What I'm in for

"I will be bluntly honest with you- your position can be one of the most frustrating and, at the same time, rewarding positions in the region(perhaps in the world)." Quote from an email sent to me from my Regional English Language Officer (RELO), Craig, in Belgrade. His bluntness has to be appreciated. I'll take blunt over sugar-coated any day. It allows me to get crazy-excited yet forces me to keep my feet to Earth a bit. Craig said about one of the projects that I'll be working on, "The rhetoric is all there, but the follow-through is missing." Heck, I worked for the New York City Department of Education for 4 years, a slow-moving monster that is fueled by perfected rhetoric, missing the follow-through more often than not.

He also sent me an 81 page document from the Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC) which will be one of project sites. A great deal of the books and articles I've read discuss the "myths" that have fueled the anger and conflict in Kosovo. Julie A. Mertus's book, "Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War" is clearly based on how embellished stories and interpretations of events by conflicting groups caused chain reactions of violence. Sam Vaknin on the online Global Politician lists several examples of the, "Myths and inexactitudes, platitudes and wrongs, errors and omissions, lies and distortions" that contribute to a great deal of the noise that comes from the region (The Myths of Yugoslavia Part 1 8/1/2006 http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=1042&cid=3&sid=10).

The 81 page document from Craig uses local media coverage of a conflict that happened in March, 2004. In regards to the violent outbursts, the local coverage was the subject of debate. Two reports written by the Vienna based OSCE Office of the High Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Pristina Office of the Temporary Media Commissioner that licenses the Kosovo broadcast sector evaluated the performance of the media during the mid-March conflict and found that further investigation was needed. They concluded that, "Reckless and sensationalist TV reporting has contributed to the ferocity of the outburst of ethnic and mob violence, by displaying a serious lack of professionalism and a neglect of core professional values," (The Establishment of the Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC) and A Center for Journalism and Communication Proposal for a development cooperation programme; pp. 40). Due to the nationalist tendencies and conditioned response of defending either ethnic Serb or Albanian Kosovars, journalists' angles focused on the opposing extremes resulting in counter-responses of nationalist defense. Objectivism, in other words, is not common practice among Kosovar journalists.

It seems as though teaching objectivism in journalism through the modes of technology and English language will be the focus of my position. Understanding and coexistance of conflicting groups cannot be established as long as media take sides. In countries in crisis media are the sole trusted sources of information. People trust and depend on them to tell them what they need to know. A critical eye in the media consumer does not often exist. Given this, it is the responsibility of the media - journalists - in giving an adequate and unbiased reality to its audience.

This will be my job . . . ! . . . ? . . .

Alternative news source

A great site written by journalists with no connection with the main-stream media monsters. They do their own thing with a perspective worth checking out. They have a good 2-part series on Kosovo leading off right now. Go to it and it will give you a ton of other related links.

http://globalpolitician.com/default.asp

Kosovo's independence the only option?

It looks as though I'm going to see a lot of things happening. Negotiations between two sides that believe the land is rightfully theirs. History of war and violence between two nationalities, two religions. Foreign diplomats involved in negotiations. Deep seeded sense of nationalism. Sound a bit familiar?

KOSOVAREPORT: What will Belgrade do now that Kosovo's independence becomes the only option? (Z�ri)