The Media under International Protectorate
Kosovo:By Tahire Govori
Immediately after the entry of international forces in Kosovo and the establishment of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), several daily papers and the political magazine Zeri resumed publication and Radio 21 began broadcasting again. It did not take long for a boom to hit the media market, with new outlets sprouting up all over the place. Newsstands sold seven daily papers (one has since ceased publication), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Media Department issued operating permits to over 40 local radio stations across Kosovo. The right to broadcast throughout Kosovo is presently enjoyed by three stations: Radio TV Kosovo, Radio 21, and Koha Vizion, while AA TV reaches viewers in all parts of Pristina. Most of the dailies resumed publication or were set up thanks to foreign donations, and new newspapers and radio stations were started by whoever wanted to own a media outlet. The newspaper Rilindja, except for limited assistance in equipment approved by the OSCE, and Bota Sot, which is printed in Switzerland, received no foreign donations. The daily newspaper Dita frequently boasts its "independence," stressing the fact that it never asked for or received foreign donations, simultaneously pointing out that other outlets are operating thanks to donations are dependent... (the daily was shut down in December).
All media outlets, including TV stations (except for the Koha Ditore newspaper, TV Koha Vizion and several local newspapers with rather low circulations) were accommodated after the war in the former Press Building, today called the Media House, taking up all its 14 floors and the annex. This was one possible solution, given that almost every single building that used to house outlets before that war was either destroyed or heavily damaged. The OSCE Media Department provided each media organization with offices, and the rent was never excessive. It is another matter that over one-half of the tenants now refuses to pay the rent and electricity bills. On the other hand, the management of the Rilindja paper continue, though not as intensely as before, to accuse the OSCE of depriving them of the right to use the entire building, which this newspaper, until 10 years ago when it was closed, used to share with the Serbian-language Jedinstvo newspaper and the Turkish-language Tan.
Most newspaper editors were installed depending on the political goals their papers pursue. The Rilindja, for example, which used to be the only Albanian-language newspaper in the former Yugoslavia (state-run) was appropriated by political forces that were offshoots of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which appointed their own man as editor in chief (this person resigned at the end of December, 2000). The newspaper Dita, which began publication several months prior to holding of local elections, is believed to have also favored a party created by former KLA members, Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo. Analysts believe that the same applies to the daily newspaper Epoka e Re, although its editors are rather young people, formerly members of the local student movement. The Koha Ditore newspaper, for years funded by foreign donations, displays as part of its name the word "independent," but can hardly back up this claim. It showed rather openly during the election campaign it was in favor of the parties created from the KLA.
The attitude of the paper Zeri was similar, though less open, whereas only the Bota Sot exaggeratedly and unbalancedly supported the party that won local elections -- the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo of Ibrahim Rugova. With the deployment of KFOR in Kosovo and the return of the Kosovo Interim Government (formed immediately after the negotiations in Rambouillet; back then Rugova's party did not want to participate in it, and it was disbanded last December when the Transitional Administrative Council of Kosovo was formed), a person was selected to act as information minister, who played an important role in appointing editors in certain media outlets (fo r instance, in Radio TV Kosovo - RTK).
An OSCE team took upon itself to create a public broadcaster. No employee there, however, had a say in appointing the management. The OSCE consulted "important people" who immediately helped to select heads of the Radio Pristina Albanian-language section. Simultaneously, Serbian-language and Turkish-language programming was also renewed, and this was much easier. With rare exceptions, all editors were selected from among former employees. Two months after it was restarted, ethnic Albanian journalists do not see any changes, because their shows have not been broadcast for almost 10 years, when they were fired and their programming cancelled by the Milosevic regime. Namely, they do not recognize the programs that regime prepared in Albanian and which involved translated news released by the state-run TANJUG news agency... In September, 1999, an advisory board for the media was formed. This body, part of the OSCE Media Department, had five members of whom only two were journalists. Others were lawyers, analysts, and one was a physician. This board appointed a manager of TV Kosovo, who, meanwhile, resigned because he felt he didn't have sufficient authority despite signing a contract.
The Media Board headed by an international representative, who has a deputy, also a foreigner, is responsible for allotting broadcasting frequencies in the whole of Kosovo. The distribution of frequencies is regulated by UNMIK decree No 2000/36, issued on Sept. 8, 2000. Simultaneously a Media Code of Conduct was announced which stipulates rules obliging both the print media and broadcasters.
The influence of political parties on editorial policies is obvious. Before local elections, and even after them, the party which openly aspired to rule in Kosovo had much influence through its supporters employed in the media. The situation in RTK, which is supposed to be a public company, was the same. Since its founding, this media house has featured experimental programming, financed by a European broadcasting center and other foreign donors, among whom the most significant is the Japanese government. The employees of the Albanian-language section are mostly new people, except for several journalists and other staff, who succeeded in getting hired without having to go through a strict selection process. The RTK has no obligations towards the 1,300 former employees of the Radio TV Pristina... This is probably the best illustration of the influence journalists have on the operation of public media outlets in Kosovo. It is frequently said here that it reflects the professional skill of those who are members of the advisory board for the media and should supervise the forming of media outlets.
RTK was supposed to end its experimental phase and officially become a public service. It is also said that its programming so far has often been unprofessional, although some of this is ascribed to the need to equip the station and fix the completely destroyed transmitting network.
Conditions for obtaining broadcasting frequencies are equal for all bidders. A temporary commissar for the media has drawn up rules of conduct for owners and editors in the news media, based on an UNMIK decree on public information services. Each applicant for a radio or TV frequency has to sign the Code, which obliges him to observe the norms of conduct.
Foreign capital enters the news media as humanitarian aid in the form of donations. The life of these, so-called independent media, depends on the amount of donations. Radio or TV stations operating on the basis of market conditions cannot survive in Kosovo at this stage, when the consequences of the war are still being eliminated.
When the transmitting system was repaired at the beginning of last November, it enabled RTV 21, and Koha Vizion as a RTK public service to reach 75 percent of Kosovo, which will certainly lead to making the public's criteria stricter. The establishment of a justice system has not been completed yet, but the media rules of conduct have been regulated by decrees and decisions of UNMIK and the temporary commissar for the media. On Sept. 15, he brought a code of conduct containing rules and standards from the European democratic practice.
The document says exactly that in its introductory part. It obliges the owners of all radio and TV stations to abide by the 12 points of this information act in a nutshell, and which has to be signed by each owner at the time he is granted a broadcasting permit. These 12 points include all basic principles from the European Human Rights Convention, the right to free expression, with a special provision pertaining to respect of the ethnic structure of Kosovo.
The former UN special envoy for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, on June 17 last year issued Decree No. 2000/37 on the conduct of the print media in Kosovo. The Code has nine points, and a special provision requiring that journalists have special rights and obligations in creating a climate of multi-ethnic tolerance. Decrees and decisions are, for the time being, the only "contact" journalists have with the law in Kosovo.
Two problems that are still unresolved in Kosovo (meaning that they were not regulated by any decree or decision) are the right to information and the right to protect the source of information. Although this right officially exist -- a special OSCE office was established for that purpose -- not a single journalist in Kosovo can be certain he or she will be safe >from threats. There is no mechanism to protect a journalist in trouble. If this issue, especially in current post-war conditions, persists, this will greatly affect the quality of information presented to the public. Until then, there will be no objective and independent journalism in Kosovo.