New Equipment Improves Reporting at Serbian Language Media Outlets
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| IREX trainers Martha Dixon (left) and Dejan Vuksanovic, work on the new equipment with cameraman Nikola Lazovic and reporter Radica Milanovic from TV Mir. |
The first phase of re-equipping a group of Serbian language TV stations has been completed, an important step in increasing the access to information for Serbian language speakers in Kosovo. The stations were provided with news-gathering equipment, video servers, and studio lights to improve the technical quality of their output under the Strengthening Independent Minority Media Project, being implemented by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) with support from USAID.
These local stations compete with powerful stations from Serbia, widely distributed in Kosovo through cable and satellite. TV audiences are sensitive to technical standards and tend to avoid stations whose picture and sound quality are poor.
The new equipment enables the stations, which reach most of the Kosovo Serb population, to report local news more effectively. It will also help them source their news about Kosovo from within Kosovo, rather than using Belgrade-based wire services. The stations are supported in their use of the new equipment by the USAID project's technical experts.
"With these new cameras our picture quality is now better than [Serbia-based channels] RTS and B92," said the Executive Director of TV Most, Zvonko Miladinovic. "They will also help us in our efforts to cover more local news, which is what our viewers want from us."
The next phase of the Strengthening Independent Minority Media Project's support for these stations will be establishment of an internet-based network for the stations. This network will allow them to exchange news items and other program material, boosting their coverage of the often-isolated Kosovo Serb communities in Kosovo. The purpose of this program is to improve the quality of information about life in Kosovo available in the Kosovo Serb communities, working with a group of four local TV stations and five local radio stations.
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