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Herzegovina’s Media: A Problem of Ideology and Self-censorship | Balkan Diskurs
Mirsad Behram
May 11th, 2018
“If you gave me the choice to decide whether we should have a government without the press, or the press without a government, I wouldn’t hesitate for a single moment to choose the latter.”
“If you gave me the choice to decide whether we should have a government without the press, or the press without a government, I wouldn’t hesitate for a single moment to choose the latter.” This is an often quoted saying of one of the first presidents of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson—a quote about freedom and the importance of the media for a democratic society.
The state in which the media finds itself is actually a direct reflection of the society in which those media exist. When it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), that image is perhaps the most real at the local level and in the smaller communities where everyone more or less knows one another and the everyday occurrences are to a much lesser extent under the “spotlight“ of the mainstream media.
Sarajevo and Banja Luka for example, are larger centers, which means that have bigger markets and, consequently, higher political competition and different ideological influences, which is certainly a more favorable environment for media to exist as compared to smaller communities.
In Mostar, a city that has lived with ethnic divisions for over 20 years following the war, a number of media professionals and analysts agree that the media is in a difficult situation. In the years immediately after the war, the city had three influential local TV-stations – Hrvatska radio televizija (HTV) Mostar, HTV Oscar-C, and Radiotelevizija (RTV) Mostar. In the last few years, one of those TV-stations – RTV Mostar, which was a primary public medium – completely disappeared from the media scene due to significant financial problems. RTV Mostar has also lost its former influence and is operating at significantly reduced capacities as a result of privatization and its role in the creation of TV1 in Sarajevo. HTV Oscar-C doesn’t have the same influence that it once had either. In the meantime, a few local TV-stations have emerged: City TV followed by Naša (TV), whose programs are being broadcast by cable operators.
A similar situation is occurring at the radio stations, few of which are registered. Some stations are public and some private, but media professionals often question the authenticity of these stations’ programming, that is outside of just the content produced for fun and entertainment.
“As far as Mostar is concerned, we can say that there is a relatively large number of media outlets. What is their quality? Their reach? Are they analytical or are they just for entertainment? Are they free? These are big questions. In my opinion, quantity does not necessarily mean quality. We have a large number of media in Mostar, however, when you take a closer look and analyze what everyone is doing in an attempt to find a decent news service or program that deals with the city of Mostar and the wider community, you come to find out most outlets, particularly radio stations, are broadcasting computer-generated music playlists with a few commercials here and there. There are few attempts to produce something that could meet the needs of the local community.” says Faruk Kajtaz, president of Citizens’ Association , which deals with the issue of media freedom.
Kajtaz notes how important media freedom is for a democratic society if it truly wants to call itself a real democracy. “I think that the classic problem of endangered media freedom in this country no longer exists to the extent it did shortly after the war when there was constant political pressure being applied to journalists who were receiving constant phone calls and were being told what they should report on. I think that the pressuring techniques have changed now; they are more sophisticated and are often based ownership structures within the media and on the principle of denying funds,” Kajtaz reckons.
Media professionals agree that one of the main levers of influence on media is economic in nature and is centered on controlling the flow of money to the media agencies. This raises the question: How are those media who want to be a socially avant-garde expected to survive? Such media are left to fend for themselves, claims Štefica Galić, from  portal, based in Mostar.
“Many international associations and other organizations that have supported such media have long since retreated from BiH. Economic stagnation has devastated the media’s ability to function through the use of ads and leases, and the sale of media space has been hindered. As a result of these conditions, a large portion of the media is left to the political parties who, by exercising their power over the budgets of public enterprises and in other ways, keep a considerable part of the media alive,” says Galić.
“How is the obedience of the media being ‘bought?’” asks Aner Žuljević, a representative of the Social Democratic Party of BiH in the Herzegovina-Neretva Cantonal Assembly, Žuljević emphasizes that, as an opposition party, the HNK was unable to obtain information about public spending from the cantonal government that related to various planned items within the HNK’s budget. They weren’t even able to obtain information about money that was transferred to media outlets stationed in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton area.
“Why should transactions, which put both the media houses and the public in an unpleasant position and create speculations that this government is, in fact, buying the affection of certain media with these transfers, be kept a secret?” Žuljević inquires.
Media experts and professionals concur that one of the direct consequences of this indirect media control is a form of self-censorship within Mostar’s media, which is a problem they are trying to call attention to. “A particular problem is journalistic self-censorship. I believe that this is one of the most important and most significant problems in media precisely because Mostar’s journalists, in my opinion, know very well what their boundaries are and they do not want to cross them,” explains Faruk Kajtaz.
How, then, does this censorship translate in the media or, to be more precise, in a journalist’s everyday work of creating content that is then directed to the general public?
“When it comes to self-censorship, we can look at it from several aspects, and I would like to highlight the one that hurts me the most and that I believe is the most evil. It is an ideological aspect. So, when we are preoccupied with a certain ideology and hate everything that the said ideology and its myths would not support, then the news becomes tailored only to support those myths and that ideology that we love—the ideology for which we took that ‘membership card’. All the rest of the reality is rendered useless and we choose not to try to understand or imagine it,” says Husein Oručević, a political scientist.
The decimation of a number of media and “clipping the wings” off of a sector of Mostar’s electronic media, opened the door to the “flourishing” of a fairly large number of internet portals that produce regular news columns. Some portals are exclusively local while others publish news that concerning BiH, the region, and beyond. The most well-known is the Croatian portal bljesak.info, which has been around for approximately 16 years now. Other popular domains that are managing to have an impact on the public include starmo.ba, tacno.net, mostarski.ba, pogled.ba, novasloboda.ba, dnevnik.ba, hms.ba, hercegovina.info, republikainfo.com, treci.ba, and abrasmedia.info.
In addition to the regular problems that are affecting all BiH media, analysts are pointing to another phenomenon that is characterizing online media in central Herzegovina and is having an ever-growing influence on “mainstream” journalism within the realm of online media. In an ethnically divided community, any kind of controversial news published on an internet portal, whether it’s in the Croatian or Bosnian language, invokes a chain of reactions and commentary from the readers that often contain hate speech and triggering language that further fuels inflames a negative atmosphere in the society — or local community to be more precise.
“In today’s times, we are bearing witness to the fact that every man can in some way become a source of information and commentator on social reality,” says Igor Božović, a journalist for BH Radio 1 and a columnist for the portal bljesak.info. He stresses that attention should be paid to the fact that, today, the freedom of information and access to information is being misused in the form of social communication via social networks. “We are seeing that anyone can create an Internet profile and spread their alternative facts, fake news, and all other new concepts that we have now become familiar with,” explains Božović.
Such things, he agrees, are influencing standard journalism practices, and, in this case, Internet portals have entered the empty media space that was created at the local level as a result of this changing “landscape”. “It’s good that people can contribute their personal experiences because it can provide us with a broader understanding of one thing and one event, but it is also a fact that now anyone with even a small amount of technical knowledge can disseminate information, and it is often not people who have spent significant amounts of time studying the ethics of journalism, fair and balanced reported, and other similar practices,” Božović adds.
There are certain views regarding the state of media and journalism in central Herzegovina that, in addition to objective and social circumstances, journalists are themselves responsible for their current position. Those who are well informed on the topic believe that journalists are unorganized. They are divided into multiple journalistic associations are without their own trade union that would fight for their rights. Several attempts to start such a trade union have completely failed.
“I have to say that journalists are forced to work for a meager salary of 500 to 600 KM,” says Vera Soldo, the editor of the Internet portal republikainfo.com. She emphasizes that if journalists want to be free, they have to pay for their freedom and present the work of domestic journalists for foreign media as an example. “International media provide better pay for their journalists. When you are better paid, you, of course, have more resources to work with and more opportunities to research stories. This is not the case here,” Soldo explains, referring to the difficulties faced by BiH’s journalists.
“The journalist alone has a responsibility to fight for their own status. When I have given presentations about journalism and media, I always explain that nobody is going to give handouts to journalists. There are some things that go without saying, but in a legislative sense BiH almost has perfect media laws, so much so that even some EU countries copied our legislation,” says Faruk Kajtaz.
He recalls how Slovenia has also “copied” some of BiH’s media-related legislation. However, it’s one thing to write and adopt a law, and something entirely different to implement it. “So, journalists have to fight for their own rights and they must first know what their rights are. They have to know their trade. They can’t afford to just be the microphone holders; they have to be the people that use their heads and respect the facts because, without truth and facts, everything becomes questionable,” Kajtaz concludes.
This article has been published as part of the “Real Voice of Journalism” project. The project is funded by the European Union through the small grants programme “Protecting Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in the Western Balkans” implemented by the Croatian Journalists’ Association as part of the regional project “Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety”, which is carried out through the partnership of six regional journalists’ associations – Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS), Association of BH Journalists (BHJ), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), and Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).

author: Mirsad Behram


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CALL TO APPLY - Citizen Journalism and Documentary Photography: Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Training | Balkan Diskurs
Balkan Diskurs
May 18th, 2018
29 May – 1 June 2018
The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) is seeking Bosnian youth ages 18 – 30 to participate in its “Citizen Journalism and Documentary Photography” youth correspondent training taking place in Sarajevo from 29 May – 1 June 2018.
The training will focus on educating participants about a number of topics, including investigative and citizen journalism techniques, photography, fair and balanced reporting, fact-checking, and interviewing. The training will also focus on the use of citizen journalism in proactively challenging negative stereotypes and prejudices against other ethnic and minority groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Selected participants will have the chance to interact with, and learn from, experts in the fields of investigative journalism and photography and will be given a year of support following the training to help them produce publications for PCRC’s multimedia web platform “Balkan Diskurs”.
Balkan Diskurs is an independent multimedia platform that provides young citizen journalists, activists and academics in the Western Balkans with a space – free from censorship – to publish their opinions, analyses, and impressions of relevant issues in the region. Our site connects themes across borders, providing balanced, independent insights on the issues that matter. It is our goal to train participants who will serve as local correspondents for Balkan Diskurs. PCRC will be providing trainees with opportunities for compensation.
PCRC recognizes that youth are not given the space to express their viewpoints or share their concerns, ideas, and opinions about the issues that directly affect them. We believe it’s extremely important that the youth’s voices are heard and that they are taken seriously as stakeholders and decision-makers in Bosnia’s transitional justice and peacebuilding processes.
Selected participants must attend all 4 days of the training. All travel, accommodation and meal costs will be covered. There are 15 spots available, so if you are interested in applying please email [email protected] for an application form. The deadline to apply is 24 May 2018.

source: news-balkandiskurs

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Balkan Diskurs


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Crossing Borders: Showcasing Positive Stories of Migrant Integration into German Society (Part II) | Balkan Diskurs
Dženeta Karabegović
May 19th, 2018
This multi-part series aims to explore various facets of Bosnian migration to Germany and to present the personal accounts of migrants and their children in an effort to not only reflect on the shared experiences of Bosnian migrants but to also consider the wider themes and implications of their stories.
This multi-part series aims to explore various facets of Bosnian migration to Germany and to present the personal accounts of migrants and their children in an effort to not only reflect on the shared experiences of Bosnian migrants but to also consider the wider themes and implications of their stories.
Germany is home to one of the largest Bosnian diaspora populations in the world, which is representative of various waves of migration to Germany that include migrants who arrived during Yugoslav times, former refugees who have since integrated into German society, and more recent economic migrants who seek new opportunities in Germany’s stable economy.
As a whole, Bosnians living in Germany are generally well educated, with those who have not completed their basic high school education representing just over 10% of the population. Approximately 30% of the population has some sort of professional qualifications and around 10,000 individuals, all with direct migration experience, have completed their Master’s degrees in Germany. It is thus plausible to conclude that Bosnians are active in their pursuit of the various educational opportunities offered in Germany and will likely continue to seek out such opportunities in even higher numbers in the second generation.[1]
Similar to other countries with high numbers of Bosnian diaspora, there is a multitude of diaspora organizations in Germany, including religious and ethnically-based organizations, women’s groups, young professional and student groups, and associations established during the Yugoslav period for guest workers and their families.
Berlin and Stuttgart both have large Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) populations and are, thus, both home to Islamic community centers that serve as central pillars to their respective communities. Many of these centers were established as religious centers by guest workers and refugees within a few years of the beginning of the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 1992. Some of these Bosniak communities are also actively involved in the wider world of migrant resettlement and migration politics, often promoting more moderate versions of Islam and the religion’s coexistence with other facets of German society. Furthermore, Croatian and Serbian diaspora organizations have been formed in other cities across the country. Many Bosnian Croats and Serbs have often become members of such associations.[2]
During the conflicts of the 1990s, many members of the Yugoslav diaspora formed associations that were splintered along national lines with Bosnian organizations often catering to refugee populations from one of the country’s three constituent ethnic groups: Bosniak, Croat, or Serb. Although these organizations may not be officially multiethnic, several stand out for their work with both those who arrived during the 1990s as well as with new migrant populations, many of which are from countries outside of Europe.
The SüdOst Center, or “südost Europa Kultur e.V.” was established by Bosiljka Schedlich, a Croatian-born, naturalized German who considers herself a Yugoslav. The organization, headquartered in Berlin, focuses on the integration of migrants and refugees through counseling, education, and employment. The SüdOst Center also promoted peace during the 1992 – 1995 conflict in BiH and served as a meeting space where refugees could come together, network, learn German, and support each other. Another non-profit organization, established by Sadija Klepo, a Bosnian woman who arrived in Germany during the Bosnian conflict, is Hilfe von Mensch zu Mensch e.V. (People Helping People), which advocates for migrant rights in Munich and beyond. Both organizations were instrumental in organizing donation drives to send humanitarian aid and to help those in need during the conflict period.
There are a number of other diaspora organizations and clubs in Germany focused on promoting and creating networking opportunities for migrants and second-generation Bosnians. The recently established Netzwerk bosnischer Studenten und Akademiker in Deutschland e.V. (Network of Bosnian Students and Academics in Germany), for instance, brings together young professionals and academics as a way to strengthen the sense of community and provide a space for expanding academic, cultural, and professional networks. This particular initiative shows great potential for bringing together a fragmented diaspora population, a goal that has yet to be accomplished. The organization also regularly publishes a bilingual magazine that highlights the stories of successful Bosnian-Germans and presents news about politics, economics, and culture from BiH.[3]
Many members of Germany’s Bosnian diaspora population are also actively involved in supplementary school education, which is part of an ongoing tradition that started with Yugoslav government-sponsored schools for children of guest workers. These schools are coupled with a somewhat contested history, which has emerged due to the varied implementation styles that have been carried out across the Länder, (German provinces). In Bavaria, for instance, a model prevailed that provided education to students in their native language. German language instruction was limited, and integrating migrant students with German pupils was not a central focus. In Berlin, however, integration was a primary goal and instruction focused on providing skills and tools for transition. Such programs also offered intensive German language courses with the aim to integrate students into the German education system as quickly as possible.[4] Between 1992 and 1995, Bosnian refugees also organized school programs in the hopes that their children would be able to continue their education upon returning to their home country. In this type of school, refugees who had formerly been teachers served as the instructors and students received diplomas equivalent to those issued in BiH.[5]
Today, educational programs for migrant and refugee children have further evolved. All children are enrolled in the German education system, but parents also have the option to enroll their children in supplementary schools. These supplementary programs are organized under the auspices of an umbrella organization headquartered in Stuttgart, which also advocates for increased access to and from BiH institutions in an effort to maintain Bosnian language and heritage.
The Bosnian diaspora population in Germany is not only diverse but also vibrant and full of potential to contribute to both Germany and BiH. Members of this population span generations, ethnicities, and education levels as well as the professional spectrum – from hospitality and tourism to successful entrepreneurs and high-level managers in internationally renowned firms. There are even those who have sought or held political office.
Although their diverse nature makes it difficult to present any overarching statements about the group as a whole, a common thread continues to tie members of the Bosnian diaspora together and that is their ongoing connection to their country of origin. Whether they make regular visits to the country, maintain spiritual connections, or cultivate close ties with members of their social and professional circles, they remain a crucial part of keeping the bilateral relations between Germany and BiH strong.
Read Part I of this series here.
The “Crossing Borders” series has been produced as part of an Intercultural Innovation Award alumni partnership between the Post-Conflict Research Center and Give Something Back to Berlin. Support for this series has been provided by the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC)  and the BMW Group.
[1] Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit.” Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), 2017.
[2] Karabegović, Dženeta. “Bosnia Abroad: Transnational Diaspora Mobilization.” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Warwick, 2016.
[3] This can be found online at http://pangea.nbsad.de/
[4] Rist, Ray C. 1979. “On the Education of Guest-Worker Children in Germany: A Comparative Study of Policies and Programs in Bavaria and Berlin.” The School Review 87 (3): 242–68.
[5] Karabegović, Dženeta. “Bosnia Abroad: Transnational Diaspora Mobilization.” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Warwick, 2016.

author: Dženeta Karabegović


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Real Voice of Journalism: Report on the state of media freedom in 17 local BiH communities | Balkan Diskurs
Balkan Diskurs
May 19th, 2018
The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) officially presents its research on the state of media freedom in 17 local BiH communities.
The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) officially presents its research on the state of media freedom in 17 local BiH communities.
The report was created as part of the research project “Real Voice of Journalism”. The project aims to improve the overall status of journalists and media activists and to prevent further derogations and violations of freedom of speech in BiH. This research has been conducted over a nine-month timeframe by the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) and the WARM Foundation Sarajevo and has centered on working with local journalists to reveal the on-the-ground realities they must face in their efforts to create impartial, objective, and relevant content.
The project is funded by the European Union through the small grants programme “Protecting Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in the Western Balkans” implemented by the Croatian Journalists’ Association as part of the regional project “Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety”. This regional platform is a product of the partnership of six regional journalists’ associations – Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS), Association of BH Journalists (BHJ), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), and Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).
The presentation of the official findings took place in Hotel Europe (Sarajevo) on 18 May 2018. Panelists included Marija Arnautović (Radio Free Europe), Borka Rudić (Association of BH Journalists), Erna Mačkić (BIRN BiH), Lejla Turčilo (Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo), Tatjana Milovanović (PCRC), and Velma Šarić (PCRC).
Download the full report here.


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Media Landscape in Republika Srpska: Polarization and Financial Dependence | Balkan Diskurs
Milorad Milojević
May 25th, 2018
Some key questions to ask when analyzing the role of the objective local media in BiH is: How marginalized are those outlets that are reporting to the public and do they serve any other purpose than that of marketing and political promotion?
Some key questions to ask when analyzing the role of the objective local media in BiH is: How marginalized are those outlets that are reporting to the public and do they serve any other purpose than that of marketing and political promotion? This “Real Voice of Journalism” publication explores the media landscape in BiH’s Republika Srpska Entity.
A third of the 64 municipalities and cities in the Republika Srpska (RS) have their own local media outlets, which includes around 20 radio and two television stations. The headquarters of the RS’s public broadcaster, Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS), is located in the entity’s most populous city of Banja Luka. However, there are no other local public media outlets in the RS administrative center of Banja Luka. While RTRS receives financing from the revenues made off of RTV tax, millions are also being allocated from local budgets to finance municipal media. A 2016 Mediacentar survey states that, in 2013 and 2014 alone, RS municipalities and cities spent 3.8 million Bosnian convertible marks (BAM) a year on local public media outlets. The allocations for local public media outlets account for around 60% of all media financing.
Data from the last few years indicate a decrease in finances, which is a direct consequence of the economic crisis. However, the conclusion is that the spent millions have not contributed to the improvement of local media outlets and their role, said the president of the Association of Banja Luka Journalists, Siniša Vukelić.
“Local media outlets are literally in the hands of the coalition in power in their corresponding communities. Indeed, the local media’s role should be to inform the public about local problems, how the local government is functioning, and how the citizens’ money is being spent in each municipality. The first act of every authority that comes into power is to replace the editor-in-chief or director of their municipality’s local media outlet. This can be done quickly and unscrupulously, as those media are heavily reliant on the municipal budget. Thus, instead of those media serving as a source of information for the citizens of their municipality, they support and serve the local authorities.” says Vukelić.
Similar observations have been made by Oslobođenje journalist and a media analyst, Gordana Katana “As far as local media is concerned, I don’t even know what we are referring to. What local media? There used to be a network of radio stations that functioned properly in the RS, but their role is no longer visible to me. Radio Gradiška is perhaps the best example of how shifts in power at the local level changes the entire editorial and management boards of such a radio station, after which they exclusively favor the political parties that make up the local and entity level government.”
Gradiška is, indeed, a perfect example as it experienced a change of government in the last two local elections. After the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats’ (SNSD) long-standing position, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) took power in 2012 and immediately “purged” Radio Gradiška’s managerial board. In 2016, the SNSD regained power and again changed the administration within the municipality’s public media. Approximately 200,000 BAM are being spent yearly on the financing of Radio Gradiška.
There is evidence to show that these financing methods are the main impediment to the development and advancement of the local public media in the RS. In this entity, the method of financing local media is not regulated by law. It is left directly to local communities to decide what the budget will e and in what way it should e allocated. Local media are usually funded by grants and local authorities often use those means to keep the local media under pressure and control.
“It’s questionable whether we can even talk about the freedom of local public media. External control over the media’s management and the decisions regarding the amount of funding allotted is almost certain, which puts added pressure on the journalists employed in these outlets. One should not forget that most of these local public outlets are working on the edge of existence. If there was an analysis of these outlets, I doubt you would be able to find a single critical attitude towards the local community, which is the owner of these said media,“ Vukelić points out.
The polarization of media in the RS or, more specifically, the division of those close to the governing coalitions led by the SNSD or the opposing Alliance for Change party, is becoming an increasingly evident problem. The fact is that the entity’s public service, RTRS, is persistently classified as being on the side of the entity government while disregarding all postulates of the independence of public services.
This is evidenced by a fine of 29,000 BAM that was issued to RTRS in July 2017 by the Communications Regulatory Agency BiH (RAK) for its proven favoring of the SNSD and its leader, Milorad Dodik.
“RAK has monitored RTRS’ central information broadcasts, including episodes of,“Dnevnik 2“, “Pečat“, “Aspekt“, and “Aktuelno“, which were aired during the period from 5 October to 31 December 2016. After an analysis was conducted, RAK determined violations of Article 5. Paragraphs (2), (3), (6), and (7) of the Fairness and Impartiality Code of Audiovisual Media Services and Radio Media Services. It was found that 78 of the Dnevnik episodes analyzed began with information focusing on the opinions or activities of Milorad Dodik or with the direct transmission of his statements as the president of RS or as the president of SNSD. The opinions of the SNSD and of the RS government were transmitted without any critical review.
“It was determined that RTRS has, through its news programming, continuously promoted the interests of one political party through a selective and biased approach to reporting that constantly favored certain individuals or subjects and presented them in a positive light. This resulted in a series of broadcasts with one overwhelming viewpoint of various political, agricultural or other topics of public interest,“ which were stated as reasons for RAK’s decision.
On the other hand, the private TV house “BN” was opened under the influence of the Alliance for Change party. When analyzing local budgets, it was readily apparent that media funds were allocated in correlation to which policy options they aligned with.
A study published by Buka Magazine in April of last year showed that in 2014, for example, the city of Banja Luka paid out 108,514 BAM from the city’s budget for services related to the publication of tenders, advertisements, and informative texts.
“In 2014, as announced to us by the city administration, the Official Gazette of RS received 8,505 BAM, the Official Gazette of BiH received 23,770 BAM, and the privately-owned Glas Srpske received 52,506 BAM. In addition, a total of 23,732 BAM was paid to other media outlets on the same basis. This money was distributed to the entity news agency “Srna“ as well as the privately-owned Nezavisne novine, Press RS, and Novi pečat.
Interestingly, Press RS and Novi pečat no longer exist, but during their time of operation, they supported the entity’s government when the SNSD, which has continually been in power in Banja Luka since 1998, was at the helm. Novi pečat, which belonged to the so-called “yellow press“, was famous for its publications that tried to discredit the SNSD’s opposition and critics.
Buka’s research revealed that, in 2015, 102,943 BAM was again allocated on the basis of services such as the publication of tenders, advertisements, and informative texts. The Official Gazette of RS received 11,180 BAM, the Official Gazette of BiH received 20,659 BAM, and Glas Srpske received 46,393 BAM. A total of 24,710 BAM was allocated to other media houses that included the Srna News Agency, Press RS, Nezavisne novine, Novi pečat, and Elta TV. That same year, 26,741 BAM was allocated for public relations and advertising services. Of that amount, Alternative TV (ATV) received 13,384 BAM, Elta TV 6,786 BAM, Elit d.o.o. 2,492 BAM, and RTRS 1,228 BAM. The remaining total of 2,849 BAM was distributed among other outlets, including Euroblic, Nezavisne novine, Press RS, Glas Srpske, and Tellmobil.
The same research stated that additional funds were allocated in the second largest RS city of Bijeljina, which is a bastion of the opposition Serb Democratic Party (SDS).
“In 2014, the city of Bijeljina allocated 230,865 BAM for information and advertising services, while 338,805 BAM was allocated in 2015—nearly 100,000 more than the previous year. We have been told that these allocations are tied to the City Administration as a whole and to allocations related to media activity, including media monitoring, advertising, and the purchase of local news outlets for community centers.
It has been specified that the funds were allocated to these media: RTV BN, the Semberija and Majevica Public Company (SIM), TV ARENA, TV IN, and Nezavisne novine. All these outlets, with the exception of Nezavisne novine, are headquartered in Bijeljina,“ Buka’s research outlines.
“The media landscape is polarized solely because the public service broadcaster, RTRS, has completely abandoned the fundamental principles on which public services are to be built upon, such as the postulates of professional reporting and giving equal space to all political options, citizens, and their viewpoints. On the other hand, exactly how expansive is our media landscape? We can talk about BN TV as another pole on which the opposition is predominantly present. If nothing else, at least the viewers can get an insight into what the opposition is saying,“ explains Gordana Katana.
The media scene in the RS has been further shaken by the recent sale of Banja Luka’s Alternative TV to the tycoon Slobodan Stanković, the owner of Integral Inžinjering (Integral Engineering Consortium), which is also closely aligned with the ruling SNSD.
The media war of the authorities and their opposition in RS has continued with the help of “fake news.” Siniša Vukelić.stated: “We have an entire ‘fake’ media emerging here. Namely, temporary Internet portals are being established with the motive to publish fabricated and unconfirmed information that can be used and disseminated by RTRS and the Srna News Agency. On this basis, this type of news is being legitimized through the reactions of officials who comment on fictitious, non-existent news. Over the last several months alone, nearly a dozen such Internet portals have been established. What’s interesting is that this is not only being done by portals who favor the ruling coalition. It seems that the opposition parties are setting up their own portals, which do not provide ownership information, addresses, or contact numbers. In these instances, the struggle will be to prove what is fact and what is a fabrication.“
“Nowadays, you can publish a great story, but certain individuals can successfully ignore them by imposing their own untrue story through their outlet. In doing so, they are able to hide the truth from the public until it disappears into oblivion,“ adds Vukelić.
The culmination of media segregation in the RS, as well as the political subordination of RTRS, came to light recently when numerous citizens and family members protested in Banja Luka’s Krajina Square in search of the truth regarding the death of the young man David Dragičević.
David disappeared on the night of 18 March and was found six days later where the Crkvena and Vrbas Rivers merge. On 26 March, just a few days after the discovery, the daily protests began as David’s family became suspicious of the official police report that stated that the 21-year-old was involved in a brawl in Banja Luka’s city center during a night out eating burek, after which David robbed a house. Finally, under the influence of drugs, he fell into the shallow Crkven River and drowned. In addition, numerous hematomas found on his body were characterized as “mild physical injuries“. The peak of the protests occurred on 21 April when thousands of people gathered in Krajina Square. Citizens from across BiH came to take part in the protests.
While TV BN broadcasted the protests live, RTRS only mentioned David’s father Davor’s appeal for truth and justice and the public outcry about the case during minute 15 of the central news broadcast. To be more precise, the host only read a brief news flash accompanied by a few photos of the demonstrations. Nevertheless, the protests continued and the group “Justice for David“ was set up, which now has more than 130,000 members on social media.
“We have a very strange situation regarding the public service broadcaster in this case. Even the fact that Milorad Dodik decided to take part in some gatherings in front of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Banja Luka was not sufficient for the public service broadcaster to more seriously involve themselves in monitoring the situation. This speaks to the rigidity of the RTRS editorial staff who believe they know how to best behave in this situation—even better than does Dodik himself. Despite their significant unpopularity among a large number of citizens, the local media managed to make their unpopularity even greater. It is impossible to ignore such a big event with repercussions and low viewership was the result. There was a gathering of a few thousand people in the city center, which is unusual for Banja Luka. If you completely ignore such an event, how do you expect people will treat you? In what way will what you are doing be considered acceptable?,“ inquires Buka Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Aleksandar Trifunović.
Politics must be removed from public media. Yes, this is the message of our interlocutors, but how do we accomplish this? How do we hold our politicians accountable for properly regulating finances and selecting media editors and directors without political influences?
In late April, OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, warned of a bad state of affairs in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s media and that politics should not influence the freedom of media expression nor should it interfere in the selection of media management.
The poor economic situation, as well as the dwindling presence of strong advertisers, pushes the local media towards censorship and self-censorship. In the end, it’s not the outlets or the journalists working for those outlets that are most affected by this situation, it’s the citizens, especially those living in municipalities and cities that are deprived of information and viewpoints about the current state of affairs.
The ending of the article can be summarized through the conclusion of a panel discussion on media freedom that was held on 3 May in Banja Luka. During the panel, it was clearly stated: “Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a country in transition, is at the very bottom of many world lists when it comes to social and economic progress and development of any kind as evidenced in the latest EU Commission report. Many media outlets that are in service to the ruling political parties try to portray an idealistic image of BiH that does not correspond to the reality of this country’s citizens. For this reason and many others, the existence of free and critical media is a basic precondition for the development of a successful society. Investigative journalism should be nurtured and media freedom and ethical codes should be respected.“
This article has been published as part of the “Real Voice of Journalism’’ project. The project is funded by the European Union through the small grants programme “Protecting Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in the Western Balkans” implemented by the Croatian Journalists’ Association as part of the regional project “Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety”, which is carried out through the partnership of six regional journalists’ associations – Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS), Association of BH Journalists (BHJ), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), and Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).

author: Milorad Milojević


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The Age of “Yellow Gold”: Life as a Herzegovinian Tobacconist in the 1950s | Balkan Diskurs
Monija Markić
June 4th, 2018
For decades, tobacco has been a way of life for many Herzegovinians, but there once was a time when the free trade of tobacco was forbidden. Those who dealt in tobacco during that time will always remember it as the age of “Yellow Gold”.
For decades, tobacco has been a way of life for many Herzegovinians, but there once was a time when the free trade of tobacco was forbidden. Those who dealt in tobacco during that time will always remember it as the age of “Yellow Gold”.
“Many dealt in tobacco as a result of poverty. Even my father was a tobacco carrier (trader) during the period of the first Yugoslav republic (1918-1941). I didn’t have to carry tobacco; but since everyone else was doing it, I wanted to partake,” says Ljubo Mihalj Skokić, a 78-year-old tobacconist from Rakitno, a village near the Herzegovinian city of Posušje.
Due to the high altitude, tobacco could not be cultivated in Rakitno, so people from the village became tobacco-carriers instead. Two to three people per household were designated to deliver tobacco to the state’s second province of Bosnia to be sold. Normally, each person would transport tobacco twice a month, but some hardcore carriers hit the road more than 30 times a year. Although carriers were mostly young men between the ages of 14 and 15, women weren’t exempt from carrying.
“There were around ten carriers in a group. In those days, the majority or carriers belonged to the Mihalj family,” remembers Ljubo, who worked as a tobacco carrier for a decade.
The carriers would transport tobacco to Lepenica, Kreševo, Draževići, and Romanija. Each village had its own tobacco “connoisseur”. If the taster approved of its quality, the tobacco would “sell like butter” as Ljubo puts it. One backpack containing 20 to 25 kilograms of the “yellow gold” was worth around 2,000 to 2,500 KM, and although the carriers had to buy the tobacco, they always had more than enough money. “The strong ones,” as Ljubo refers to them, would even carry up to 30 kilograms.
“We were young, but not afraid because we carried rifles and grenades with us. Back then I even had two Kragujevka grenades. Sometimes, we would return from Mostar at five o’clock and catch the freighters at Visoka Glavica to ask for tobacco. On one occasion, we got to Jasenik, near the town of Ostrošac, and there were no scales. We decided to put the tobacco into the barrel of a five-shot rifle. We knew we had around one kilogram when enough tobacco had been added to the barrel to trigger a gunshot,” recalls Ljubo.
Ljubo reminisces about another occasion, sometime around 1954 or 1955, when they bought unripe tobacco, which later caught on fire. They had to pour water on it, leaving it damp.
“We met some workers in Ilidža who were going to Nemila near Zenica, so we decided to go there for the first time along with them. That night in Ilidža, we slept next to a stream. The workers told us that no one had ever brought them tobacco before, so they were quite happy. Even though our backpacks were damp and heavy, they still wanted the tobacco. We thought that we would get only 500 dinars, but they gave us 1,000. We were actually better off than at times when we carried three times that amount,” says Ljubo.
Ante Markota, Ljubo’s friend from Rakićak, was also a tobacco dealer during the period from 1954 to 1965. They are the only two from that generation, born in 1939, still alive today.
“I lost my father when I was five years old and earned my first dinar at 14 in Bačka where I picked corn. After I returned to the village of Rakitno, I began dealing in tobacco. I never went farther than Fojnica and Visoko. Some carriers would accompany their fathers and brothers, but since I was alone, I would walk behind the others and follow their instructions. I was very careful with my tobacco and managed not to waste one kilogram of the yellow gold; even if I had to march through the snow for hours,” says Ante.
The men would usually get back home from such trips after seven or eight days. Throughout their journeys, they knew where to find shelter. Everyone helped them along the way: Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs. Nationality wasn’t an issue at that time. The police, however, were a different story.
“We always had to be careful so the police would not catch us. But we always had acquaintances in the places we traveled to,” says Ante.
Nevertheless, there were some individuals who did report them to the police.
“There were some traitors, but we never found out who they were. Before we hit the road, our “friends” would always warn us to watch out for the police and would advise us not to take certain paths. We never left our homes without knowing where the police were stationed. Our helpers were like modern-day radars,” says Ante.
Dragica, Ante’s wife and Ljubo’s cousin, was also involved in the tobacco trade.
“I twice transported 18 kilograms of tobacco from Grude. It was a different time back then. People worked hard, but they were still very healthy. We didn’t hold resentment against anyone or anything,” says Dragica.
According to the tobacco dealers, the job was difficult and dangerous as they transported the tobacco during heavy rain and cold weather, but they were physically prepared for it. They also knew that their families relied on them and the money they earned. With the earnings, some would buy land, machines, or cattle while others spent the money on fun things. Today, those involved in the trade agree that those times passed by in the blink of an eye, but they will always remember it as the Age of Yellow Gold.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: June 4th, 2018

author: Monija Markić


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Conditional Sentencing: The System’s Only Response to Domestic Violence in FBiH | Balkan Diskurs
Marko Mlikota
June 6th, 2018
According to data from the Gender Center, the most common form of punishment for the perpetrators of domestic violence in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) is conditional sentencing, even though this type of punishment opens up the possibility for the perpetrator to commit additional violent crimes.
According to data from the Gender Center, the most common form of punishment for the perpetrators of domestic violence in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) is conditional sentencing, even though this type of punishment opens up the possibility for the perpetrator to commit additional violent crimes.
According to data collected from 2006 to 2015 by the Cantonal Ministry of Internal Affairs, there were 15,813 recorded cases of domestic violence in FBiH, of which only 8,007 cases were reported.
According to annual statistics collected by the Gender Center, which operates under the auspices of the Government of FBiH, the victims of domestic violence are, in most cases, women, while in as many as 97 percent of cases the perpetrators are men. The Center could not provide the statistics for 2017 as the local and cantonal institutions have not yet finalized their reports
Of the total number of municipal court convictions, which ranges from 300 to 400 cases between 2010 to 2016, the most frequent form of punishment for the perpetrators in 70 to 80 percent of the cases was conditional sentencing, which opens up the possibility for repeat offenses.
In 2016 alone, there was a total of 644 protective measures determined by the courts for the victims, while the number of protective order requests was 532, however. In the end, only 235 people were protected. Restraining orders are the most common form of protection, as well as the prohibition of harassment and stalking by the perpetrator.
At the end of December 2017 the Gender Center reported to the media that between 2,000 and 2,500 cases of domestic violence are reported annually in the FBiH, but according to the reports we from the same government institution there are an average 1,500 cases reported annually, which is 500 to 1,000 fewer cases than reported on by the Gender Center.
Safe houses are another form of protection for the victims of domestic violence. Victims can stay in these houses for free, however, they need a recommendation from the Center for Social Work and from the police. There are six safe houses in FBiH, but due to government negligence, they often experience periods of closure. In addition, safe houses are only available in major cities and are operating under the umbrella of NGOs. There is one safe house in Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, Bihać, and two in Mostar.
The number of victims that stayed in safe houses in 2015 and 2016 is lower than in previous years. There were 264 victims in safe houses in 2015 and 245 in 2016. Women are also allowed to bring their children with them to these homes. In most cases, they stay up to one month.
With the help of the organizations that are managing the safe houses, the Gender Center launched an SOS phone number – 1265. This number is said to be the fastest way of responding and offering help to victims of domestic violence. The number of calls to the SOS line has seen a decrease from 2009 to 2016, with 2,978 calls in 2009 and only 654 calls in 2016.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

created: June 6th, 2018

author: Marko Mlikota


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Rudi: A Sarajevo Legend | Balkan Diskurs
Alma Mujanović
June 14th, 2018
Rudolf Slomo, known as “Rudi”, was one of Sarajevo’s unusual legends. A man who, left to his own devices, lived a bohemian lifestyle. He loved people and many knew him as a good man who lived a full, tireless, and active life. Rudi was also a member of the deaf community.
Rudolf Slomo, known as “Rudi”, was one of Sarajevo’s unusual legends. A man who, left to his own devices, lived a bohemian lifestyle. He loved people and many knew him as a good man who lived a full, tireless, and active life. Rudi was also a member of the deaf community.
It was June 2017 when I went to meet Rudi. It had been a while since I’d seen him last. I had been tasked with photographing a man or woman from the older generation and finding out more about their life during the time of the former Yugoslavia—someone who could compare the past and the present, talk about reconciliation, and tell us what they believe is lacking in today’s society.
I remembered Rudi often went to the graphic design company “Pismolik”. Even though he’d retired a long time ago, he still had a routine of going there every day to say hello to his old colleagues, bring in news he had heard around town, drink a cup of coffee, and just have a friendly laugh with everyone.
As soon as I entered the door, I surveyed the room in search of him. He wasn’t there, but arrived shortly thereafter. I happily explained to him: “I need to take a portrait of you and I want you to tell me some stories about your life during the Yugoslavia times.”
He was wearing a Kid’s Festival t-shirt and an accreditation hung around his neck as he was helping prepare for the 12 consecutive opening of the Kid’s Festival in Sarajevo.
“I’m not in my best attire,” he said playfully. He had a custom of putting on his favorite white suit and one of his many ties for special occasions. We decided to take a walk to the Svjetlost Park together. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and he talked to me about his life along the way.
Rudi told me he was born in Sarajevo in 1950 and then immediately jumped to the topic of education and about how there would be a change in location of the school for deaf children. Rudi was one of the few members of his generation who had had the opportunity to witness the development of this school from its establishment to present day. “The world of the deaf is quite small and we try to maintain strong interpersonal relationships and friendships,” Rudi explained.
Rudi was abandoned as a child and, although no one knows for sure where he was born or what his heritage is, his peers believe that he was born in Pale and was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth. That’s when the home for children without parents took him in.
As a young man, Rudi became an active member of the Association of the Deaf. He also loved traditional folklore and acting and often traveled across Europe to go to competitions and performances, where he proudly represented Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Later, Rudi worked in Hotel Europe for eight years. After that, he worked for the graphic design company “Pismolik” until his retirement.
Although he never had a family of his own, his considered his family to be the world of the deaf, the city of Sarajevo, and all those people he loved and who helped him in life.
I again asked him about his Kid’s Festival t-shirt and the accreditation he was wearing. He explained that had been a festival assistant for twelve consecutive years. I later decided to stop by the festival and when I first arrived, I saw his smiling face. He was so proud to be part of the team and I realized that, for him, the little things in life were priceless treasures. People were all he needed and all he had.
We then shifted our discussion to the topic of reconciliation. He explained that he believes in God, but doesn’t identify with any religion because he feels that religion has often been responsible for creating division and tension between people. All he ever wanted in life was to be a good person and help people who need it. His advice to others was to do the same – to be human, to be a humanitarian, and to live from love and friendship. “These are the things that keep us going and make us better people,” he said.
I took some photos on the way from the Svjetlost Park to the Cathedral while we talked. He stopped to say hello to every acquaintance he ran into along the way.
One morning, around a month later, I saw that one of the photos I had taken of him had become the “Photo of the Day” on the Balkan Diskurs Instagram page. The following day, I found out that Rudi had passed away.
What many people remember and will continue to remember about Rudi is that he was a man of his word. He always forgave, loved, and encouraged love, mutual respect, and reconciliation in every way. Thus, this piece has been written in remembrance of Rudi, a Sarajevo legend in his own right.
This publication has been selected as part of the 2018 Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans. The final winners of the 2018 competition will be announced in the coming months.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

author: Alma Mujanović


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Teachers Help Šamac Youth Find Love and Truth at the Core of Bosnia’s Major Religions | Balkan Diskurs
Goran Cvjetković
June 15th, 2018
Many theorists argue that the places where different nationalities, religions, and cultures meet are the most likely to encounter conflict. Yugoslavia is often referenced to provide support for such theories.
Many theorists argue that the places where different nationalities, religions, and cultures meet are the most likely to encounter conflict, both verbal and those that represent an extension of the policy of arms. Yugoslavia is often referenced to provide support for such theories.
Even if people were more familiar with other cultures, it is unlikely that warfare would have been avoided in the region of the former Yugoslavia, but it would have most certainly reduced the hatred between people that is still present today more than twenty years after the war. One excellent example of overcoming religious and other differences can be found in Nikola Tesla High School in Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
In this northeastern municipality, there are three religious buildings – the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the Mosque. Although each building is magnificent both inside and out, a large number of locals have only ever visited one of them. The reason may be tied to prejudices that can come as a result of any religion.
You would not find evidence that such prejudices exist among the students of the Nikola Tesla High School, however, as they organize a tour of all three religious institutions as part of their “Culture of Religion” class taught by Professor Hana Tabaković. By exploring the facilities and having conversations with clergy members, they are able to learn about the beliefs and cultures of the people living in their immediate surroundings.
Professor Hana says that the idea arose as a result of the very nature of this school subject.
“The idea introduced itself through the implementation of the educational content that this subject entails. In addition to the intellectual and emotional aspect of the learning process, one of the main goals is to also initiate experiential learning, which is likely the most important type of learning. Only by doing are we able to gain true knowledge about things and the credit for the implementation of this project must go to the students who have demonstrated their willingness and interest to reach its realization,’’ Professor Hana says.
It is important for professors to recognize that teaching students about diversity can create the kind of tolerance necessary for the healthy development of the society in which we live.
“It is important that we help create awareness among young people of the diversity that surrounds us as well as how they can best contribute to positive relations among diverse groups of people. The underlying aim of the ‘Culture of Religion’ class is to not only advance knowledge but also a sense of tolerance for which we all strive,” concludes the professor.
Religious community representatives also expressed their interest in the project in Šamac. Priest Jovo, Friar Josip, and the local effendi have been welcoming children into their religious houses to teach them about the basics of religion for the past three years.
“In fact, there is really not a big difference, especially in between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, which, as we know, are just different branches of the Christian faith. However, if you compare these to Islam, they are all monotheistic religions that believe in one God. Peace and love are in each religion’s teachings. Fasting is present in all religions as well, so the differences are not so great, they are too often just overemphasized,’ Friar Josip explains.
Students point out that they had always been interested in exploring the inside of these religious buildings, but had not gone to visit them.
“Through conversations with religious representatives you learn that every religion basically amounts to love and truth, which is important to know, because then you are able to stop connecting a religion with its radical believers, whose code of conduct does not respect even the basic postulates of their faith,” says student Jovana Vuković.
This publication has been selected as part of the Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

author: Goran Cvjetković


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“They Became Who They Are During the Siege”: Interview with Amra Bakšić Čamo, Co-Producer of Sympathy For The Devil | Balkan Diskurs
Charlotte McKee
June 18th, 2018
A new film, Sympathy for the Devil, will examine the experiences of the journalists reporting from the front-line in BiH. Balkan Diskurs sat down with co-producer Amra Bakšić Čamo to discuss the upcoming film and her experiences working in the Bosnian film industry.
A new film, Sympathy for the Devil, will examine the experiences of the journalists reporting from the front-line in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balkan Diskurs sat down with co-producer Amra Bakšić Čamo to discuss the upcoming film and her experiences working in the Bosnian film industry.
During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), families across the world sat down every evening to scenes of a besieged Sarajevo into their living rooms. A new film, currently being shot on the streets of Sarajevo, will examine the experiences of the journalists who brought these stories so vividly to the rest of the world.
Amra Bakšić Čamo, co-producer of the upcoming film Sympathy for the Devil, head of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s annual co-production market CineLink, and a founder of the production company pro.ba, recently met with Balkan Diskurs to discuss her upcoming film and her experience working in the Bosnian film industry.
Sympathy for the Devil is based on the memoirs of French war correspondent Paul Marchand. While in Sarajevo, Marchand became infamous for his daredevil behavior. He mocked the flak jackets of other reporters and drove through the streets in a beat-up car with “Do not shoot. Waste your bullets. I’m immortal.” written on its bonnet. He is remembered for abseiling down the atrium of the Holiday Inn hotel during his free time, even persuading the conductor of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra to do the same when conducting the concert at the hotel in 1993.
When asked about Paul’s daredevil actions, Amra responds, “Of course these people are adrenaline junkies. This is not the only job in the world where you need to be an adrenaline junky, but I think you also have to understand how young some of these people were, and young and crazy go together…When you are 22, it’s so normal to think you are immortal. What else would you think?” When reflecting on how young many of the film’s characters are, Amra reminisces about her own experience, “I was of that generation: thinking that I was mature because of the experience I had. But I was not. I was a kid.”
During the siege of Sarajevo, the city was filled with journalists and Sympathy for the Devil offers a unique take on this aspect of the war. The film explores Sarajevo as “a key place where an entire generation of European war reporters and photographers grew up.” “Those 20-somethings came to Sarajevo and became who they are during the siege,” says Amra.
This film is not Amra’s first exploration of the role of foreign correspondents stationed in Sarajevo during the siege. She also worked on a film, Sweet Dreams, about an Italian journalist dealing with his past while using the war as the background to his story. “The film used the Bosnian War to show the kind of person the war photographer truly was; how closed off he was and how he could not express his emotions.”
Although Amra knows that Sarajevo left its mark on many journalists’ lives, Marchand’s story is of particular importance because of the siege’s lasting impact on his life’s path. It was in this city where a shot to his arm largely ended his front-line journalistic career. Marchand took many risks as a reporter and was a scathing critic of what he saw as the journalists’ detachment from the real lives that they were commissioned to report on. As a result of his experiences, he developed a strong personal attachment to Sarajevo and its people and it was Marchand’s former girlfriend, Slobodanka Lizdek, who introduced Amra to Sympathy for the Devil director Guillaume de Fontenay.
“The film is also about her story in many ways because she worked with Paul and was his girlfriend during the war. She now lives in Sarajevo,” Amra says. “So, she basically introduced the two of us and I realized that his was a really interesting story. This was not just the typical guy who comes, sees a kid, snaps a photo, and leaves. This story is what makes this a different type of film…because it’s about morality.”
Many viewed the siege of Sarajevo as a test of journalistic integrity and a number of reporters have been accused of bias and superficial reporting on the information that was provided to them. Other journalists felt that their work was futile in the face of international indifference. From the perspectives of some Sarajevo residents, the journalists were cold and uncaring. Bosnian film director, Jasmila Žbanić, explored this perspective in her 2003 documentary, Images from the Corner. In this documentary, Žbanić followed the story of a girl who had been injured by a shell in her neighborhood. The girl had stuck in the director’s memory because, as she lay in the street a French photographer had, instead of helping her, taken photos of her, photographs which later won an international award.
Amra acknowledges that she has heard many distasteful stories about journalists and their actions during the war and believes that Sympathy for the Devil serves to address important topics related to ethical reporting. “He is a journalist, but while he is here, he is gaining more understanding and is further becoming a citizen of Sarajevo. And it is through this process that he begins to question what objectivity means.”
Amra’s previous work has also made her more aware of the challenge of objectivity in war reporting. “I worked on the documentary The Siege by Rémy Ourdan, who is the founder of the WARM Foundation, which is an association of the war journalists and photographers. During this process, I had the opportunity to meet some of the members. They are professionals who not only came to Sarajevo during the war, but who go from one crisis to another, and you learn that it takes a certain kind person to such a job,” Amra says.
She has also come to realize that a war reporter can’t always distance themselves from their subjects. “Sympathy for the Devil is so interesting because it tells the story of a journalist who leaves the journalistic ‘bubble’. He then suddenly has friends who are losing family members and who don’t have anything to eat. For most journalists, it’s like a blitzkrieg: they come for a very short time, do the story, return home, and try not to let their experiences influence their everyday lives. But for those who stayed, who were in Sarajevo for a longer period of time, they were forever changed,” explains Amra after which she asks, “How could they continue to draw the line between objectivity and the life of people in Sarajevo?”
Unlike most films based on events in Bosnia, the filming for Sympathy for the Devil was done entirely in-country. “Authenticity was really important. Usually, only a few days are spent in-country to produce a few scenes. Then, filming is moved to Hungary or Croatia where you can get tax rebates,” Amra states. According to her, recreating a besieged Sarajevo in an authentic way has proved challenging. Not only must you recreate a war zone, but you must also take the city back to the twentieth century.
However, the producers have not just been met with challenges as a result of their choice to film entirely in Sarajevo, but with support for the film and for the potential financial benefits that the film will bring to the city. “We have been lucky that we have found understanding for this film among the Canton Sarajevo’s government officials. Because the film is based entirely in Sarajevo, they have truly offered generous support, not only in terms of finances but in the form of services to help us to finish production.”
Although films such as these have the potential to attract investment to Bosnia, when asked about the future of Bosnian cinema as a whole, Amra concedes: “I don’t have any optimism left.” The challenges faced by the Bosnian film industry limit both foreign investment and the development of homegrown talent, for example, BiH does not have tax shelters, so it is difficult to attract foreign crews. Finally, Amra identifies a societal problem that impacts the Bosnian film industry: “Our society does not currently display an understanding of art culture. Culture is either observed as an entertainment for the posh, or it is viewed as a non-necessity because it is not observed as an economic activity. Nobody cares what we as a society will leave behind for future generations.” In spite of all the difficulties and challenges, however, Amra has not lost all hope. “There are incredible people, authors, and directors in Bosnia. Considering how small the country is, and how little money is being invested, the cinema that we have is still amazing,” she asserts.
When asked about what she hopes Sympathy for the Devil will contribute to conversations about journalism and the war, she expresses that she wants the film, as with all other films that she works on, to be judged based on its long-term impact. “I think that you always have to be aware that we are not just making films for tomorrow; we are making films for eternity. So it’s not just a question of the immediate impact that a Bosnian, or French release of the film will have in the present, but about how this film will be observed 40 years from now,” she concludes.

author: Charlotte McKee


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The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability | Balkan Diskurs
Christina Hasenhüttl
June 22nd, 2018
The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA) is part of a growing field of scholarship exploring the historical legacy of conflict and its effects on contemporary politics, societies, and cultures.
The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA) is part of a growing field of scholarship exploring the historical legacy of conflict and its effects on contemporary politics, societies, and cultures. Such a framework proves useful when applied to peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in the Western Balkans and other post-conflict contexts.
The Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA), part of Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, serves to bring together students, scholars, journalists, educators, artists, policymakers, civil society representatives, and others in an effort to address the political ramifications of recent conflict, while navigating the role of historical memory on contemporary politics, society and culture.
Through the AHDA program, participants forge bonds with other organizations, both internationally and locally.[1] Recipients of the AHDA fellowship acquire skills in fundraising, advocacy, and leadership, deepening their understanding of what it means to engage with the past. This complements their wider goal of fostering historical dialogue and useful discussion within their respective societies.[2] Their annual report further highlights their goal to build a network of advocates within a dynamic academic environment conducive to the development of successful and innovative projects.
Founder and president of the Post-Conflict Research Center, Velma Šarić, was one of twelve fellows who took part in the 2016 program.[3] With support from the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, Šarić chose to focus on the role of history in the creation of constructive national identities – an interest that stems from the reverberation of the Bosnian War throughout her academic and professional career. Her continual confrontation with the past reinforced the need to articulate ‘emotions and ineffable experiences’ through text, establishing a factual record that would guard against a ‘culture of denial’. Besides the historical merits of her work, it also enhanced Šarić’s understanding of her own past, her nation, and the globalizing world. [4]
Through seminars, workshops, site visits, and classes, the AHDA program afforded Šarić numerous opportunities. She chose to work on Ordinary Heroes, a multimedia educational project that uses narratives of moral courage to promote tolerance, reconciliation and interethnic cooperation in the Western Balkans. Amidst a diverse, dynamic environment, AHDA provided a platform to academically consolidate her research. Šarić’s work was later presented to other organizations and potential donors on an individual as well as institutional plane.[5]
Also participating was Maria Jose Kahn Silva, an art historian from Argentina. Kahn Silva runs the Educational, Artistic and Museographical Development at ESMA Memory Site Museum in Buenos Aires, where she liaises with international organizations to promote the value of human rights and historical memory. During the fellowship, Kahn Silva developed an educational program where security and military students visit the ESMA Memory Site in order to learn about the atrocities committed during the military dictatorship in Argentina. She also took the opportunity to learn from other human rights organizations represented – such as PCRC – and the cultural specificities of their projects.[6]
Besides forging and strengthening connections, AHDA participants benefit in other valuable ways. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Simon Kaneneka survived the two wars that ravaged the country. For Kaneneka, the AHDA fellowship not only honed his skills in journalism and advocacy but also inspired the championing of accountability and justice through dynamic forms of media. After his fellowship, he became the Director of Communication and Engagement at IMPACT, an NGO that promotes dialogue within war-afflicted groups. Through documentary and storytelling, IMPACT continues to help survivors of sexual violence and former combatants socially reintegrate into their own communities.
Another notable participant is Natalie Petrova, Director of Public Relations at Memorial International Society in Moscow. The society was founded in 1989 to address the legacy of political persecution in USSR. As part of the AHDA program, Petrova worked on “Burying the Dead and Ghosts of Soviet and Stalin’s Past”, an exhibition presenting the ‘social memories’ of the 1917 October Revolution. Many have contributed their personal belongings to this collection, including letters, memoirs, pictures, and pieces of embroidery. Building on this experience, Petrova currently designs campaigns and art projects that explore personal and societal memories of the Soviet regime.
Coming from various backgrounds, the AHDA fellows are united by the project of fostering historical dialogue – a central component in PCRC’s peacebuilding aim. PCRC recognizes that human rights research must transcend traditional academic boundaries. As part of a global and regional network, the organization’s participation has helped to further its wider goals toward violence prevention and transitional justice.
[1] http://www.humanrightscolumbia.org/ahda/overview
[2] Annual report p 8
[3] Annual report p 9
[4] Annual report p 26
[5] Annual report p 38
[6] Personal Interview with Kahn Silva

author: Christina Hasenhüttl


text:
Dalibor Tanić: If All You See is that I Am Roma, the Flaw is Yours | Balkan Diskurs
Sara Velaga
June 27th, 2018
This was supposed to be a story about national minorities, however, it soon became an effort to find the words to best describe the greatness of a man who does not allow others to judge him based on what he is, but rather on all the important characteristics that make him WHO he is.
This was supposed to be a story about national minorities, however, it soon became an effort to find the words to best describe the greatness of a man who does not allow others to judge him based on what he is, but rather on all the important characteristics that make him WHO he is.
Dalibor Tanić, Editor of the Roma online portal “UDAR”, puts his professional identity above all else and views his nationality as a mitigating factor rather than a source of aggravation or weakness. He considers himself a journalist, activist, and editor first and foremost, placing these above his nationality. For a time, Tanić worked and lived in Serbia where he encountered higher quality and more advanced legal solutions regarding issues related to nationality, which he attributed to a simpler state apparatus as compared with that of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In addition, Serbia has made significant steps forward in its negotiations with the European Union (EU) and, thus, must work to improve minority relations accordingly, among other things.
There were situations in which some editors labeled Tanić as a Roma journalist and, therefore, assigned him to cover a certain set of topics. He, however, didn’t see that as his problem, but rather as a manifestation of other people’s shortcomings.
“Everyone has a chance to do something worthwhile with their lives. I gave my absolute best to be a professional and I succeeded,” says Tanić.
When it comes to the status of Roma in BiH, Tanić would prefer they are not viewed as having a separate set of circumstances as the problems are the same for all citizens of this country, a condition he considers quite normal for a transitioning society. Nevertheless, he does agree with the fact that Roma have far fewer opportunities in this society.
“Today, if you are not a member of a political party, it’s almost impossible to get a civil service job, regardless of your qualifications. Now, imagine the position of the Roma when referring to such topics of nepotism, corruption, and a society where the core values are distorted,” states Tanić.
We are well aware of the power of the media to initiate societal change and we ask ourselves what influence they truly have when it comes to shaping the opinions and attitudes of the average citizen.
Amidst images that capture poverty and the dirty details of everyday Roma life, an unenviable position is portrayed and the question arises as to how such content influences the consumers of such.
“What you see and hear on the evening news at 7:30 pm you take at face value and then create your personal judgments about someone, or something. It’s really not necessary to talk about the media’s depiction of the Roma. For example, if you have a 100-second reportage and 90 seconds is dedicated to covering positive stories about successful Roma students, you only need to insert 10 seconds of coverage containing muddy neighborhoods, dirty kids, and begging, and the positive coverage is erased from the viewer’s mind. The average viewer will only remember those 10 seconds, which will once again reinforce their prejudices towards the Roma,” Tanić emphasizes.
Tanić adds that in order to change this situation, it is necessary to change the public service policies and to introduce regular TV programming in the Romani language.
Despite the numerous changes, displacements, and difficulties the BiH society has been facing for decades, it appears that the country’s citizens are just becoming colder more prejudiced towards others and those who are different.
According to Tanić, this situation is a result of ignorance and the lack of awareness.
“That is how stereotypes and prejudices are born. On the other hand, we have become completely indifferent towards everything. I don’t want to generalize, but we had the opportunity through the social networks to see how people in Sarajevo reacted towards migrants. People saw them as terrorists and thieves, not as refugees like they themselves were just 20 something years ago,” says Tanić.
Tanić believes that the Sejdić-Finci verdict made the border of inequality much more visible because the verdict still hasn’t been implemented despite the fact that it was issued by an institution whose laws are above the domestic laws. He also adds how the implementation of the verdict is also driven by politics, and that it will not be implemented without foreign influence.
In addition to the current living conditions in BiH, which we are all witness to, there is an ever-increasing number of people deciding to the leave this country, but Dalibor Tanić doesn’t want to follow this path. He enjoys his rights on a daily basis while confronting the various challenges that life brings.
On the online Roma portal “UDAR”, Tanić strives each day to create quality content and searches for new topics with his associates. By seeking to illuminate and promote positive stories, he is painting a better picture of this national minority than does the media content produced by other outlets.
As a final note, he adds that BiH can, indeed, be a society of equal rights, but as long as the political issues remain, situations like the non-enforcement of the Sejdić-Finci verdict will continue to exist.
“Let me remind you that this is not the only judgment of the European Court of Human Rights that tells us that we are not an equal society at this time,” Tanić concludes.
Whether we will ever be a society of equality can be based on how we allow those 10 seconds of media content influence us. Is that what is actually happening or is it just what is being served to you? Are you ready to face everyday life and ask for more than those 10 seconds of prejudice and media propaganda?
This publication has been selected as part of the Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

author: Sara Velaga


text:
Through Art, Aida Šehović Spreads the Memory of Srebrenica Genocide Victims | Balkan Diskurs
Kristina Gadže
June 28th, 2018
Banja Luka native Aida Šehović was hit by war when she was just 15 years old. Now, Aida has made it her mission to use art as a means to commemorate the victims of genocide and to educate citizens worldwide about the consequences of war.
Banja Luka native Aida Šehović was hit by war when she was just 15 years old. To escape the realities of conflict, her family first fled to nearby Turkey, then to Germany, and, finally, to the United States. Now, Aida has made it her mission to use art as a means to commemorate the victims of genocide and to educate citizens worldwide about the consequences of war.
“The war hit when I was 15 years old. Many of the questions I had back then still remain unanswered. What were the causes of this war? Why did people, who used to live together in peace, take on arms and become criminals? Who is to blame and why didn’t the world do anything about it?” Šehović inquires during an interview with Balkan Diskurs. She then refers to the potential contributions art can make when dealing with heavy issues, such as war.
Šehović obtained a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College in New York and now considers the commemoration of July 11th – the official day of remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide – a responsibility that began in Sarajevo in 2006 with her first traveling exhibition “Why Aren’t You Here?”. As part of that public performance, Šehović poured coffee into 923 donated fildžani – Bosnian cups that traditionally lack handles.
“This is a public monument that grows in front of everyone’s eyes,” she says. “The goal is to pay tribute to the victims of Srebrenica, who were murdered brutally and systematically killed, as well as to mark this as a day of unification among all people. It is necessary to educate those who have not heard about Srebrenica and to “symbolically” stand in opposition of such crimes.”
“The very idea of this “traveling monument” is part of a long process that remains ongoing,” Šehović states. It all officially began in 2004 when she visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for the first time after leaving her home country.
“That was around the time when the first mortal remains of the victims were being uncovered, identified, and laid to rest in Potočari, which had a huge impact on me. I, thus, began reading stories about survivors and those who had lost their loved ones. I remember the story of one woman, in particular, who said she missed her husband the most because she no longer had anyone to drink coffee with,” says Šehović, emphasizing that coffee is a huge part of the Bosnian culture and that the fildžan represents this long-standing social tradition.
Genocide is a crime against humanity. This is why the participation of people of different nationalities, skin colors, and beliefs is such an important part of the performance – because it represents a united stand against hatred.
“People still view BiH as a country that is stuck in its past. It did not turn a new page, but is instead leading a kind of peaceful war that continues through other mediums,” says Šehović while noting that we cannot proceed into future without resolving the issues of the past.
The title “Why Aren’t You Here?” was inspired by one of Jadranka Stojaković’s, a former Yugoslav singer, songs. Šehović explains, however, that the title’s meaning cannot be sufficiently translated into English as it encapsulates an inexplicable sense of loss.
The installation was exhibited in Sarajevo in 2006 and in Tuzla in 2008. The traveling monument has also been displayed in Stockholm, Chicago, Burlington, Toronto, Geneva, and New York.
ŠTO TE NEMA – BOSTON trailer from Aida Šehović on Vimeo.
“When I was pouring coffee into the fildžani at the first exhibition in Sarajevo, women offered to help. It was in that moment that I realized that the people should be the ones who to carry out the performance, a notion that was later incorporated into the Tuzla performance,” recalls Šehović, who, during that process, began to recognize the power of art as a way to bring people together.
This installation is so special because it is displayed in a different city and incorporates something new every year and is displayed in prominent and visible locations.
“Art provides an important channel to bring people closer to past events. War can happen to anyone; no one is an exception. For most people, however, it is a difficult subject to talk about. That is why art plays such an important role when it comes to topics that are difficult to approach,” explains Šehović, adding that people become indifferent because they are bombarded daily with negative information.
Šehović believes that young people, especially those who survived war or genocide, have a responsibility to spread awareness regarding the problems that arise through war, nationalism, and fascism.
“I believe in young people from BiH because they have proven that they can be successful in the world. They have built new lives from nothing, just like my family who came to the US empty-handed did. However, I am also aware that the political situation in BiH does not facilitate change,” says Šehović. She concludes with the message that young people should be given a chance and, if not, then they have to work to create their own opportunities.
This publication has been selected as part of the 2018 Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition, a regional storytelling competition that challenges youth to actively engage with their own communities to discover, document, and share stories of moral courage, interethnic cooperation, and positive social change. The competition is a primary component of the Post-Conflict Research Center’s award-winning Ordinary Heroes Peacebuilding Program, which utilizes international stories of rescuer behavior and moral courage to promote interethnic understanding and peace among the citizens of the Western Balkans. The final winners of the 2018 competition will be announced in the coming months.
The Balkan Diskurs Youth Correspondent Program is made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

author: Kristina Gadže