If there was a "media darkness" in Kosovo, then who kept the light on?

When I read Professor Milena Petrović's response regarding the "well-known media darkness in Kosovo and Metohija," I thought that there might be a part of Kosovo where we from local editorial offices have not lived for years.

Because if there has truly been complete media darkness here, a simple question arises: who has been reporting for all these years about political pressures, crime, corruption, abuses, electoral irregularities, citizens' problems, and the consequences of the policies directed towards Serbs in Kosovo?

Who has written about what major media in Belgrade often did not want to discuss?

Who has talked to people when they were left without institutions, when they were afraid to publicly express their thoughts, and when they were under pressure from local strongmen and party structures?

The answer is simple: small, local, independent media in the Serbian language in Kosovo.

And let it be clear right away – I do not dispute the criticism of the media policy of the previous government. On the contrary, we felt its consequences directly and daily.

The Serbian List and the power structures associated with the SNS in Serbia have for years tried to push us into the media darkness they created – through pressures, boycotts, withholding information, and attempts to marginalize independent local media. We often worked under tremendous pressure, and the cost of such work was not paid only by us as journalists and editors. The pressure often spills over to our closest ones – to families, friends, and people who have nothing to do with our journalistic work, except for living with the consequences of our decision not to remain silent.

That is why I know very well what it looks like when political power tries to control information. And that is precisely why I cannot accept that Kosovo is spoken of as a space in which there was only "media darkness," without mentioning those who have tried for years, despite everything, to break through it.

But there is a significant difference between the assertion that national broadcasters produced media darkness and the assertion, or impression, that there were no media in Kosovo attempting to break through that darkness.

We did not wait for a change of government to start doing our job.

Radio Goraždevac and other local editorial offices did not emerge after the elections and did not wait for the political situation to become favorable to start asking questions. That is why the assertion that there is media darkness in Kosovo feels offensive to us, because when anything happens on the ground, people call us, not TV stations from Belgrade.

We worked and were loud when it was easiest to remain silent.

We worked when political power holders determined who was "ours" and who was "theirs."

We worked when it was enough for a local journalist to ask one uncomfortable question to become a problem.

Boycott as a Political Instrument

The Serbian List had a special relationship with independent media.

Radio Goraždevac, like some other media that did not comply with editorial obedience, has felt the consequences of selective treatment of information for years.

Some media regularly received calls, interviews, statements, and press releases from the Serbian List.

Others remained outside that circle.

As if the public's right to know depended on who would ask the question and whether the answer would be pleasant.

Selective distribution of press releases is not a communication strategy. It is a method of controlling the media space.

That is why I was particularly surprised that Professor Petrović's response was only delivered to the Kossev editorial office, while Radio Goraždevac and other media, as far as we know, did not receive such a text.

Perhaps it is a coincidence.

But we in Kosovo have enough experience with "coincidences" when it comes to information distribution.

For years we have watched how public interest information is divided into suitable and unsuitable media. Therefore, it would be good for those who announce a new political culture not to adopt old habits, even if they do so unconsciously.

If we truly want change, then it must start with a simple thing: a statement that is important for the public should be sent to all relevant media.

Without blacklists.

Without privileged editorial offices.

Without assessing who will be sufficiently obedient.

Money for Media, but Not for Journalism

The new authorities have a lot of work to do in the media when they take power.

For years we have witnessed a system in which significant funds allocated for media and information do not necessarily end up with editorial offices that have an audience, journalists, continuity of work, and visible results.

We expect the new authorities to investigate media competitions and public money allocated for informing in Serbian in Kosovo.

Independent local media are often bypassed.

At the same time, money was received by entities for which it was difficult for the media community to determine what real work, audience, or professional capacity they had, which is a crime of those who allocated that money.

Such a system is not just a matter of poor media policy.

It must be seriously reconsidered.

Who received the money?

By what criteria?

For what projects?

What content was produced?

What was the actual audience?

And most importantly – what did citizens get for the money that was intended for their information?

Journalistic associations in Serbia have already warned about problems with the distribution of funds through competitions of the Ministry of Information designated for Kosovo.

Therefore, the new government, if it truly wants to show that it differs from the previous one, must not simply change the names of the people who decide about the money.

It must change the system.

And it must examine what happened with that money in previous years.

Because when public money intended for media is distributed without clear and transparent criteria, and professional editorial offices remain on the sidelines, the public has the right to ask whether it is support for information – or support for political infrastructure.

We have, despite everything, survived.

We survived boycotts.

We survived neglect.

We survived competitions where professional work was clearly not valued as it should have been.

We survived economic uncertainty, pressures, and attempts to minimize local media.

And, perhaps most importantly, we continued to work.

We Do Not Ask for Privileges

Local independent media in Kosovo do not seek a privileged position. We do not ask anyone to determine our topics. We do not ask politicians to like us. We do not even ask them to stop criticizing us.

We only seek what should be a standard in any normal democracy. Equal access to information. Equal conditions in public competitions. Transparent spending of public money. The right to ask questions without consequences. And the right to be media even when our editorial decisions do not please those in power or those who want to come to power.

That is why I would like representatives of the Student List, who today speak of freedom, democracy, and a new beginning, to hear from those who have been trying for years to uphold those very values in Kosovo.

Not because we are special.

But because we are still here.

And because we worked and kept the light on when it was much easier to be part of the media darkness than to try to break through it.

So, welcome – but come to see.

From Professor Petrović, as a person coming from the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica and who politically represents the citizens of Kosovo, I expect her to familiarize herself with the real situation of local editorial offices.

I invite her, as well as representatives of the Student List, to visit these editorial offices and get better acquainted with the facts on the ground.

To talk to journalists.

And to hear what we have to say – even when they may not like it.

Because if the change of government is truly the beginning of a new political culture, then it must also start with a change in the relationship towards the media.

We do not want to replace one list of the obedient with another.

We do not want new privileged editorial offices.

We do not want a new version of old practices.

If we have managed to operate in the "media darkness" for years, it would truly be a shame to turn off the lights just when it has finally brightened for all of us.

Source: Radio Goraždevac