Balkan Neighbours (1994-2001)

During the past decade, ACCESS has set up an extensive media-monitoring network and capacity building program in the Balkan countries. The network was developed on the basis of four projects: Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices (1994-1996), Balkan Neighbours (1996-1998), Balkan Neighbours: Building Bridges (1999-2001) and Balkan Neighbours Club (2000-2002). Each project focused on different issues, and was effective for the promotion of dialogue among media professionals and members of the public in the Balkan region.

Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices (1994-1996)

The main purpose of the project was to contribute to better cross-border information exchange concerning the existing national stereotypes and dominant modes of prejudice vis-à-vis the neighbouring nations. The project promoted a unique and reliable NGO network in the Balkans through publication of a non-biased multi-cultural Newsletter. One project officer each from Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey monitored and analyzed the national media in their country with regard to the image of and stereotypical references to the other nations in the project.

The project activities included workshops, which were held every six months to discuss findings in country reports.

Within the project Balkan Neighbours Newsletter was published in four issues. They focused on the questions of stereotypes, prejudices, discrimination, ethnocentrism and nationalism in the region. The authors have a good reason to claim that the bulletin has not only achieved these goals but has also gone beyond them. It published not only the observations and commentaries of the national project officers but also some more academic texts.

The bulletin provoked considerable interest and numerous requests for subscription and book exchange were received from national, public and university libraries, from specialized publications and various institutes in Europe and the US. Among these were ICWA, USA; Diagonales Est-Ouest, France; Institute for War and Peace Reporting, London, UK; CFJ Clearinghouse, USA; Index on Censorship, UK; European Institute for the Media, Germany, Balkan Peace Team, Germany, Blackwell’s, Oxford, UK and ODIHR Library, Poland.

Balkan Neighbours (1996-1998)

Built on the experience of the Cross-Border Information Exchange on Balkan Ethnic and National Prejudices Project, the Balkan Neighbours Project aimed to counteract the confrontational tendencies in the Balkans by strengthening the links between media-monitoring experts, media professionals and members of the public, including members of NGOs and academics. The project leading idea was to help the media in its role of enhancing better mutual understanding among the Balkan countries and their peoples.

The implementation mechanism to accomplish this goal included 1) Enlargement of the media-monitoring area and its contents. Albania and Romania were added to the existing Balkan Neighbours target group (i.e. Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey), 2) Wider cross-border dissemination of information on national and ethnic stereotypes in the Balkans through redesigning the Balkan Neighbours newsletter into a multicultural English-language report, 3) Promotion of more informed and responsible communication and cooperation between media professionals, intellectuals and members of NGOs and human rights groups in order to enhance their role to help resolve conflict and promote peace in the Balkans, and 4 ) Promotion of better public awareness of cultural pluralism and ethnic tolerance in the Balkan countries by publishing periodicals and by participating in regional workshops and international conferences organized by the media, NGOs, etc.
This project proved successful in strengthening the Balkan Neighbours Network.

Balkan Neighbours: Building Bridges (1999-2001)

As the findings on media images within Balkan Neighbours Project continued to show a relatively steady picture of distorted views on neighbouring countries and minority groups, more creative efforts had to be made to prevent such recurring misrepresentation in the media.

Balkan Neighbours: Building Bridges Project aimed at transforming the established network of stakeholders on the media scene into a more action-oriented framework, involving media leaders (e.g. senior journalists and editors-in-chief) and high-level politicians. Special emphasis was also placed on education and capacity building. By establishing contacts with media centers and universities, ACCESS succeeded in creating various hands-on training programs for journalists and media professionals.

As the training programs proved to be an effective scheme for promoting the media as a positive instrument to help generate understanding, reduce conflict and build peace, it continued to be applied after the end of the project. As a result, two influential programs for journalists and media professionals were organized:

1) Reporting Diversity Course for Trainers - organized in cooperation with the South-East European Network for the Professionalization of the Media (SEENPM). The course aimed to train (future) media leaders and academics on the national and regional level, to improve the effectiveness of their training locally. The course attracted a lot of university lecturers and senior journalists from the press and electronic media in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Moldavia and Romania.

2) Non- Biased Journalism in a Multicultural Community  - included two seminars co-organized by the Novi Sad School of Journalism – Novi Sad, Yugoslavia which offered different perspectives and methodologies to beginner and mid-career journalists to cover conflicts constructively and focus on a reporting style that enhances tolerance and reconciliation.

These courses proved to be the most useful means of crystallizing the experience ACCESS accumulated over the past decade in media monitoring, analysis and networking, into a feasible and sustainable system of transferable knowledge and practical advice.

Balkan Neighbours Club (2000-2002)

Being a supplementary part to the Balkan Neighbours Building Bridges Project Balkan Neighbours Club Project followed its goals: improving the free exchange of information between the media in the countries of the region; improving the mutual media image of the countries of the region; establishing closer cooperation between media and journalists from different countries.

The central idea of the project was to organize several bilateral meetings of editors-in-chief of the Balkan mainstream media. They took place in February 2000 in Bucharest, Romania; in May 2000 in Skopje, Macedonia; in February 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria; in February 2001 in Athens, Greece; in December 2001 in Belgrade, Serbia and in July 2002 in Istanbul, Turkey under the joint efforts of ACCESS, Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation – Bulgaria and partner organizations from the Balkan countries. As a result, the South-East European Media Association (SEEMA) was established in June 2000 on the initiative of the editors-in-chief of the mainstream Romanian and Bulgarian press.

The final result of the joint efforts of ACCESS and Free and Democrtatic Bulgaria Foundation was the book The Image of the Other published in 2002. It provokes the students’ interest more than any issue of similar subject-matter by its informative and explanatory format.