MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
This continuation of the Future of Media study builds on previous findings through analysis of qualitative data collected through focus groups with citizens, media professionals, and citizens with high social and cultural capital and influence. Participants in this study described a media system that fails to inform the public effectively, ensure accountability, or offer a space for deliberation—thus failing to uphold the fundamental roles of media in a democratic society.
The findings point to a fragmented environment, shaped by both global trends and domestic particularities. The media landscape reflects global phenomena such as digital disruption, algorithmic segmentation, and the erosion of shared information spaces. At the same time, it is further fractured by political, ethnic, and ideological polarization of the media in BiH, as well as by divergent policies across the country’s complex administrative structure.
Journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina face increasing attacks and pressures, now increasingly reflected in the policy environment, particularly in Republika Srpska, where intensified efforts to introduce a “foreign agents law” signal further democratic regression following the re-criminalization of defamation. Media professionals’ reflections on trends from previous research largely affirmed the earlier findings, emphasizing the growing financial strain caused by the withdrawal or reduction of major international donor funding, as well as the resulting closure and downsizing of affiliated newsrooms.
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The regional program “Our Media: A civil society action to generate media literacy and activism, counter polarisation and promote dialogue” is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by partner organizations SEENPM, Albanian Media Institute, Mediacentar Sarajevo, Press Council of Kosovo, Montenegrin Media Institute, Macedonian Institute for Media, Novi Sad School of Journalism, Peace Institute and Bianet.
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of SEENPM and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
