Transcript Media and Transition

Media and Transition
Mr.Sc. Remzie Shahini-Hoxhaj
17.05.2011
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Kosov@

is situated in southeastern part of Europe

After 1968, Kosovo was granted political autonomy and after the Yugoslav constitutional
amendments of 1974 it became a constituent entity of the Federation, equal to the other
republics

Its autonomous status was abolished by the Serb regime of Slobodan Milosevic in 1989,
followed by occupation, repression, ethnic conflict, and eventually war, 1998-1999

upon the liberation war of KLA and NATO intervention in 1999, Kosovo was liberated from
Serbia and was placed under the administration of UNMIK (Resolution 1244)

after three years of negotiations on 17 February 2008 Kosovo declared Independence

Kosovo has been recognized from 75 states and it became member of IMF and World Bank
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”
Historical background of media in Kosovo

As part of Yugoslavia until 1989, Kosovo had inherited not plural media system,
controlled from communist state
 consisted of only one daily newspaper Rilindja and one Kosovo -wide
broadcaster Radio and Television of Prishtina (RTP)

in the 1990’s from authoritarian Milosevic’s regime the freedom of speech was
condemned
 this daily newspaper continued to be published, but the regime was very much
repressive to the media and journalists and other employees of which were
persecuted
 This period is known as period of “information blackout”, when Albanians
were informed just through foreign media
 The only Albanian newspaper Rilindja was forced to change the name Bujku
(the Farmer) in order to inform people by posing as an agricultural newspaper
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4
...

After the closure of the Radio Television of Prishtina in July 1990, Kosovar Albanians
bought half an hour of broadcasting time on the Albanian National Television Radio
Television of Albania (TVSH)
 This broadcasting time was financed from Kosovar Albanian diaspora and
broadcasting time was given free of charge from TVSH

During the Kosovo war
 newspaper Koha Ditore was published for the first time in 1997 in order to provide
independent daily information

On December 1998, KLA established two information institutions Radio Free Kosovo
(Radio Kosova e Lirë) and the news agency Kosovapress. The radio station began
broadcasting January 1999 in order to inform the people about the situation on the
front line
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Transition phase in Kosovo

“Some of the post-communist states are democracies, in the sense used in this tradition of analysis, but others clearly are
not”- Colin Sparks

transition and consolidation may well overlap to some extent

has tended to be rather ahistorical as well as a contextual, suggesting the need for relating the dynamics and prospects for
regime change to earlier developments

Major changes in the Kosovar society, especially after the end of war in 1999, have led to a wave of influences between the
society and the media

Transitional changes in the fields of politics, education and communication were crucial topics of alternations in social life

Kosovo faced difficulties in establishing free and responsible media as an integral component of a democratic society

Training offered from different organizations in terms of strengthening professional journalism

inflow of people from villages to cities

UNMIKU active in creation of media legislations

Establishment of independent media institution KPM, Press Council, AGPK, UGK IREX USAID OSCE
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What is transition?
Transition is...
70%
60.6%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
18.6%
16.9%
10%
1.0%
2.0%
biological process
something ellse
0%
change
transformation phase
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no answers
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Media and society today

After 2008 migration from cities to villages

Penetration of internet (last three months 2010) in Kosov@ is about 60%




Individual ADSL users 94%
Private ADSL users 6%
From 2009 it has increased about 11%
Koha and Telegrafi portal weekly about 70 000 clicks

Political aspect (new form of elections, political system etc)

RTK signed an agreement with EBU and become a member of URTI

Digitalization process
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The indicators of the social changes
What do you think, who has contributed the most to those
alterations?
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
34.3%
27.9%
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11.8%
15.3%
9.0%
3.3%
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Society after the war
How much has changed Kosovar society after the war ?
70%
60%
57.20%
50%
40%
31.90%
30%
20%
10%
6.30%
4.60%
not at all
I don't kmow
0%
much
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litle
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The state of media

Kosovo has a population of 2.2 million inhabitants and is served by 110
broadcasters (OSCE report 2006):


20 TV stations-including



2 national KTV (Koha Vision) and TV 21
15 local and 3 low power
87 radio stations-including 2 national:


1 public broadcaster RTK which includes 1 TV and 2 Radios
Radio Dukagjini and 21, 70 local and 15 low power
The Digital Video Broadcasting in Kosovo is cable system and there are 10 cable operators
and 25 content providers
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Public broadcaster
Which national broadcaster you watch most?
40%
33.7%
35%
30%
26.5%
24.2%
25%
20%
15%
11.5%
10%
4.0%
5%
0%
RTV 21
RTK
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KTV
Klan Kosova
don't know
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Reliable media
Which TV broadcaster you trust the most?
35%
30.2%
30%
22.9%
25%
20%
17.5%
14.9%
15%
11.4%
10%
3.1%
5%
0%
RTK
KTV
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”
RTV21
Klan Kosova
no one
don't know
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The impact of media platforms
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
5.7%
2.6%
3.3%
3.0%
Which cable TV you watch most?
14.1%
6.1%
3.7%
3.0%
5.7%
1.7%
1.6%
2.1%
0.6%
0.6%
0.3%
1.0%
1.6%
0.1%
4.0%
6.4%
33.0%
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and Democratizing Communication”
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The role of TV


low readership and print media circulation

do not buy newspapers as they read them in social environments such as cafés
and restaurants

do not buy newspapers as their parents or siblings do

has to do with the content of newspapers- provides too Lack of diversity of

pages are overwhelmingly filled with plain reports of political events. many plain
news and no news analysis nor investigative reports
this trend has especially increased with the expansion of televised networks
and internet-based media, which are able to serve news to the public
instantly, by using not only text but also audio- visual platforms
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Main information source TV!
What is your main information source?
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
56.0%
27.6%
8.4%
2.1%
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1.4%
0.7%
3.7%
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Importance of TV for society in transition

More than informing...

Discourse of the society


Soap operas

Big Brother

Who wants to be a Millionaire

Xfactor
Change of values
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
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The role of TV in social change
Do you think that TV plays a role in changing the society?
80%
72.4%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
17.8%
20%
9.7%
10%
0%
Yes
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
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No
Don't know
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Which changes are impaced from media
In which area has media contributed more?
60%
55.0%
50%
40%
30.0%
30%
20%
10%
9.0%
4.8%
1.0%
0%
health
justice
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
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education
culture
don't know
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Influence of TV and internet
Which media have influenced those changes in the society?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
51.5%
34.4%
2.0%
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
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4.4%
7.7%
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The usage of internet in Kosovo
How much you use internet?
70%
60%
59.0%
50%
40%
30.0%
30%
20%
7.7%
10%
3.3%
0%
a lot
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”
little
not at all
don't know
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Importance
How important is internet for you?
70%
63.9%
60%
50%
40%
30%
17.9%
20%
10.1%
10%
5.0%
3.1%
hardly
don't know
0%
much
little
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”
to some extend
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The challenges of media in Kosovo

Due to the fact that in Kosovo media discourse was absent for many years, it
could be argued that there is lack of research on its mission and role in Kosovar
society

The Freedom House report has evaluated freedom of press in Kosovo as partialy
free

According to Freedom House press freedom situation in Kosovo is more severe
than that in the region

Currently Kosovo is the process of switching from analog broadcasting to digital
terrestrial system

The Independent Media Commission through frequency planning experts is trying to
adopt the current situation according to the 2006 Geneva Agreement (ITU Confernce)
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”
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Conclusion

Is not entirely true that this lack of freedom comes from government or political institutions
pressuring media in Kosovo, rather it is very easy to observe that media and people working in
media are voluntarily submitting their independence to different groups for various favors

These groups are not only political, interest non-political groups are common as well, based on
friendship, family or region

This is also heavily affected by two other factors:




weak economy (government is biggest employer) and
Kosovo’s weak economy negatively impacts Kosovo media by contributing to sluggish advertising
revenues
the fact that Kosovo is very small and tightly coupled society, which makes influencing (volunteer or
material) very easy to achieve
This is rather mindful and “free” trade of “freedom to speak or write” for some favor
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and Democratizing Communication”
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Thanks for your attention!
Istanbul Media Days 16-20 May 2011 “Communicating Democracy
and Democratizing Communication”