"In the house we have two televisions. On one them the children watch cartoons, while on my TV in the kitchen I watch mainly local news. I do watch RTS, Prva TV and B92, but on these TV stations there are fewer reports from Kosovo. If I want to find out about the electricity supply, water, or heating I get the information from TV Most, while on TV Herc I like debates and news from southern Kosovo.” Maja Guberinic, Mitrovica
Maja’s story shows the growing ability of Serbs to find quality local news and informationsince the launch of the IREX-supported TV Mreza network. For the past decade, one of the key challenges facing Kosovo’s Serbian minority has been the difficulty in accessing reliable and useful news and information about their local communities. Although stations from Serbia have beamed their signals into Kosovo, they pay little attention to the news that affects people’s day to day lives. Their stories about Kosovo tend to be told from the perspective of the political conflict between Belgrade and Pristina.
To meet the need for quality local news for the Serbian minority in Kosovo, IREX supports the professional development and expansion of TV Mreza, as well as the KOSMA radio network. Both networks link small stations in the Serb communities, allowing them to better focus on local issues that affect their viewers’ daily lives. Recently released research [7] shows how eachnetwork continues to attract viewers due to their emphasis on local news. TV Mreza now has a daily share of 6.4% (percentage of households watching each day), up from 3.4% a year ago while its 12% weekly reach (percentage of households watching each week) places it within the range of the major Belgrade stations. Meanwhile, the survey shows that the KOSMA network of Serb radio stations has a 24% daily share, the largest in Kosovo, with individual network stations doing well in their own local areas.
TV Mreza and the KOSMA radio network will pay increasing attention to delivering their news on multimedia platforms as the survey shows the growing importance of the internet for consumption of news as text, video, and audio. Forty-one percent of Kosovo’s Serbs access the Internet daily and of that number, 42% use the Internet to access news - both text and video. Thirty-seven percent listen to radio programs on the internet and 27% access podcasts. The use of mobiles for internet access shows the potential for growth as 9% of internet users access the internet with their phone.
With access to reliable, useful, and professional news and information about their communities, Serbs in Kosovo will be better able to engaging in building a future for them within a multiethnic Kosovo. To help meet this goal, IREX has provided the TV Mreza and KOSMA networks and their member stations with training in journalism and management, provided equipment and programming grants, and supported audience and market research.
The Strengthening Independent Minority Media [8] program is supported through a cooperative agreement from USAID [9]and implemented by IREX.