Serbian journalists in Kosovo lack resources to deal with corruption and investigative journalism; it was said in the round table in Media Center in Čaglavica.
Does it make sense for journalists to deal with the corruption in Kosovo when there is no rule of law? It was one of the major issues with which dealt the owners of Serbian media in Kosovo in the round table in Čaglavica, listing and the other problems they face when attempting to deal with corruption.
Director of Media Centre in Čaglavica Budimir Ničić believes that auto censorship is the main culprit of absence of corruption as the topic in the Serbian media, he then lists and a lack of trained journalists, resources, time, and the will of the authorities to answer to questions.
Participants also discussed TV Show “Case” of the RTV KiM, which had presented the evidence of an illegal formation of channel in Serbian language of the Radio Television of Kosovo. Despite the fact that the show presented solid evidence of illegal establishment and operation of RTK2; the competent authorities have not addressed the issue.
“This is where any story on investigative journalism stops. A guest comes to a show, testifies the fact that there were criminal activities, and nothing happens after that. This is very handy for suppression of the legal system and any tendency to reveal things. If there is no epilogue before the court then it all seems like a hysterical group of journalists who see everywhere a lie, fraud and theft, and they become humpback eventually,” said the director of RTV KiM Isak Vorgučić.
The European Union regularly monitors the state of media freedom in Kosovo and it shows through annual reports. From the EU Office in Kosovo say that it is important to provide journalists an environment that enables them to deal with corruption.
“We believe that the media have an indispensable role in the fight against corruption. They can affect the behaviour of people, by lowering tolerance of the corruption, which is essential in the fight against it,” said a spokeswoman for the office of EU in Kosovo Dinka Živalj.
Participants concurred that it was necessary to develop the capacity for investigative journalism, increase cooperation with the Albanian media and the representatives of the institutions to comply with legal obligations and cooperate with journalists.
Roundtable on “Reporting on corruption and investigative journalism in the Serbian media” was organized by the Independent TV Network, in partnership with BIRN.
