When I was asked to moderate a panel on free, independent, regional media at the Engaged Democracy Initiative conference in Belgrade, I found myself experiencing a mix of excitement and concern. I am not from the Balkans. I am British; I became a journalist in Malta and have lived in Albania for the past four years. What could I possibly hope to know about the struggles facing Balkan activists and journalists? Would I be able to relate? Would this impact my ability to elicit their experiences from them?
But as I sat there, listening in awe to each speaker at the event, I began to realise that it does not matter where we are from and where we have worked. Nor does it matter what nationality we are because every last one of us is fighting the same battles. While this offered comfort to me in one way, in another, it made me angry. It made me realise how we have been divided and conquered by those in a position of wealth and power. As someone in the conference quite rightly pointed out, “those we are fighting against are much more organised than we are,” and the realisation of how spot-on this statement was, shocked me.
So what are the issues we are all fighting?
The first and by far the most prominent was that of corruption, and the definition is broad and all-encompassing. It includes close links between media owners and politicians, government funding being funnelled into supportive media, the total state capture of public service media, and propaganda and disinformation campaigns waged by influential political figures. It also includes the harassment and denigration of critical journalists by vicious online mobs and well-coordinated smear campaigns. This domination of nefarious media, powered by oligarchs, controls the narrative and drowns out those that seek to question it.
Another issue is citizens not understanding their rights, not being able to analyse the information they are given, and a failure of the state to provide adequate education for the digital age we live in. Bombarded with media from influential business people, propped up with taxpayers money, they often swallow the narrative and find it hard to know how or where to seek alternative media. When they do, they are not equipped with the tools to fact check or understand the difference between ethical fact-based media and propaganda or disinformation. This also impacts the relationship between NGOs/activists and the media, who distrust each other and believe that the other does not want to work with them, which we discovered, is not the case.
A general lack of funding was another critical issue that impacted many areas, not just media. A lack of funding for independent media means lack of reach, lack of diverse content, lack of multimedia and a lack of staff to cover what needs to be covered. A general lack of money within the Western Balkans, for those not in power anyway, means thousands leave every week searching for a better life elsewhere. Brain drain impacts every area of society from activists to media, teaching, medicine, and even politics. Many of those that have the ambition and drive to see change have given up and sought opportunities elsewhere, or are planning to.
But all is not lost. During the two days in Belgrade and from the participants in my panel, I learned that there is always hope. We discussed several ways we can work better together. This included keeping dialogue between our two sectors going and cultivating strong and mutually beneficial networks that transcend borders. But for me, most importantly, I realised that journalism had lost its way. We have fallen into the trap of following the narrative instead of creating it. We need to follow the stories that impact the people and fight for the rights of our collective Balkan society. We also need to support and offer solidarity to activists and journalists working towards the same goals.
We can sit and lament the situations we find ourselves in or try to find ways to have more power in numbers. This is the only solution we have, in my opinion, when up against the rich and powerful that rule with a vice-like grip on our region.
We are all fighting the same issues, which is precisely why we have been divided and subdued. This is also why we must continue to make our voices heard. I realised, more than ever, that genuine collaboration is the only way we will ever have a chance at stabilising our communities and futures.
The main takeaway from this event was that everyone wants to work together; they have not found a way to do so yet. This, I hope, will change.
