Considering the very important role the media play in society, they need freedom and autonomy so that citizens are informed accurately and timely. This was an overarching message of a one-day conference organized in Pristina on 10 March 2016 by the Kosovo Media Institute in cooperation with the University of Business and Technology (Pristina) on the ocassion of the Austrian Kosovo* Media Freedom Day 2016.
The event gathered numerous guests from Kosovo and Austria, including the former Deputy Prime Minister of Austria and Former Stability Pact Coordinator for SEE, Dr. Erhard Busek, who addressed the Kosovars with the message “You are responsible for your future” and said that media freedom in Kosovo* should be improved, noting its importance for democracy and Kosovo’s path towards European integration.
While the conference advocated European standards for media freedom in Kosovo*, president of the Kosovo Media Institute, Fazli Veliu, noted that Kosovo is far from the European standards of freedom of expression and that journalists in Kosovo are targeted by interest groups and individuals belonging to them. He added that the situation with media freedom is getting worse every year, without a public debate about it, while freedom of expression in the media is an inseparable element of freedom of expression in general.
The objectives of the conference were many. Among them: to support media freedom and access to public information, to promote Austrian and European model of media freedom, as well as independence of journalists and journalistic standards. The conference also aimed at raising the issue of undisclosed media ownership and promoting media competition while reducing direct influence of politics on media outlets. The event also aimed to promote media respect for minorities and vulnerable groups and the right balance between media freedom and media responsibility.