[7]Despite Kosovo's 45 percent unemployment rate [8], young minority journalists like Sonja MIlojevic and Sanja Sovrlic are building successful careers and providing vital links between scattered and isolated communities. Like many others in the country's majority Albanian and minority Serb communities, they faced challenges in finding employment and pursuing their careers.
IREX's support and encouragement through the USAID-funded Strengthening Independent Minority Media [9] program was key in helping the two rising stars find success. By supporting radio and television stations in Kosovo's minority Serbian speaking areas, the program helped give these aspiring journalists the platform and training to match their on-air personalities.
Sonja is a journalism graduate from the University of Belgrade. She works at TV Most in north Kosovo at the heart of the often violent civil disobedience campaign by Serbs who are reluctant to recognize Kosovo's government.
Sanja studied sociology at the University of Mitrovica, north Kosovo, and had trouble finding employment in her chosen field. Her degree, however, makes it easier to understand the issues of the rural communities she now reports on as a journalist at TV Mir.