havingtaken Government’s sidein some recent politicalcontroversies. Accordingto the DP spokesman,News 24 will face a boy-cott by the oppositionparty and will not beallowed to attend anyindoor activities organizedby DP. News 24 has deniedall charges and hasclaimed that theDemocratic Party is endan-gering press freedom andcensoring an independentmedia outlet.

DigitAlb: The NewestAlbanian MediaOutletSupported by Top Channeland Top Albania Radio,DigitAlb combines thenewest terrestrial digitaltechnology with pricessuitable for middle-classconsumers. It offers a hugenumber of channels, rang-ing from movies, sports,documentaries, cartoonsand music. Although theowners of DigitAlb claimthat the new technologywill reshape the Albanianmedia community, com-peting TV networks sug-gest that the technologyfalls beyond the scope ofcurrent legislation.According to some execu-tives from Klan TV, DigitAlbis only the latest pirate TVchannel, pointing out thatthe company has signedno contracts for broadcast-ing most of its digital pro-grams.


➤ continued on page 23

Media Report: Albania

by Endri Fuga & Stefan Apfl

The Struggle to Find a Voice

Weighed down by the shattered economy and thecountry’s complex political structure, the media inBosnia-Herzegovina have been slow to recover fol-lowing the war. Under pressure from ruling politicalelites, they struggle to overcome a long tradition ofpropaganda journalism, a lack of financial resourcesin the underdeveloped media market, and barriers tothe free flow of information over the country’s ethnicdivide. Restraints on press freedom persist, andmedia institutions suffer from inappropriate pres-sure, censorship, intimidations and libelous attacks.And while the attacks are less severe than just a fewyears ago, journalists still live with the danger ofphysical harassment and sometimes threats to theirlives.

The media feel the burden of transition acutely, aprocess that started in December 1995 when theDayton Peace Accord ended four years of civil warbetween three dominant ethnic groups: Serbian,Croatian and Bosnian. The Dayton Peace

Agreement and the subsequent decisions of the PeaceImplementation Council triggered a complex pro-cess of reconstruction of the media, making themindependent of government and nationalist forces.Although the Dayton Constitution placed mediajurisdiction in the hands of two entities (Federationof BiH and Republika Srpska), the U.N. HighRepresentative added nationwide guidelines to easethe passing of a new set of regulations governing theindustry.

Further development of the media in Bosnia-

Herzegovina has thus been guided by the interna-tional community and organizations like theSoutheast European Stability Pact, The Council ofEurope, the OSCE, the Irex ProMedia and the OpenSociety Foundation. The Dayton Peace Accord estab-lished an Office of the High Representative for BiH(OHR) with the power to impose laws and intervenefor the implementation of the peace agreement,including on behalf of the media as well.

Broadcast MediaThere are 183 licensed broadcasters operating in

the country along with the Public BroadcastingSystem for BiH, composed of three additional state-wide public broadcasters: The Public BroadcastingService of BiH (PBS BiH), Radio and Television ofthe Federation BiH (RTV FBiH) and Radio andTelevision of the Republic of Srpska (RTRS). Out ofthese 183 broadcasters, 141 are radio stations and 42TV stations; 78 public and 105 private broadcastingmedia.

The most important factors in the broadcastingmedia are public broadcasters on an entity level:Radio and Television of the Federation BiH (RTVFBiH) and Radio and Television of Republika Srpska(RTRS).

State-wide Public Broadcasting System for Bosnia-Herzegovina (PBSBiH) has yet to show its full poten-tial. It started broadcasting BH Radio 1 on its ownfrequency two years ago and has started a statewidetelevision channel BHTV1 a month ago.

The Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA)has the power to regulate the broadcast media, draft-ing and implementing regulations and issuing per-manent broadcasting licences. Its efforts to stabilizeand improve the broadcasting sector have beenamong the greatest advancements in BiH mediascene. Nevertheless, there are many improvementsthat still have to be made in this field. Critics say thatthe public service concept (one state broadcaster, twoentity broadcasters) is too complex and costly. Publicbroadcasters also cannot cope with the requirementof 40 percent public service programming.

There are frequent misunderstandings between thelocal stations and the international community, espe-cially when the imposed reforms harm the positionof the employees. Also, local stations often feel forcedinto unsuitable projects by the threat of withholdingfinancial support.

Print MediaPrint media are still constrained by the strong eth-

nic and ideological divisions in the population. Thisis especially apparent since the election campaigntwo years ago, when nationalist parties made stronggains. Print media are not subject to CRA sanctions

Police Chief Apologisedto JournalistThe police chief of RepublikaSrpska apologised to journal-ists in Banja Luka on 2September, following accusa-tions 4 days before, that theywere involved with a groupseeking his ouster.Suggesting that ‘some jour-nalists should be sent to amental asylum or prison,’Chief Njegos had accusedthe journalists of ‘NezavisneNovine’ and RTV RS of mem-bership in a group plottingto have him removed fromoffice.The Office of the HighRepresentative in BiH (OHR)issued a warning to thePolice Chief, saying it was notappropriate for him to applypolitical pressure to the jour-nalists and thus endangerthe freedom of the media.Njegos expressed regret toan auditorium full of journal-ists, saying his words weretaken out of context andpromising future cooperationwith the media and access toinformation.

Hate Speech Persists Hate speech still persists inthe BiH media, according toOzren Kebo, one of thecountry’s most distinguishedjournalists, speaking in aninterview to the SAFAXAgency at the end of July.“It is not hard to understandwhy that is so,” Kebo said.“The war was so horrifying,so poignant and distressing,it has left many terribleawful traumas behind. Itseems that we cannot resistthe call of hatred and power,uttered by the media. We allsometimes sit at the com-puter as though we were sit-ting at a machine gun, as if itgave us the opportunity towipe out everything acrossthe valley.“ “It is difficult to employ self-discipline and resist thattemptation,” Kebo continued.“We are all frustrated andtraumatized, the levels offrustration can precisely beread in our intonation.” Headded that the hate speechhas lately increased especial-ly along professional, eco-nomic and party lines.

Croatians RequestdeScripto Autumn 200422

in Short

Media Report: Bosnia and Herzegovinaby Ana Simundza

Media Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Phot

o:An

a Si

mun

dza

The bridge over the River Neretva, Mostar

in ShortTheir Own Channel inPublic RTVThe leading Croatian party inthe BiH Parliament has for-mally requested the divisionof the country’s public RTVnetwork into three channels,one in each of the country’sthree languages.In a parliamentary session of27 July, representatives ofHDZ requested that the threechannels in the Bosnian, Serband Croat languages bechanged from RTV’s currentthree-station division – thatof the Republika Srpska, theFederation’s and one channelfor BiH as a whole.The Croatians are dissatisfiedwith this division, claimingthat Croatian interests areunderrepresented among,what they say is, one Bosnian,one Serbian and one Serbo-Bosnian channels. As thethree languages are very sim-ilar and understandable toall, such a request is thoughtto be more political than sub-stantive.The Croatian proposal wasdeclined and the delegatesembraced the governmentalproposal, created with coop-eration of international com-munity.

Media Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina


governing the broadcast media, but are largely self-regulated, which has proved far less effective. ThePress Council and journalists associations are stillnot powerful enough to exert significant influence todeal with these problems.

The public has also been disappointed by obviousbias in the print media, which often indulges insmear tactics to discredit their political opposition.Relations between newspapers and journalists areoften fraught with conflict, and media wars alongparty and ethnic lines seem to be a perpetual featureof BiH press media, although the propaganda com-mon during the war has been silenced under thecareful eye of regulatory agency.

Due to the ethnic divisions, the print media eachtarget their own ethnic group. Most newspaper donot even try to publish in the area not dominated bytheir ethnic market.

The devastated economy and limited advertisingrevenues make the prospects for the print mediadreary. Only about six percent of advertising invest-ment is devoted to print media. Also, as they havebeen unable to attract either local and foreign capi-tal, the majority of new media projects do not sur-vive.

There are around 600 public print media on theBosnian market, including six daily newspapers.Four of these are published in the Federation ofBosnia-Herzegovina: Dnevni Avaz, Jutarnje Novineand Oslobodjenje in Sarajevo, and Dnevni List inMostar. Nezavisne Novine and Glas Srpski are pub-lished in Banja Luka, in the Republic of Srpska.

Other interesting media outlets that have rapidlyemerged during the last years include Top AlbaniaRadio, the national radio broadcaster that has thelargest number of listeners in the country, TopChannel, recently a very popular TV station and TopRecords, one of the top three music production anddistribution companies in Albania. Although there isno ostensible legal connection within these outlets, itis widely believed that they are all owned and con-trolled by a small group of people, who as almost allother media owners are successful businessmen.

At present, Albanian media owners are not ready todisclose their funding sources. Media experts claimthat in most of the cases there is either a close relationbetween the media people and the politicians or thatthe media outlets are funded by some gray externalsources that make their survival in the market pos-sible. ■

➤ Media Report: Albania, continued from page 21

Slobodna Bosna, Dani Nedeljne, Nezavisne NovineReporter (10,000) and Ljiljan are the most impor-tant weekly-newspapers. According to a study doneby the Prism Agency from Sarajevo, the most readnewspaper in the Federation are Dnevni Avaz (33.5percent) and Vecernje Novosti from Serbia inRepublika Srpska (27.2 percent).

New MediaAlthough many of the important media have their

own websites, this has very little impact on the mediareality in BiH. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of theleast developed European countries in this area andonly about 4% of the population has access to theInternet. Only the wealthiest and most educatedhave this privilege while the rest are victims of lowpurchasing power and lack of the information tech-nology development.

Along with the specialized media portal MediaOnline, the most important electronic outlets are thedailies Dnevni Avaz, Oslobodjenje, NezavisneNovine and weeklies Slobodna Bosna and Dani.

Along with the Communications RegulatoryAgency (CRA), the Press Code, adopted by journal-ist organizations in 1999, has laid down fundamen-tal ethical guidelines emphasising objectivity, respon-sibility to the public, and a right to fair comment.Journalists are also enjoined from knowing discrimi-nation, intolerance and hatred. Journalists’ organisa-tions created the Press Council in 2000 to reviewand help resolve citizens’ complaints against themedia. ■

Austrian Institute of East and Southeast European StudiesÖsterreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa-Institut/OSI

A-1010 Vienna, Josefsplatz 6tel. +43-1/512 18 95, fax: +43-1/512 18 95/53e-mail: [email protected], internet www.osi.ac.at

Founded 1958; research and information centre; edu-cational and cultural politics, ecology, geography, his-tory, nationality and minority studies;library of 47,000 vols and 2,400 periodicals and docu-ments;Dir. PhD, Assoc.prof. Peter Jordan;publications OSI-Aktuell (newsletter), ÖsterreichischeOsthefte (quarterly), Schriftenreihe des Österrei-chischen Ost- und Südosteuropa-Instituts, WienerOsteuropastudien, Atlas of Eastern and SoutheasternEurope.

Advertisement

23

Media Report: Croatia

European MediaTrainingSeminar on teaching ofjournalists and media pro-fessionals will be held inItaly and Croatia fromDecember 2004 till April2005. As the official lan-guage of the program willbe English, it will try to offercomplete knowledge aboutrelevant media contentsand praxis. The program willalso cover special issues as:communicational tech-niques, marketing, commu-nicational management,implementation of newesttechnology, and Europeanmedia legislature.

Journalists ConvictionWorries SEEMOSEEMO (South East EuropeMedia Organisation)expressed its worries aboutthe conviction of LjubicaLetnic, journalist of CroatianRadio Television, condition-ally convicted to jail impris-onment. On the basis ofslandering local business-man in the show “Latinica,”(broadcasted in March2002), Split court adjudicat-ed Letnic for two monthimprisonment. SEEMOexpressed strong concernssaying that slanderingshould be subject to privatelawsuit, and not criminalcase. Therefore the organ-ization urged Croatian courtto dismiss the verdict.

Fourtyfive Years ofVecernji ListThe first issue of dailynewspapers with biggestcirculation in Croatia waspublished on 1 July 1959. InFebruary 2004 it came outin new format, completelyin color. Better structure ofrubrics, editorial reorganiza-tion, and new advertisingstructures brought toimprovement of its quality.On its 45th birthday itreached total of 14, 000issues.


in Short

Journalists SeekSupport FromInternationalOrganizations

The atmosphere was tense at the meeting of theCroatian Coalition of Independent Journalists on 16September. The Croatian Journalists’ Association(CJA) had proposed a series of tax changes to allowjournalists to work independently; and each one hasbeen rejected by the government.

“Journalism requires a high degree of professionalautonomy,” the journalists fumed, “and for that youneed financial Independence.” Croatian law contra-dicts this, and defines journalistic work as a depen-dent activity.

The government argues that this is necessary toprevent journalists from working off the books. Butthe net effect is that the independent journalist isobliged to pay double what his/her employer pays,and double the self-employed of other professions.

However, some significant but often controversialchanges that affect the media are being made inpreparation for Croatia’s admittance to theEuropean Union, possible in 2007, according toReporters Sans Frontiers (RSF).

A July 2003 proposal to punish defamation ofpublic officials through the media with fines or upto three years in prison set off huge protests. Strongnational and international reaction forced the gov-ernment to drop the measure. A second measure wasstripped of the “good faith” defence, leaving only thetruth or falsehood, making it much harder to defendjournalists in court.

Another press law passed in October 2003, guar-anteed press freedom and journalists’ rights, but fur-ther restricted access to public data and reduced theprotection of journalistic sources, according to RSF.The composition of the board of the state-run radioand TV (HRT) was broadened to include candidatesproposed by trade unions, churches, NGOs and cul-tural organisations, with the final selection by polit-ical negotiation.

An electronic media law was passed in July, settingup a council of seven members, appointed by parlia-ment and proposed by the government, to assignbroadcasting frequencies and also funding to pro-mote diversity.

Croatian journalists and media executives contin-ue to be harassed. Ninoslav Pavic, co-owner ofEuropa Press Holding (EPH), was targeted by abomb that went off under his car as it was parkedoutside his Zagreb home on 28 February 2003,

causing extensive damage. Two of EPH’s publica-tions, the daily Jutarnji list and the weekly Globus,regularly report on organised crime.

In another incident, Ivo Pukanic, editor of theweekly Nacional, was questioned by police on 3October about a published interview with generalAnte Gotovina, sought by the International CriminalCourt (ICC). Pukanic refused to say where the inter-view had taken place other than that it had not beenin Croatia. The ICC chief prosecutor Carla DelPonte did not believe him and flew to Zagreb threedays later to urge the government to make everyeffort to find and extradite Gotovina.

Journalist Convictedof Slander

Journalist Ljubica Letinic was sentenced to twomonths in prison by a Croatian court, following abroadcast on the show Latinica on Croatian nationalTelevision (HRT) aired in March 2002. In the show,Letinic accused Dalmatian businessman JosipParcina of corruption. He sued her for defamationand the case has been referred to the Court ofAppeals in Split.

The sentence has caused great concern amongpress freedom organizations, who say that the convic-tion is in direct conflict with the principles of theUN and the OSCE, which hold that such chargesagainst journalists and punishment by imprisonmentare unacceptable.

The French organization Reporters WithoutBorders (RSF) claims that the conviction of theCroatian journalist is a result of the newly establishedmedia laws in the country – which, amongst othercontroversial statutes, feature the law against slanderand libel. RSF emphasizes that this law deviated fromthe norm of European media law standards and,according to World Press Freedom Committee, is asetback for Croatia’s EU candidacy.

Media Report: Croatia

by Karla Bavoljak and Izvor Moralic

Media Report: Greece


in ShortOlympia – IncreasedIncome for MediaCompaniesAlmost all media compa-nies report raise of theirrevenue, operational andnet profit for the first halfof 2004. The principal rea-son is the higher advertis-ing income due to theAthens Olympics.

Protests HighlightWorking Conditions After strong protests bythe Athens’ Union ofJournalists (ESIEA) and a24-hour strike at all LPGpublications, the companyagrees to hire back thejournalists of “FinancialCourier.” Strikes have con-tinued through the sum-mer at many Greek news-papers, TV and radio allover the country, after seri-ous disputes over salariesand working conditionsbetween the Pan-HellenicFederation of Journalists(POESY) and the Union ofMedia Owners. ESIEA pro-tested against specificmedia for laying off jour-nalists and not fulfillingthe previous month’sagreements.

Station Shut Downfor BroadcastingWithout a LicenseThe radio station“Macedonian Sound” inNaoussa/Negush,Northern Greece, went offthe air on 4 June and itsowner Aris Vottaris wasarrested for not having abroadcasting license. Itappeared that authoritieshad singled out this sta-tion, despite the fact thatother radio stations innorthern Greece operateunder similar conditions.SEEMO urged the Greekgovernment to speed upthe distribution of regionalbroadcasting licenses. Theincident also led to inter-vention from both theGreek and the MacedonianOmbudsmen.

Strong Structures -Weak Cultures?Media in Greece seem structurally well developed andwell equipped, but may miss the future in regional civilnetworking because of an insular mind set.

To find the public identity of a nation, you have totake a look at the media. Nowhere else are the definingboundaries of a country so characteristic of a nation – ofa population, of a society and its main culturalexpressions – as those made by common language,authentic arts, common history, common fate, all thethings that add up somehow to a common orientation insocial interaction.

Greece is like this – even its political orientation, sostrongly directed toward the European Union, is a factorin its identity.

The media in Greece reflect that situation, even ifthere is huge internal diversity in its political and civicculture. Looking at the Greek media landscape,especially at the print media, you will find strong publicagents of cultural, civic, even national, identity. They aretaken – produced, read, heard, seen – as instances of agenerally domestic orientation, since anyone can imputethe interests of anyone else through media. As long asthe media also serve as a frame of culture, it is notpossible in every country for the media to have thisinfluential position in shaping cultural identity.

So far, the media in Greece are, generally speaking, afactor in shaping the country’s identity. But with a lot ofquestions remaining.

According to the South East Europe MediaHandbook, published by SEEMO in 2004 – a reputablesource of knowledge on media landscape in South EastEurope – the public discourse in Greece is stronglyinner-focused, at the same time still without thesensitivity for minorities inside the country, and stillfailing to take a pro-active stance toward theirneighbours.

The numbers that describe the Greek media landscapeare comparatively impressive, but do not really reveal theproblems of civic culture. Greece does have strong andcreative media companies in both the print and broad-casting sectors. But the power is less from their strongposition in public discourse than by their strongcommercial orientation. Public broadcasting isrepresented by Hellenic Radio and Television (ERT),which owns two national TV channels and one regionalfor the northern part of the country. The public radiosystem has four national stations and 19 regional ones.There is also a huge number of regional or municipalbroadcasters. Around 145 private TV channels and1.200 private radio stations deliver a full spectrum ofdivers programming. But the commercialization ofinformation – sensational and boulevard-esque formats

Media Report: Greececheap series bought from the globalized market, lots oftalk-shows and copies of reality-TV or event-TV formats– disqualify the TV stations in Greece in particular fromany claim to public service.

There is a similar situation in the print sector. Thereare more than 250 local, regional and nationalnewspapers. The biggest 17 nationally circulated dailiesare located in Athens. There is also a strong Sunday press.The leading newspapers are Eleftherotypia, Kathimerini(also with an English edition), Ta nea, and Ethnos. Mostof the dailies have online editions as well. There are alsomore than 500 different magazines on the market, and afull complement of active media trade associations.

Nevertheless, the structural preconditions for a strongpublic media environment are not sufficiently present fora true open culture of media communication. Accordingto the SEEMO Media Handbook, “no progress has beenmade on the issue of diversity of reporting in mainstreammedia. The minority position is still taboo in much of themedia.” Even if some media have taken steps to improvecoverage of the Roma, for example, by reporting on theirproblems and way of life, still, strong stereotypes remainagainst both the Roma and the Turkish-speakingminority (still called “Muslim minority”). Not tomention Macedonians.

So much for Greece’s internal affairs. Externally,attention toward their neighbours is another problemthat affects the sense of public identity in Greece. As withminorities inside a country, neighbours are always a pointof reference for the shaping of our identity. So the way wetreat each other reveals the power or the weakness of ourself-esteem.

Greece has somehow, at least in public discourse, over-come the legacy of military government that retreatedfrom power a generation ago. It has been part of theEuropean Union for quite a long time and a member ofNATO, and it looks back at a history that almost seemsto have been as much the history of the country as apolitical unit as it has been the history of a specific andunique culture. All these characteristics make you believethat Greece was a country with best and most stabileconditions for an integrated media communicationsenvironment, and suggests that the media would bestrongly involved in the construction of a nationalculture of identity. All these factors should count asstrong preconditions for a public posture of opennesstoward their neighbouring countries, countries which arein a similar situation to the one Greece was in years ago.Again – compared to other Balkan and/or SEE countries,whose media industries sometimes seem to become over-run by foreign companies, Greece is one place that – atleast regarding the media – stands on its own feet.

Looking at the communications landscape in Greecefrom that perspective, and setting the precondition thatEurope faces opportunities for shared developmentwithin the framework of regions (e.g. Balkan), the media


by Thomas A. Bauer

Media Report: Hungary

Ringier to Open aHungarian PlantRingier Kiadó printers, a sub-sidiary Swiss Ringier, willopen a plant in Nagytétény,this fall as scheduled.According to director LászlóBertelan, the plant will espe-cially be equipped to printdaily papers, such as thenational tabloid daily Blikk,the traditional daily sportsnewspaper Nemzeti Sportand the Sunday newspaperVasárnapi Blikk. BesidesHungary, Ringier currentlypublishes and prints newspa-pers and magazines inRomania, Slovakia and theCzech Republic.

Magyar TV Leads withOlympicsOlympic broadcasts have putState Hungarian Television,Magyar Televízió Rt. (MTV) inthe top of the ratings for thepast two weeks in August ,ahead of the leading nation-al commercial channels,according to a statement bya MTV spokesperson inSeptember.

Tenders Out forNew MagyarTVHeadquartersTenders were put out inSeptember for the construc-tion of a new headquartersfor the public HungarianTelevision, MTV in Òbuda.The television station willpay a lease fee of 3 BillionForint (about 11.5 MillionEuro) yearly for the next 20years to the company thatwins the bid, which will coverboth the investment andmaintenance of the building.According to the Hungariandaily Népszava, the new MTVCentre should be finished byDecember 2005.


in Short

Freedoms on PaperStill Under Pressure

While the media in Hungary generally enjoy theright to freedom of speech and expression, with fairmedia laws and a constitution that allows its citizensand journalists to criticize the government, mediaobservers saw another troubling shift on 24 January2004, when a journalist was given a jail sentence fora press offence for the first time since fall of commu-nism in 1990.

Andras Bencsik, Editor in Chief of the weeklyMagyar Demokrata was sentenced on 21 January toten months in prison for libeling Liberal Democratdeputy Imre Mecs.

Another journalist from the same newspaper,Laszlo Attila Bertok, was sentenced to an eightmonths suspended prison sentence. Both journalistsare planning to appeal against their sentences withinthe next few days.

The press freedom organization Reporters SansFrontieres (RSF) immediately protested the action.“Prison terms should never be imposed for pressoffences, even if the sentences are suspended,” RSFsaid in a letter to the Hungarian Justice Minister.

The law suit derived from the publication of a2001 article in which the two Magyar Demokratajournalists claimed that Mecs, who had played anactive role in the 1956 revolution against the com-munist regime, had denounced to the authoritiesfour revolutionaries who were later sentenced todeath and hanged on his evidence. Mecs was sen-tenced to death himself in 1957 for plotting againstthe state but received amnesty in 1963. The courtsaid that the journalists had seriously damaged thepolitician’s reputation. The government did not dis-pute the accuracy of the story.

A pattern of pressure and interference continues toslow the development of an independent press inHungary. Ironically, the Hungarian Press Law,viewed as one of the most comprehensive in EastCentral Europe, gradually became a tool for author-ities to tighten control over the media. By March2000 parliament had approved the control boardscomposed entirely of governing party members. Thedecision to create pro-government boards sparkedprotests both in and outside the country. While thisdid not prevent Hungary’s entry to the EuropeanUnion in May, non-governmental organizations,trade unionists and opposition party members haverepeatedly protested these actions.

Concerns about the government’s intentions grewafter a new law was adopted in March 2000. Underthe law, libel must be treated as criminal rather thancivil offense, leading to a tendency of self-censorship,

according to the Hungarian Journalists Association. The pattern continued in 2001, when the

Hungarian government refused to allow journalistsof Magyar Hirlap, one of Hungary’s oldest and mostrespected newspapers to enter a conference held byFIDESz, the current ruling party in Hungary.

According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF),FIDESz press spokesman, Attila Farkas, turned thejournalist away, stating that “No reporter from theMagyar Hirlap would be authorized to attend anyevent or demonstration” held by the FIDESz . “Thejournalists of Magyar Hirlap only have to read thepress releases from the official Hungarian press agen-cy (MTI) to write their articles.”

Conditions deteriorated further when PrimeMinister Victor Orban’s majority party activelyexcluded opposition parties for the boards of direc-tors of national radio and television, provoking astern response from president of the EuropeanCommission Romano Prodi. In April 2002, howe-ver, Orban’s conservative government finally allowedadvertising from government agencies and state-owned companies to be placed in liberal and pro-gressive newspapers.

Some observers feel that the inability of the con-servatives to establish their own segment of themedia is in itself a problem. With the exception ofthe conservative daily Magyar Nemzet, all the polit-ical broadsheets have left-liberal leanings, as, theysay, do the two broadcast TV stations - which hasprovoked constant complaints from conservativepolitical forces and audiences, according to theEuropean Journalism Center in the Netherlands.

However, most observers are optimistic that thecountry’s entry into the European Union encouragesgreater tolerance for openness from the government,in line with EU standards, and herald a new phase inthe evolution of independent media in Hungary.

VIVA Hungary!Pop Culture and the World of Teens

Today, Music Television (MTV) and music videostop the popularity charts among hip teenagersaround the world. In Hungary, teenagers can zap toeither MTV Europe or VIVA, and with it’s local pro-gramming, VIVA Hungary has quickly become themarket leader. According to marketing managerSzabolcs Baranyai, the station soon attracted a view-er-ship 10 times that of its only local competitor, Z+Broadcasting Corp..

“Music videos have such an impact on the every-day life of youth, that they are even taking on thesocializing functions,” write social psychologists PaulLoehr and Michael Schmidbauer.

What has made VIVA different is it’s commitment

Media Report: Hungary

by Julia Assl andDardis McNamee


Media Report: Kosovo

Photojournalistattacked by KFOROn 30 August Jahja Tmava,a photojournalist forKosovaPress news agency,was assaulted by the policewhile covering a protest inPristina led by theAssociation of KidnappedPersons’ Families. As protes-tors were being arrested,members of a Swedish KFORunit seized Tmava’s cameraand deleted his pictures onthe grounds that he wasphotographing members ofKFOR. KosovaPress main-tains that he was photo-graphing police as thearrests were being made.

Kosovo Media:‘Reckless andSensationalist’On 7 August Andrei Denisov,Russia’s newly appointedambassador to the UnitedNations, „condemned theinflammatory material“ inKosovo’s provincial mediaduring Security Councildebate on the disputedprovince on 5 August.Denisov was referring topress reports in the ethnicAlbanian media that alleg-edly incited violence whenlast March’s civil disturbanc-es brought havoc and 19deaths to the province. Theinternational agencies help-ing – or as some see it, hin-dering – the province’s drivetoward „final status“ havealso found fault and bias inthe way the March distur-bances were covered.An OSCE report concludedthat “Withouth the recklessand sensationalist reportingon 16/17 March, the eventscould have taken a differentturn. They would not havereached intensity and thelevel of brutality we all wit-nessed or would not havetaken place at all.”Agim Zatriqi, GeneralDirector of RTK, Kosovo’sonly public television chan-nel, strongly objected to theaccusation. By attacking thepress, Zatriqi told UnitedPress International, theinternational community istrying to pass the blame.His network was singled outfor its handling of the crisis.


in Short

Writing on the Wall:Crime or Free Expression?

Unrest in Kosovo in March 2004 Shows HowDemocracy Can Be Seen But Not Heard

Recent events in the Kosovo region have tested theEuropean ideals of press freedom. In March 2004,violence broke out as Albanians and Serbians inKosovo fought against the UN administrators andeach other. Over 15 people were killed and over onemillion Euros worth of damage occurred in the threedays of rioting. International and local media cov-ered the events live.

Once calm had returned to Kosovo, the UNaccused members of the local media of bias andunfair reporting that they said contributed to theescalation of violence. The media claim that theywere simply exercising their rights of freedom ofspeech as an information provider. The case hasrecently gone to court.

Freedom of expression, speech, media and presshas been fundamental to democratic thought and theway of life of a free society since it was first enshrinedin the Magna Charta, later the US Constitution’s Billof Rights and found its way into the United NationsCharter and the Constitutions of most countries.

But is this freedom absolute? And if not, to whatextent can it be restricted, under what circumstancesand by whom? And how does this apply to Kosovo?

Four months after the NATO humanitarian inter-vention and the establishment of the UNAdministration in Kosovo (UNMIK), the SecretaryGeneral authorized a Temporary Media Commission(TMC) for Kosovo under the control of theOrganization for Security and Cooperation inEurope (OSCE). The TMC is primarily staffed byinternational civil servants, and acts as the regulatoryagency for broadcast media, and a temporary licens-ing regime. The role of the TMC includes “uphold-ing the principles of freedom of opinion and expres-sion,” but also disciplinary authority “to ensurebroadcasters meet their licensing obligations”.

In addition, the TMC regulates the content of themedia, can suspend licenses and prohibit broadcasts.Decisions of the TMC can be appealed to a boardconsisting of international civil servants. The deci-sion of this board is final. Therefore, the internation-al community acts as both judge and jury regardingviolations of international standards by the media inKosovo. An uniquely undemocratic practice.

This should come as no surprise, as the concept offreedom of speech, expression and media regulationdiffers greatly among the 53 member states of theOSCE. The international community ran the riskthat policies regarding freedom of expression i.a. the

right to publish and broadcast would be exposed tothe specific expectations of certain OSCE memberstates at the expense of the concepts that are at theroot of democratic society, namely freedom of expres-sion and the right to self determination.

Since the TMC concept was unknown in any ofthe member states and not in sync with either inter-pretation mentioned above, how did the internation-al community come up with the idea of regulatingmedia with the TMC? Did the international commu-nity know something that the other nations did notknow? Would it have made more sense to adopt amodel already in practice in one of the memberstates? What are the problems of this new, unknownand untested concept? Is it in fact wise to test outsuch a new concept in an unstable, recently post-con-flict environment? Are the UN claims of media biason the part of the local press during the March 2004violence fair? Can the blame be shared by those whocreated the media industry in Kosovo?

These questions mean that the concept of theTMC in Kosovo requires a second look and begs fur-ther questions. Did the designers of the TMC comefrom the media industry in their own country? If so,what part of the industry (reporting, editing, man-agement, regulation, censorship, etc.)? Were theirexperiences more absolutist or restrictive regardingpress freedom?

Those responsible for media policy and the crea-tion of the TMC came from varied backgrounds.Very few came from the press industry in their ownstate but were rather new or career international civilservants with limited public information experience.They all did have something in common, namelythat no one served or worked in a system that wasmanaged, regulated or governed by a temporary orother media commissioner.

The concept of the TMC came about as a result ofinterpretation of events in the former Yugoslaviafrom 1989. It was believed that ethnic differencesand the resulting conflicts created an environmentwhere local media and information providers couldnot be trusted with the responsibility of un-bias orinflammatory reporting. The TMC concept wastherefore an attempt to gradually ease these societiesof the former Yugoslavia towards democratic think-ing and freedom of expression and the press.

Rather than draw on hundreds of years of experi-ence with absolutist and restrictive freedom models,the designers chose instead to create a new approachto media establishment and regulation. Instead oflinking establishment and regulation to either a mar-

Media Report: Kosovo*

by Rita Pollozhani

* Kosovo is administred under the civil authority of the United NationsMission to Kosovo (UNMIK), pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution1244 from June 1999; We deal with Kosovo separately and not within Serbia,because the legal status of the two jurisdictions is very different.

Media Report: Kosovo


ket oriented or government regulation model, theyopted to create a Commissioner beholden not todomestic actors but to international ones. Therefore,there was no “handbook” for the design of the mediacommissioner and, even more dangerous, there wereno lessons or practical examples of how to handleproblems that resulted from the creation and imple-mentation of such an office.

The result has been a freedom of expression andpress “third way”. This new approach has beencharged by all sides as being a less democraticapproach to media and content management.Accusations on the part of the local media in Kosovoinclude charges that the TMC alienates and dis-empowers the local media to report as they see fit.This includes requests by the local media to regulatethemselves or have a government body regulate themedia as an industry as is the practice in the memberstates of those who created the TMC in the first place.

All other problems stem from the points raisedabove. Is there a way out or is the media in Kosovotrapped in this cycle until the international commu-nity decides to adopt a workable model? An explana-tion to the unrest in March 2004 can be partiallyfound in this question. Of course the way forward ismore complex but very much possible.

A solution might be found in a re-evaluation of themedia and media relations in Europe and the UnitedStates. Media in Europe is generally characterized bya number of public owned and public programmedsources of information (TV, cable, radio, online, etc).Media in the United States is characterized by fewstate run or supported sources of information but alarge number of private market oriented informationoutlets (TV, cable, radio, online, etc).

Since regulation of these industries in both Europeand United States generally falls to a governmentagency that rates and periodically assesses content andcommissions made up of members of the media(management who provide a similar function), it isonly logical that the planners responsible for thedevelopment of the media in Kosovo find a solutionfound in either of these markets.

If the belief is that the unique situation of themedia in Kosovo after 1999, among other things amedia vacuum created by the removal of state runmedia structures and the general bias on the part oflocal media, that a new solution had to be found.

A more responsible international community plan-ning this new response would have to seek a solutionthat was either tested and proven to be reliable, orwould wait and properly plan, rather than submit tohastily constructed benchmarks.

Linking the solution (TMC) to the OSCE, anorganization without depth and practical media man-

aging experience, has only added to the growing listof problems facing the international community, asexperienced this past March.

Therefore, the OSCE should take advantage of theopportunity to bring senior management expertisefrom existing media companies and government reg-ulation agencies to manage the process.

This would have a number of advantages. First ofall, it takes the burden of regulation away from theOSCE. This is beneficial to all parties, as the direc-tion of OSCE and OSCE funded and administeredbodies comes from OSCE Headquarters in Vienna.Policies in Vienna are determined based on consen-sus between the 53 member states.

As we mentioned, policies being implementedtherefore are not necessarily developed or designedby the local community and are often times imple-mented above the protests of the local community.This current arrangement should strike the reader asboth odd and undermining the natural role of anydomestic regulatory agency, sending the signal thatthe local community is simply not quite ready totake on such responsibility.

Secondly, by reducing the initial role of the inter-national community regarding registration and regu-lation, you open a potential and truly independentrole for the international community on the MediaAppeals Board, if so desired.

The international community would work togeth-er with the local government and industry on thisindependent body in order to uphold, modify orrescind decisions of the TMC.

There are plenty of solutions on the table and it isnot clear what, if anything, will be done to correctthe problem. What is clear is that the events ofMarch 2004 have sent a clear signal that the currentsituation is untenable.

Research has shown that three years had passedbetween the date of the last regulatory decision takenby the TMC on 21 February 2001 and the latestTMC action calling into question the right of mediain Kosovo to publish and broadcast in Kosovo, inApril 2004.

It can be assumed that either the media in Kosovohad perfectly lived up to the standard set by theTMC or that the TMC routinely ignored violationsof their policies.

Hopefully, reform will come before further unrestshows that the international community has notlearned its lessons, nor seen the writing on the wall.And are the broad freedoms of the Anglo–Americanmodel, self regulated and limited largely through thecourts, or the more restricted model of continentalEurope and elsewhere, with its state control andhighly regulated market access the only possibilities?

Media Report: Macedonia (FYRoM)

Radio JournalistImprisionedRadio Station ChiefJournalist Zoran Bozinovskiwas imprisoned on 6 April2004 and held for a weekwithout trial. He wasreleased 13 Apri , as thelegal conditions of hisarrest were not fulfilled.Mr. Bozinovski had been thevictim of an assault twoyears prior, when police hadentered the radio stationwhere he worked, disguisedwith hoods and jackets, andbeaten him on the face andbody with metal bars.According to ReportersWithout Borders, Bozinovski“had been investigatingcorruption involving thehead of the Macedoniancustoms service.”

Charges of SlanderCommonOver 150 criminal chargeshave been pressed againstjournalists over the lastthree years for slanderingpublic figures, according toan announcement byRobert Popovski, presidentof AJM on 3 March.Macedonian Journalistshave repeatedly expressedtheir discontent throughprotests; on several occa-sions, journalists haverefused to cover stories ofimportance to the govern-ment, and on one occasionmarched to theMacedonian parliamentwearing T-shirts reading“beat us.”

‘Media First Aid Kit’The Association for PrivateElectronic Media inMacedonia (APEMM) hascreated what they call a“Media First Aid Kit.” Theyhave acquired 30.000Dollars worth of equipmentincluding TV and Radiotransmitters and mixingboards, donated by IREXand the German Embassyin Macedonia. This equip-ment can be loaned to it’smembers (media outlets)free of charge, should theirprograms be interrupted bynatural disasters or acts ofvandalism.


in Short

People Want Change,not an Unbiased Press

Macedonia, which was largely spared the ethnicconflicts in the early 1990’s, adopted a new constitu-tion in late 2001, that acknowledged the rights ofminorities and guaranteed freedom of speech to it’scitizens and it’s ethnic Albanian minority.Nevertheless, there is a lot of work to be done for freespeech in Macedonia, as most major media outletshave some sort of partisan affiliation.

The last few years have seen a steady rise in thenumber of privately owned media networks inMacedonia, in addition to the already existing stateowned ones. Nevertheless, both the ruling party andthe opposition maintain some form of influence overthe major individual media outlets, which are conse-quently often subject to “economical and ‘soft’ cen-sorship” according to a report published by theMedia Working Group in Macedonia (MWGM) inNovember 2003.

State owned public broadcaster MakedonskaRadioTelevizija (MRT) broadcasts on three televi-sion (MTV1, MTV2, MTV3) and three radio chan-nels, and is under relative control of the governmentas MRT’s general manager is elected by the parlia-ment, and tends to be replaced after each election,according to the International Press Institute’s (IPI)2003 World Press Freedom Review.

“MTV is always controlled by the ruling party,”says Branko Jovanovski, a Macedonian media expert.“It presents the views people should accept. But onlypeople that are hardcore followers of the ruling partywatch it and believe it.”

MTV3 is devoted to broadcasting in Macedonia’sminority languages, including 9 hours of Albanianprogramming per day, as well as Turkish, Romanian,Serbian, Vlachian and Bosnian language programs.

The programming on MTV3 has been deemed tobe of a “low professional standard” by IPI, whichJovanovski supports. “It is mostly dancing, and somenews in Albanian and Serbian” he says.

In addition to Macedonia’s state-owned media,there are also several privatly owned media outlets,including daily newspapers and newspapers thatpublish in Albanian. The three largest national dailynewspapers are owned by Westdeutsche AllgemeineZeitung corporation.

A1 and Sitel TV are the leading private televisionstations, however there are 54 other private televisionstations with local broadcast permits in Macedonia.There is also one national private radio station inMacedonia, and several local ones, however most ofthese stations are having financial difficulties and

consequently “have no funds to invest in profession-al journalism, good programs, and quality service tothe local communities,” according to IPI.

According to Jovanovski, the private TV networks“are not totally independent… but partly present thereal picture.” Sitel TV, he says, is owned by the lead-er of the Macedonian Socialist Party.

“When you compare the news from national TV(MTV) to the 3 or 4 other channels, you can see adifference. The facts will be the same, but the pres-entation differs,” explains Jovanovski. “The problemis, out in the rural areas people have nothing towatch except MTV, because they can’t afford satellitetelevision.”

The BBC has stated that “the broadcast media inMacedonia are loosely regulated with many pirateradio and TV stations operating in the country.”This has, on one particular occasion, allowed forimpassioned publishing from major journalists,when there were clashes between Macedonia’s gov-ernment and Albanian militants who, according toBBC “used what Radio Free Europe described as less-than-responsible language and words of outrighthate.”

In addition, there have been several infringementson the free speech of journalists over the last fewyears. According to A1 television, “Pressures, threats,lawsuits, beating, detention,” are measures which are“often applied on Macedonian journalists in order tokeep them silent.” A key example of this was journal-ist Zoran Bozinovski, who was illegally detained in apolice station for 7 days in April 2004. While thepress may be free, “journalists in Macedonia are not,”an A1 TV report said.

“It’s possible that journalists are scared of the rul-ing party, because they are powerful… the police canbeat them,” claims Jovanovski.

Furthermore, the Macedonian Information andLiason Service (MILS) reported in May 2004 that“Criminal Law has been amended… a prison sen-tence of 3 months to 3 years is anticipated for slan-der and insult.” This has, as expected, led to mediaself-censorship, a development which has been criti-cized by organizations such as the US Departmentfor International Development and the Associationof Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) Macedonia’s larg-est media watchdog.

Macedonia’s media associations are, in comparisonto it’s media outlets, very well structured. Accordingto the MWGM report, “this part of the media land-scape evolved into a relatively healthy and structuredarea.” This includes the AJM, which is part of theInternational Federation of Journalists (IFJ). TheAJM “has a massive membership, and has almostbecome an official voice of journalists in the country”

Media Report: Macedonia (Republic of Macedonia, FYRoM)


by Mazin Elfehaid

Free Press Stilla Long Way Off

The media situation in Modova reflects the tur-moil that had paralyzed the country since it becameindependent in 1991. A former Soviet republic,Moldova has been shackled by a crumbling infra-structure and an economy crippled by inadequateresources and legal institutions unable to support aneffective market economy. The Transdniestr regionon the Russian border tried to secede, and in 1992,a bloody civil war left political unity but culturaldivision.

With all this instability, new independent mediaoutlets have been slow to emerge. A legal code pro-tecting press freedom – particularly a law on accessto information – will be necessary to improve themedia situation in Moldova. There are also few inde-pendent printing houses outside government con-trol, and those there are charge high prices for badquality. And with a weak economy, becoming self-supporting is a problem for free media, especially inTransdniestr. The advertising market is small, andcompanies are reluctant to advertise products thatcannot be afforded by the average person.

In November 2003, parliament amended the lawto turn the state-run TeleRadio Moldova into a pub-lic service. However this did not guarantee indepen-dence from the ruling Communist Party. Along withthe other state-run media, the station openly cam-paigns for the Communist Party and fiercelyattacked opposition candidates during the 25 Maylocal election campaign. The central elections boardand the broadcasting coordination council did noth-ing to stop these electoral law violations.

A new criminal code, providing up to five yearsimprisonment for defamation, came into effect on12 June 2003, along with a law punishing incite-ment to vaguely-defined “extremist” activities andstrict new rules about handling environmental newspushed journalists further towards self-censorship.Currently, there is also no limit on damage claimsunder the Civil Code, which, according to journal-ists, has allowed certain claims in amounts designedto put media outlets out of business.

In response to pressure from media organizations,President Vladimir Voronin promised in March ofthis year to propose an amendment decriminalizinglibel, along with a limit to damage claims for defa-mation. Security Council Secretary Ion Morei hastold the press these provisions would be submitted toParliament “soon.”

Like the country as a whole, the independentmedia in Moldova too are in a developing phase.Most of the journalists have only recently graduated

from university and thus are very inexperienced withno older generation to serve as mentors. Senior jour-nalists and editors are still stuck in the communist-era traditions of propaganda journalism, accustomedto convincing readers, listeners and viewers ratherthan informing them. This situation inevitably leadsto internal tensions within the media institutions inboth print and broadcast over the contents of newsreports.

Thus a free press in Moldova is still a long way off,and the international community sometimes seemsto forget this small country between Romania andUkraine exists at all. Research is needed in order tofind solutions to printing problems, while directtraining is essential to produce more professionaljournalists and reporters. In addition, it will probablytake significant foreign investment to get an inde-pendent media strong enough to play its essentialrole in Moldova’s emerging democracy.

Media Report: Moldova

Live News RoundtableCensoredTeleRadio Moldova’s newpro-communist head, ArturEfremov, appointed by thestation’s regulatory board inJuly, censored a live discus-sion he said violated thestation’s rules about not giv-ing an unchallenged plat-form to the opposition.Dozens of journalists stagedprotests in the capital,Chisinau, against the lack ofpress freedom.

Media Groups ProtestAttack on JournalistSeveral media organisationsin Moldova have protestedthe assault and intimidationof cameraman Valeriu Timus,who was attacked while onduty for PRO TV Chisinau.They condemned the inci-dent in which two men incivilian clothes claiming tobe police officers tried tohold the Pro TV Chisinaucameraman at the Sundayprotest meeting organisedby the Christian Democraticparliamentary opposition.One covered the cameralenses with his palm andpushed Timus into a car forquestioning, until a group ofprotesters came to thejournalist’s aid, while uni-formed police stood by.A Russian television teamcaptured the incident onvideo and it was broadcaston PRO-TV Chisinau news.

TeleRadio MoldovaJournalist ArrestedOn 6 September, Dinu Mija,cameramen for TeleradioMoldova was beaten up byparamilitary forces close toTirastpol regime when hetried to do a report on thesituation at the railwayswitchponit in Bender. Hewas released on 13 Sep-tember after a week in pris-on.


in Short Media Report: Moldova

in Greece is, compared to other countries in South EastEurope, less fractionalized, in fact strongly“hellenizised,” yet still not regionalized enough.

In many Balkan countries, still in a difficult process ofpolitical, cultural and societal transition, trying to peeloff or simply to forget the history of authoritariansystems, you feel the difficulty and sometimes even akind of ineptitude in the cultivation of identity betweenundifferentiated pride, on the one hand, and thereadiness to get lost in imported modernity on the other.Greece has proven, both traditionally and in media, tohave good and sensitive relations with Serbia, but veryweak and guilt-laden ones to the other Balkan countries.In analysing media content, according to experts fromAthens University, there is no getting away from theimpression that the Balkan discourse in the Greek mediais rather unilateral, if there is one at all.

Greece, although geographically situated within theBalkans, is, in terms of media communications, aseparate island, keen to closely follow its internal agenda.On that point, Greece is in a challenging situation. Onthe one hand, it can not fail to be affected by theneighbouring Balkan countries, struggling through tran-sition, reaching for new values, new horizons, newpriorities, and new public behaviour, for downsizeddreams of democracy and illusions of interactivity – all-in-all new world views.

On the other hand, when you ask it’s neighbours, youget the impression that Greece is not really focused onthe Balkan countries. It is oriented instead to its otherEuropean neighbours. Is Greece, or rather, are the Greekmedia missing out on the challenge of the future, thatlies right next door?

➤ Media Report: Greece continued from page 25

by Dardis McNamee

Media Report: Montenegro

MBC Gains in TVRatings April marked a ratingsincrease for the MBC TVnews program Naslovnastrana. According to thelatest Strategic Marketingand Media ResearchInstitute (SMMRI) surveyconducted in late March,Naslovna Strana showed astrong increase in audi-ence share. The nightlynews program began withapproximately 6,000 view-ers, then jumped to over30,000 viewers in October2003, and now hasincreased to an average of45,300 viewers.Opposition EditorMurderedDusko Jovanovic, the con-troversial publisher andEditor in Chief of the oppo-sition daily Dan, was killedin a drive-by shooting inthe early morning of 27May, as he was leaving hisoffice in the Montenegrincapital of Podgorica,according to local andinternational news reports.Unidentified assailantsused an automatic rifle toshoot Jovanovic in thehead and chest just aftermidnight, as he was get-ting into his car. Head ofthe OSCE Mission to Serbiaand Montenegro,Ambassador MaurizioMassari, strongly con-demned the incident andcalled on the Montenegrinauthorities to bring theperpetrators to justice.„There can be no free soci-ety without a free media.And there is no free mediaif journalists have to workin an atmosphere of vio-lence and fear,“ he said.Jovanovic had facednumerous lawsuits for crit-icizing Prime Minister MiloDjukanovic. The primeminister had sued him forarticles linking him to ahuman trafficking scandal.


in Short

Divided AlligencesShape Media Politics

During the last 15 years, Montenegrin society haspassed through a process of immense social andpolitical transformation, which continues to this day.Throughout the prolonged campaign against theBelgrade regime of Slobodan Milosevic, the Westinvested substantially in Montenegro’s state-ownedand private media sector. At that time, media outletswere viewed as a potent weapon in the fight againstMilosevic and his allies in Montenegro and Belgrade.

However, since the insurrection in Serbia unseatedMilosevic in October 2000, Montenegro has wit-nessed a change in Western attitudes towards itsmedia sector, with new investment, and cooperationfrom international organizations. After Milosevic’sfall, Montenegrans themselves expected a new open-ness, and things seemed indeed to move ahead –until the assassination of Serbia’s first post-MilosevicPrime Minister, Zoran Djindic, in March 2003,while he was stepping out of his car in front of a gov-ernment building in the capital, Belgrade.

Parliament Speaker Natasa Micic became actinghead of the government the same day and immedi-ately imposed a state of emergency authorizing theCulture and Public Information Ministry to restrictmedia reporting on the situation.

Oversight of the media became increasingly polit-icized in March, when the Serbian government reap-pointed former Djindjic propagandist Vladimir„Beba“ Popovic to head its CommunicationsBureau. Popovic relied on threats and politicizedlawsuits to intimidate and silence journalists whocriticized government policies.

Current Situation of the Montenegrin Media

Today, both electronic and print media can be cat-egorized by political orientation, while at the sametime they also demonstrate a largely professionalapproach to their own media policies and newscoverage.

Their political orientation reveals itself in thetreatment of questions like whether or notMontenegro should remain united with Serbia; dis-cussions of identity, within the framework of SamuelHuntington’s ‘clash of civilizations,’ cultural iden-tities show the way in which cultural identities seekseek their own way toward an independent identityor as a sovereign state. In the end, a reader or view-er finds the so-called media diversity at some dis-tance, through the binoculars of ‘‘us versus them.’’

However, understanding the “other” usually helps

us to understand a part of ourselves. And while help-ing define identities – or ’civilizations’ – throughnational and international discourse could be said tobe the number one communicative competence ofthe media, most of the media in Montenegro do notplay this role in any meaningful way.

Print MediaThe print media is represented by three daily

“home-grown” newspapers, which cover thecountry’s small market of 620.000 inhabitants:

The oldest newspaper is the 50-year old Pobjeda, agovernment-funded, post-communist “dinosaur,”supporting the Montenegrin independence move-ment.

Vijesti is the country’s first independent daily,financially self-supporting, offering the most objec-tive coverage one can expect in the local political cir-cumstances and within such a small media market.Established in 1997 with the first round of privateinvestment, it became over the next six years num-ber one in the market and attracted the interest ofthe German WAZ media group, which bought amajority interest.

Dan, a former pro-Serbian opposition newspaper,was founded six years ago and became nationallyfamous for its sensational, yellow-press reporting onpolitical scandals. Its founder and Editor in Chief,Dusko Jovanovic, was killed earlier this year, late atnight while leaving his office, in what was the firstplaned assassination of a professional journalist inMontenegro and so far the biggest threat to mediafreedom in the country’s history. Although an inten-sive police investigation produced a couple of arrests,the people behind this tragic and shocking eventhave still not been identified.

There are also quite a few weekly magazines andnewspapers in Montenegro, among which Monitor,founded in 1990, was the first independent weeklyto survive financially and politically throughout thedark 90’s while still holding to its own journalisticprinciples.

Electronic MediaThe electronic media sector can be divided in

three segments: radio, TV, and online media.Probably the most influential broadcasting agent,RTVCG (the Montenegrin national TV and RadioStation), is going through a complex transition froma state-owned broadcasting station to an open systemoriented toward public service.

Other nation-wide TV-stations include In TV,

Media Report: Montenegro*

by Filip Radunovic

* Montenegro is part of the Federation of Serbia and Montenegro. We dealwith Montenegro separately and not within Serbia, because of the sig-nificant autonomy of each of the two Republics.

Media Report: Montenegro


Elmag, Montena, Sky Sat and TV Pink, whichalong with some other local TV-Stations (TVBudva, TV Niksic etc.) represent the Montenegrinelectronic media market, again defined by politicalorientation, and are often supported by their ownradio stations.

There are also a couple of online-news agencies,dating from the late 90’s, including MNNews, thefirst, and so far the only, Montenegrin news andinformation agency, established in 1999, and onlinesince March 2002 over it’s online affiliate Mina(http://www.mina.cg.yu/), divided into a general

to “going local.” VIVA hosts speak exclusively inHungarian, and although a great portion of nation-al and international rock and pop music and info-tainment content is in English, German or otherlanguages, this suites VIVA junkies just fine; it sim-ply fulfils the regional youth’s musical tastes.

Not surprisingly, Hungarian VIVA was recentlydubbed “the coolest, most trendy media,” byHungarian youth, particularly because of their 24-hour programme of mainstream music plus its localflavour focusing on the Hungarian youth culture.

“We play the latest, most fresh and newest music,before the radio stations do,” says Baranyai. As thecompany defined their aesthetic goal of “being asupporter of the local, Hungarian youth,” their rep-ertoire consists of a mixture of half Hungarian andhalf international, European and US music clips.

VIVA Hungary is the beneficiary of the country’sMedia Act on Radio and Television, that came intoeffect in February 1996. This abolished the monop-oly of state broadcasting, and institutionalised abasically dualistic broadcasting system consisting of

➤ Media Report: Hungarycontinued from page 26

and a business news service. In fact, “independent”media in this circle are hard to find.

A second on line agency, NGO Pronen, a “groupof enthusiasts, who are trying to cope with the mod-ern information society” through their first big pro-ject - PCNEN (http://www.pcnen.cg.yu/ - “PrveCrnogorske Nezavisne Elektronske Novine” – FirstMontenegrin Independent Online Newspaper).

Both online agents follow the highest professionaland ethical journalist standards in Montenegrotoday.

commercial and other broadcasters. Z+ BroadcastingCorp. was Hungary’s first big success, going on theair in 1997 under its founder, and now manager, Le-vente B. Malnay, with financing from Time Warner.VIVA Hungary took the station over in 2001, andZ+ is now programming under the VIVA brand.

Hungary has – with around 50% - a comparative-ly high level of cable penetration among televisionhouseholds, VIVA is currently operating with a staffof 60 people with all the company’s departments -sales & business, creative, marketing and program-ming and its headquarters are located in a humbleoffice in the city of Budapest. In addition to itsHungarian subsidiary, VIVA Media AG has profit-able subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Poland.

the MWGM report said. Macedonia’s media landscape is one of develop-

ment and optimism. On one hand, media outletsare largely unprofessional and government influ-enced. Journalists often face attacks, both verbaland physical for the execution of their jobs. On theother hand, media watchdog organizations such asAJM are thriving in Macedonia.

Some are not so optimistic about it though. “Thesituation may be getting better, if you look back tenyears and compare it to today, but the change is nothappening that fast,” says Jovanovski, quickly add-ing that “free media is not a priority like in Europeor in the US. We were a communist country for 50

➤ Media Report: Macedonia,continued from page 29

years, so we are used to state-owned media. People donot care about this; they want changes in their life,not an unbiased press,” he claims, hinting atMacedonia’s high poverty rate.

Media Report: Romania


Vigilante JusticeAgainst Journalists

More than most countries of the former EastBlock, Romania survives in a world of appearances.Journalists find themselves caught between theirproprietors’ private interests and public roles, andbecome victims of censorship and harassment.

While Romania is hoping to join the EU in 2007,it finds itself regularly under the microscope for pat-terns of corruption that reach the highest level ofgovernment. Three ministers sacked by Prime Min-ister Adrian Nastase in October 2003 were accusedof corruption and „barons“ of the ruling SocialDemocratic Party (PSD) who hold political and eco-nomic sway in the provinces are regularly exposed ascorrupt.

However they are not disposed to allow criticism,as they wish to be seen as fighting a brave fightagainst corruption, both by the EU and by the vot-ers in the run-up to 2004 parliamentary and presi-dential elections.

But the harassment is real. Four journalistswerebadly beaten after investigating corruption by PSDofficials and businessmen. The enquiry appears to bestall indefinitely.

At national level, a lack of diversity in new pro-gramming on TV and radio continues to stand in theway of any meaningful press freedom. And defama-tion laws push journalists to self-censorship.

In May, the government proposed a “decriminal-isation of insults,” making these offences punishableonly by fines. With a ceiling of 3,000 Euros for jour-nalists whose average monthly salary is 200 Euros,this remains an effective form of censorship. Andnews that harm the „honour of the country“ wouldbe punishable by one to five years of prison. Currentlaw already provides up to four years for „insults“and defamation of public figures.

Even more terrifying is the high risk of individualthreats on Romanian journalists on the job. In addi-tion to the over 400 law suits against journalists forlibel and slander in 2002 alone, the high rate of vig-ilante justice against journalists has reached criticalproportions, practised by not only private individu-als, but also by members of the gendarmerie and citymayors. These threats include physical aggressionand threats to life, and are listed in detail in theannual reports of the International Press Institute.

Aggression against photographers remains high inRomania, a culture in which unsolicited photogra-phy was illegal as recently as last February when thelaw forbidding the taking of photographs of digni-taries without their consent was repealed.

In spite of all this, independent media continues

to grow in an increasingly competitive market.Several hundred daily and weekly newspapers arepublished. Several private television stations broad-cast nationwide, and there are numerous other privatelocal television and radio stations. Approximately 4million households have cable television, giving sig-nificant portions of the population access to privateand foreign broadcasts.

State Television (RTV), Radio Romania, and theEuropa FM radio network remain the only nationalbroadcasters able to reach the majority of the ruralpopulation. Other stations continue to enlarge theircoverage by over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmis-sions.

Television is the preferred source of news of almost80 percent of the population, and a recent survey bythe National Audiovisual Council (CNA) reportedthat over 85 percent of households have at least onetelevision set.

Print and electronic media coverage generallyreflects the political views of owners and covers a widerange of the political spectrum, particularly in thesmall cities and rural areas. Private television avoidsdirect criticism of the Government and ruling party,particularly on corruption or other controversialissues, justifying the fears of self censorship raised bythe media watch dogs, a reluctance due to owners’fears that the Government would retaliate by seekingback taxes or auditing stations.

Media NGOs such as the Media MonitoringAgency and the Center for Independent Journalismreported that the prime time newscasts of the fourlargest television networks (RTV, ProTV, Antena 1,and Prima TV) were generally biased in theGovernment’s favor.

Media Report: RomaniaPress Freedom andSafety of Journalists:RSF Visits Romania Complaints of growingharassment, censorshipand legal persecution per-suaded a delegation fromReporters Without Bordersto visit Romania in lateMarch. In the past fewmonths there have beenseveral brutal attacks onjournalists investigatingcorruption implicatinglocal authorities, andpolice had failed to identi-fy those behind theattacks. The timing wasparticularly urgentbecause of the fall elec-tions, seen as crucial to theprocess of its becoming amember of the EuropeanUnion.In a report entitled„Caught between OldHabits and DemocraticStrides: Romanian Press ata Crossroads,“ the organ-ization described analarming situation in theprovinces, where themedia’s independence isroutinely obstructed bythe conflicts of interest oftheir owners, and the fewremaining investigativejournalists are in constantdanger. In 2003, four jour-nalists who were investi-gating corruption casesinvolving local politiciansand businessmen, werebrutally assaulted.

in Short

by Lisa-Marie Gotsche

* Serbia is part of the Federation of Serbia and Montenegro. We deal withSerbia separately and not within Montengro, because of the significantautonomy of each of the two Republics.

in Short300 Journalists andEditors Charged inThree Years There were some 300 charg-es raised against journalistsand editors in Serbiabetween 2001 and 2004,according to a study by theIndependent JournalismAssociation of Serbia, about200 of which have ended upin court. The suits have beenfiled mainly by the formerfunctionaries of defeatedpolitical parties (SPS, JUL,SRS) as retribution for arti-cles detailing cases of mal-feasance.

One Year Since Attackon Media Owner6 July 2004 marked the anni-versary of the car bombattack on Kurir and GlasJavnosti owner RadisavRodic. According to BelgradePolice Spokesperson BiljanaKajganic, the case stillremains open, but policehave no significant leads.

Campaign CoverageMore ProfessionalRadio and Television Serbiashowed the most profession-al approach in the coverageof the June 2004 presidentialcampaigns, according to areport by the BroadcastingAgency on the media behav-ior. BK Television was singledout by contrast, as an exam-ple of poor reporting.However the report alsowarned that BK’s coveragehad been less professionalthan during previous cam-paigns.

New HungarianWeeklyA new Hungarian weekly,Heti Usjag, has beenlaunched in Novi Sad.According to Antal Bozsoki,the owner, the paper is aresponse to the recent moveby the VojvodinianParliament to transfer found-ing rights over papers inminority languages to theminorities’ National Councils.


Media Report: Serbia

Developement Linkedto Independent Media

At the Regional World Press Freedom Day on 3May in Belgrade, President of Serbia andMontenegro Svetozar Marovic took a firm stand onthe importance of press freedom to Serbia’s future.

“Economic development is linked to the freedomof the media,” Marovic said, “and therefore politicalinstitutions should create legal frameworks that willensure the enduring freedom of the media.”

Ambassador Maurizio Massari of the OSCE Mis-sion to Serbia and Montenegro reiterated his sup-port. “The priority for the OSCE is the adoptionand implementation of key legislation – like theBroadcasting Act, the Telecommunications Act, theLaw on Free Access to Information – necessary toestablish the right environment for the developmentof pluralistic and free media, in accordance withinternational and European standards.

For Serbia, these are not just empty words. Severalmedia had been shut down or fined during theseven-week state of emergency that lasted from theassassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic on12 March 2003. Journalists had been forbidden tofile any reports on the killing that were not con-firmed by the authorities or to criticize the state ofemergency itself. Two journalists were imprisoned aspart of the murder enquiry.

Amid unstable political and institutional condi-tions, the media reform eargerly awaited after thefall of the Slobodan Milosevic was suspended. A July2002 Media Law, to turn the state radio and TV(RTS) into a publicly-run body, was not implement-ed and without authorization for outside funding, itremained totally dependent on the government.

The April election of the Broadcasting Councilwas marred by irregularities and several internation-al institutions, including The European Re-construction Agency, the European Commissionand the OSCE suspended their aid in protest.

Parliament did recognise the right of journalists toprotect sources except in cases of „serious crime“ andguaranteed access to public data, a promise it didnot keep. Spreading “war propaganda” was bannedas was news likely to have “serious or irreversibleconsequences.“

Lawsuits against journalists increased, and Com-munications Chief Vladimir “Beba“ Popovic wasforced to resign in July because of his harassment ofthe media.

Freedom of InformationFinally, on 8 September, the Serbian government

submitted a draft legislation on freedom of access toinformation – covering anything of “public impor-tance” during the past 20 years. The law creates anOffice of the Commissioner for Information ofPublic Interest, and applies to journalists and thegeneral public, with proven discrimination punish-able by high fines. However, the IndependentJournalist Association of Serbia (NUNS) warned thatthe law might prove burdensome, and that legitimateexceptions need to be provided for.

The Broadcast Agency Council, intended as anindependent regulatory authority of the broadcastmedia, has encountered legal barriers in the appoint-ment of its members.

According to Ambassador Massari, “transparencyand independence from any political or economicinterests must prevail in the ongoing operation of theBroadcast Council.”

On 24 August, the Serbian Parliament passed theLaw on Amendments and Supplements to theBroadcasting Law with broad-based support, stipu-lating time frames for the appointment of theBroadcasting Council’s members, and forcing termlimits that worry some media organizations.

Media Report: Serbia

by Valery Crab

Advertisement

Media Report: Slovenia


Closing of RadioTrieste ProtestedThe Slovene Ministry ofForeign Affairs has publiclyprotested the plannedclosing of Radio Trieste, aprogram of the Italianstate channel RTV RAI. TheSlovene-language pro-gram, serving the Sloveneminority in Italy, is provid-ed for by statute as part ofthe Law for the Protectionof the Slovene Minority inthe Furlanija-JulijskaKrajina.

Disclosure of theSalaries of LeadingStaff at RTSThe forced disclosure ofexecutive salaries hasoffended the manage-ment of RTS (RadioTelevision Slovenia), amove it had resisted sincethe end of 2003. Manythought the salariesunsuitably high, accordingto the Slovene news ser-vice SAFAX. The RTS man-agement plans to sue theofficial responsible forrelease of the information,judged as “of public signif-icance” under the terms ofthe new PublicInformation Law.

Primorske Novice toPublish DailyThe community weeklynewspaper of the Slovenelittoral zone, Primorskenovice, began appearingas a daily on 27 September,joining Delo, Vecer,Dnevnik, Slovenske novice,Ekipa and Finance as thecountry’s seventh dailypaper.

in Short

Slovenia Sets MediaStandards for SEE

Slovenia at number 14 ranks highest of all the SEEcountries in the Press Freedom Index of ReportersSans Frontiers, and ahead of most Western Europeancountries with the exception of the Scandinavia,Germany and France. Thus they, in many ways, setthe media standards for the SEE region.

As elsewhere, the Slovenian constitution providesfreedom of speech and of the press, and a 2003 lawprovides free public access to “information of publiccharacter” controlled by state or local institutionsand their agents.

But while the government generally respects theserights in practice, indirect political and economicpressures continue to influence the media, resultingin occasional self-censorship acts. In addition, as inthe United States, advertisers pressure media outletsto present various issues in certain ways, resulting inlittle separation of marketing and editorial decision-making.

For example, in spite of promises to the contrary,Styria, the 2003 Austrian buyer of the Slovenianpublishing company Dnevnik, soon began to suggestfundamental changes to editorial practice – in thiscase eliminating the requirement for journalists’ con-sent to the appointment of editors in chief. The deci-sion, heavily criticised by the Society of Journalists ofSlovenia, is considered significant because of thewide spread respect for the company’s publications,Dnevnik, the third biggest Slovenian daily, and theweekly Nedeljski dnevnik.

In June 2004 the Journalists Union proposedchanges to the ten year-old Slovenian collective con-tract, defining the status of free-lancers. Already 30percent of all Slovene journalists, the free-lancers areoften resented as unfair competition with no alle-giance to the paper. On the other hand, the free-lanc-ers themselves need legal protection against exploita-tion. Management rejected the proposed changes,suggesting tough battle ahead, and the journalists’unions have begun preparations for a fall strike.

There are six national television channels inSlovenia, three part of the government-subsidizedRTV Slovenia network, and three independent, pri-vate stations. Foreign broadcasts are accessible via sat-ellite and cable and all major towns have radio sta-tions and cable television.

Minority language television and radio broadcastsare also available, and there is a newspaper for theethnic Italian minority living on the Adriatic coast.Bosnian refugees and the Albanian community alsohave newsletters in their own languages, and foreignnewspapers, magazines, and journals are widely avail-able.

The most serious human rights abuse on theSlovenian media scene was the 2001 assault and beat-ing of journalist Miro Petek, of the Maribor dailyVecer. An investigation by the Maribor Prosecutor’sOffice in Slovenj Gradec has now brought 5 indict-ments against suspects in the attempted murder ofthe respected journalist, who had published a seriesof articles on fraud and corruption by the police,public officials and business leaders. Miro Petek dis-appointed his colleagues in August of this year, whenhe announced his decision to stand for parliament.

Media Report: Slovenia

by Ana Znidar

Advertisement

35

36 deScripto Autumn 2004

S·E·E the DialogueThe South East EuropeMedia Organisation (SEEMO)is a non-governmental, non-profit network of editors,media executives and lead-ing journalists from newspa-pers, magazines, radio, TV,internet, new media andnews agencies in South EastEurope. With its committeesin Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,Croatia, Cyprus, Greece,Hungary, Kosovo, Republic ofMacedonia (Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia),Moldova, Montenegro,Romania, Serbia, Sloveniaand Turkey, SEEMO aims tocreate a bridge between theinternational media activ-ities and the media develop-ments in the region.

In 2003 SEEMO gatheredover 500 editors-in-chief,media executives and lead-ing journalists from SouthEast Europe in differentmeetings. In the same year,SEEMO reacted in 57 cases ofpress freedom violations.SEEMO has over 400 individ-ual members from all coun-tries of South East Europe.

SEEMO Secretary General:Oliver Vujovic

SEEMO Board:President: Radomir Licina(Danas, Belgrade)Members: Remzi Lani(Albanian Media Institute,Tirana), Samra Luckin (BoramNetwork, Sarajevo), StjepanMalovic (ICEJ, Opatija), RistoPopovski (Makfax, Skopje),Ognian Zlatev (MediaDevelopment Center, Sofia)

SEEMO - IPISPIEGELGASSE 2/29A-1010 VIENNAAUSTRIATEL: + 43 1 – 513 39 40FAX: + 43 1 – 512 90 15E-MAIL: [email protected]: www.seemo.org

Media as Tolerance PromotersInternational Workshop

South East Europe Media Organisation(SEEMO), in co-operation with German FriedrichEbert Stiftung and International Center forEducation of Journalists (ICEJ), organised an inter-national workshop titled “Media as TolerancePromoters” in Opatija, from 3-5 June 2004.“Österreichisches Kuratorium für Presseausweise”and “Verband der Österreichischen Zeitungen” gavefinancial support. Leading journalists, editors, mediaexperts and public servants from former Yugoslavrepublics, as well as representatives of journalists’unions and media organisations, took part in theworkshop.

During the workshop, participants pointed outexisting problems in the countries of formerYugoslavia and between them. The participantsexchanged their experiences, discussed and tried togive some answers to dilemmas they confront dailywhile doing their job. The participants did agree inone thing – that they will personally promote toler-ance in the area they come from.

SEEMO Dialogue Meeting between Editors-in-Chief, Media Executives andLeading Journalists of Aromanian / Vlachian /Vlasi Media from Central and South EasternEurope

Representatives of the Vlach media from SouthEast Europe met in Sofia on 25-26 May 2004 at ameeting organised by the South East Europe MediaOrganisation (SEEMO), in co-operation with theInternational Press Institute and MediaDevelopment Center from Sofia, and with financialsupport from the Austrian Development Agency(ADA).

The Vlachs in the Balkans are comprised of sever-al different communities: Romanian Vlachs (living

in an enclave in the Timok region in Bulgaria andSerbia); Aromanian Vlachs, who live in towns andmainly highland population centers in Albania,Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia andCroatia (Istro-Romanians); and the groups of theMegleno-Romanians (Greece and Turkey). As aresult of specific processes of migration as well as anextensive network of institutions, the community istrans-national in character.

The debates, conclusions and questions raised atthe meeting demonstrated the extensive prospects ofVlach media in the context of European prioritiesregarding the promotion of identity, cultural speci-ficity, as well as opportunities for realisation of eth-nic communities on the Balkans. The meeting con-tributed both to the search for answers and to thecreation of new, more favourable conditions for thedevelopment, proliferation and popularisation of thespecific culture of the Vlachs in South East Europe.

SEEMO Dialogue Meetingbetween Editors-in-Chief, Media Executives andLeading Journalists from Bosnia and Herzegovina

The South East Europe Media Organisation(SEEMO), in co-operation with Media PlanInstitute from Sarajevo and with financial supportfrom the Austrian Development Agency (ADA),organised a meeting of editors-in-chief and directorsof media from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federationof Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) inNeum on 25-27 June 2004.

Two topics were examined in the framework ofdiscussions on the media situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina:

1. Challenges and dilemmas: Atractiveness,Ethics, Market

2. Journalists in court: Initial Experiences in theApplication of the Defamation Law

The participants stressed that the media situation

SEEMO Activity ReportSEEMO Activity Report

SEEMO Dialogue Meeting in Neum, Bosnia& Herzegovina

▼

Phot

o:SE

EMO

Arch

ive

Phot

o:Sl

obod

an P

olic

SEEMO Dialogue Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria

on deScripto


University of Vienna, Department ofMedia and Communication ScienceAn Overcrowded Institution:Communications at the University of Vienna

Founded in 1942, the Institute ofCommunication and Media Studies at theUniversity of Vienna developed from its originalfocus on newspaper analysis (including history, pub-lic opinion, journalism) to add a social and culturalstudies unit, where research and teaching now focuson a broad critical analysis of societal communica-tion.

The program incorporates not only the profession-al studies of journalism and public relations, but alsoa broader field of sociological, psychological or edu-cational analysis of media communication, criticallyobserving the mutual relationship between mediacommunication and society. So you find lecturesalong professional lines, in the theory and practice ofjournalism, media management, advertising, mediaeconomy, media psychology, media education,media research; other programs follow the mediathemselves, scientifically analyzing newspaper, radio,television, and internet, and the political or conver-sational media seen in the historical or contempora-ry contexts of politics, economy, culture and civilsociety.

Research current includes media history, mediaand xenophobia, environmental media, interculturalcommunication, and many other.

The institute is one of the largest in the world,with about 6.500 currently enrolled students –future journalists, public relations professionals,organizational communicators, or as new entrepren-eurs at the online field. University television andradio stations are small but fine workshops for mediaexperiments. Now the magazine deScripto addsanother work in progress – this time expanding intothe world of international media.

-> http://www.univie.ac.at/Publizistik

Webster University ViennaWebster University Vienna is one of the five

European campuses of Webster World Wide, offe-ring an American university education to studentsaround the globe. Founded in St. Louis Missouri,U.S.A., in 1915, Webster University serves over20,000 students worldwide of over 100 differentnationalities, emphasizing academic excellence, criti-cal thinking, inter-cultural understanding and con-tribution to the community.

The Vienna campus was established in 1981 at theinvitation of the local government, and is accreditedboth in the US and Austria. With 450 students ofover 60 nationalities, Webster Vienna offers smallclasses and personal attention in a climate of acade-mic rigor. The Media Communications major atWebster offers a Newspaper Production Workshopthat puts out respected paper of news and opinioncalled the Jugendstil, distributed throughoutVienna’s international community, and in coffeehouses and hotels throughout the central city. -> http://www.webster.ac.at

College for Journlism - FHW ViennaThe FHW - Journalism is a recent addition to a

program of the nine courses of study of theUniversity of Applied Sciences for Communicationand Business Management (FHW Fachhochschuleder Wiener Wirtschaft) in Vienna.

Launched in the autumn of 2003, FHW-Journalism is an independently-funded and practi-cally-based education at the highest academic stan-dard. Over the 8-semester course, FHW-Journalismprovides students with professional, practical andhighly relevant training that follows advances in tech-nology, changes within the media and the advent ofthe online market. Meeting the demand for profes-sionally competitive and well-trained people to facethe new challenges in the industry.-> http://www.fhw.ac.at

in the country is still unstable and that the conse-quences of propagandistic journalism imminent tothe previous system, transformed during the warinto warmongering and inflammatory journalism,have still not disappeared. However, hate speech onethnic ground has lately mutated into a specific formof conflict within the media community and certainmedia outlets and prominent political figures.

The second topic, application of the DefamationLaw, also provoked a lot of interest. Defamation wasdropped from the Penal Code. In 2003, 196 lawsuits

Organizations behind deScripto Project▼ for defamation in the media were filed in the BiH

Federation and 60 in the Republika Srpska. Most ofthe plaintiffs and defendants are journalists, mediaoutlets and public figures. These cases mostly regard-ed what was written in the press.

The conclusion of the meeting was that intensiveeducation of journalists should continue and thatjournalists and media associations should take anextensive look at the situation in the area of protec-tion of media freedoms and the conditions in whichthe media market functions.

University of Vienna,Department of Media andCommunication ScienceSchopenhauerstrasse 32A-1180 Vienna, AustriaContact Person:Thomas A. Bauer+43 1 4277 [email protected]

Webster University ViennaBerchtoldsgasse 1,A-1220 Vienna, Austria

Contact Person:Dardis McNamee+43 1 269 9293 - [email protected]

College for Journalism,FHW ViennaWähringer Gürtel 97A-1180 Vienna, AustriaContact Person:Daniela Süssenbacher+43 1 [email protected]

SEEMO - IPISpiegelgasse 2/29A-1010 Vienna, AustriaContact Person:Kristina BenkoticTel: + 43 1 – 513 39 40Fax: + 43 1 – 512 90 [email protected]

Review


ConferenceScientific Cooperation in South EasternEurope – Programs, Projects, InitiativesAn Special Event in Alpbach on 27 August

The co-operation with South Eastern Europe inscience and research is embedded in the FrameProgram 6, reaffirmed in June 2004 by the EuropeanCouncil. Austria has developed various programs tomeet actual demands of the scientific community inthe region. On 27 August, at the AlpbachTechnology Forum 2004, well-known Austrian sci-entists and agents from South Eastern Europe dis-cussed a couple of Austrian initiatives in a workinggroup.

For instance, the FP6 project ERA WestBalkanfocuses on bi-lateral and muliti-lateral networks tore-integrate scientists from Ex-Yugoslavia into theEuropean research area. “A lot of laboratories weredestroyed in the war, and many scientists emigrat-ed”, states Manfred Horvat, director of the AustrianBureau for International Research and TechnologyCooperation. “So there are two things to focus on:rebuilding the infrastructure to give South Europeanscientists more opportunities and enhancing theUniversities to enable a new generation of youngexperts.”

Agents from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia andMacedonia took part in the discussion and explainedtheir individual needs and problems. In the end, allparticipants agreed that although there had beenmany successes in the past, there is still much workto be done. It is not only up to Western Europe todevelop initiatives, progress always has to start in theregions concerned as well.by Wolfgang Luef

BookDie sterbenden Europäerby Karl-Markus Gauß

In his book ‘Die sterbenden Europäer – TheDying Europeans’ – Austrian author Karl MarkusGauß walks on the tracks of nearly forgotten nation-alities, rediscovering their past. Five travel reportsprovide interesting anecdotes as well as solid historicbackground information about the Sephards ofSarajevo; the Gottschee living in Slovenia; theArbëreshe living in southern Italy; the Sorbes of east-ern Germany and the Aromunes of Macedonia.With this book Gauß gives people, whose culturaland ethnic background is almost forgotten, a voiceto be heard in Europe – before it is too late.

Published in German by the Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag (dtv) Munich, 2002 by Matthias Huter

BookBalkan Ghostsby Robert Kaplan

While the Balkan countries have come a long waysince 1991, this extraordinary political travelogue isstill one of the best portraits of the region available inany language. From the assassination of the ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo that set off WorldWar I to the ethnic warfare that has swept throughBosnia, Croatia and now Kosovo, the Balkans havebeen the crucible of the 20th century—the placewhere terrorism and genocide were first practiced astools of policy. This book was the work of a decadeof travel and research, and one of the still few booksin English to portray the threads of history, cultureand religion that have shaped the Balkans

Published in English by St. Martin’s Press,New York, 1993.Published in German as Die Geister des Balkan,Kabel Verlag, 1993

by Dardis McNamee

BookBlack Lamb and Grey Falconby Rebecca West

Part travelogue, part history, part love letter,Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is amasterpiece that goes beyond any definition of genre.Elegantly written and as passionate as it is, rich in thedetails of history, culture and observation, it is theportrait of the Balkan peoples in the building ten-sions of the years immediately preceding World WarII. West visited Yugoslavia for the first time in 1936,and again in 1938. As she chronicles her travels, shemeanders through countless historical digressions;through winding narratives of battles, slavery, andassassinations, through literature and art into theheart of human frailty. Shadowed by the coming war,West searches for universals among the complex par-ticulars of Balkan history. The title refers to Westernsociety’s double infatuation with sacrifice, that thosewho hate are all too ready to martyr the innocent fortheir own advantage, and the innocent to offer them-selves up for sacrifice. To West, in 1941, “the wholeworld is a vast Kosovo, an abominable blood-loggedplain.” Unfortunately, says literary critic Mary Parks,little has happened since then to prove her wrong.

Published in English by Penguin 20th Century Classics,London, 1993

by Dardis McNamee

Review

Preview


WorkshopRisk Communication A Challenge in an Enlarged EuropePlace European Journalism Centre, Netherlands Time 16 – 21 October 2004Info http://www.ejc.nl or [email protected]

The workshop is aiming at advanced journalismstudents and young media professionals from any ofthe current (old and new) EU Member States. Thesix day-programme has been designed in order tohelp participants to understand and report about“risk” in a European context.

Master’s ProgrammeIntercultural CompetenciesPlace Danube University Krems, AustriaTime November 2004Info www.donau-uni.ac.at/kultur

Students from Eastern Europe are invited to applyfor partial study grants. Main intention of theMaster’s program is to train participants to becomeexperts in handling international and interculturalchallenges. The Master’s Program is designed forprofessionals with academic degree or relevant work-ing experience in areas such as: business, conferencemanagement, politics, NGOs, cultural managementor media.

ProjectOnline Journalism Resource Center forSouth East Europe Place Sarajevo, Belgrade, ZagrebTime November 2004Info www.netnovinar.org

The project is launched by Mediacentar Sarajevo,in cooperation with Media Centar Belgrade andInvestigative Journalism Center Zagreb. OnlineJournalism Resource Center will be an educational-informative portal with numerous practically appli-cable materials covering all areas of journalism. Alljournalists, media trainers, professionals and expertsinterested in cooperation are invited to join the pro-ject.

ConferenceEuropean Ministerial Conference onMass Media PolicyPlace Kyiv, UkraineTime 10 - 11 March 2005Info http://www.coe.int

AwardSEEMO Award for Human RightsTime 10 December 2004Info [email protected]

CourseReporting the New EuropeanNeighbourhoods Policy Place European Journalism Centre, Netherlands Time November 2004 - January 2005Info http://www.ejc.nl or [email protected]

The organised seminars intend to give journalistsfrom different EU Member States more Informationabout the EU’s neighbours. Key issues of discussionswill be addressed - for instance: immigration, envi-ronment and trade.The seminars will give journaliststhe opportunity to discuss the policy using concreteexamples and issues.

RoundTablesTransparency in the Media Sector& Access to InformationPlace Tirana & Gjirokaster, AlbaniaTime October 2004Info http://www.coe.int

“Transperency in the Media Sector” (Tirana): Theround table -concerned with this special focus on themedia field - organised by the Council of Europe andthe Albanian Media Institute. Media owners, editors,journalists, NGOs and government representativesare invited.

“Access to Information” (Gjirokaster): The roundtable will take place in cooperation with the SwedishHelsinki Committee. Invited participants are: localjournalists from print and electronic media, localgovernment, media experts etc.

MeetingVlachian Media MeetingPlace Tirana, AlbaniaTime 19 - 20 November 2004Info [email protected]

SEEMO Board Meeting and SEEMO Meeting ofEditors in Chief and Leading Journalists fromVlachian media in South East Europe.

MeetingEditors of Vojvodina, Hungary,Romania, SlovakiaPlace Palic, SerbiaTime 28 - 31 October 2004Info [email protected]

Meeting of Editors in Chief and LeadingJournalists from Vojvodina (Serbia), Hungary,Romania and Slovakia.

ConferenceTransport ConferencePlace Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaTime 8 December 2004Info [email protected]

In cooperation with Bohmann Verlag, Vienna.

The next issue ofdeScripto will bepublished inJanuary 2005Dossier:Ownership andIndependenceCountry Focus:CroatiaMedia Reports on allSEE Countries

Preview

deScripto welcomesletters and com-ments from its read-ers by post or [email protected]

Announcements ofupcoming eventsimportant to themedia in the SEEregion will beincluded as spaceallows. Please sendany suggestions tothe Editor

deScripto - univie.ac.at · basic intention is to help set a positive tone and an understanding of...

Documents

Transcript of deScripto - univie.ac.at · basic intention is to help set a positive tone and an understanding of...