Council of Bosnian Intellectuals of Kosovo (VKBIK).
Established in 2002, with a team of four permanent employees, the Council of Bosnian Intellectuals of Kosovo (VKBIK) – a branch of an international association known as the Congress of Intellectual Bosniaks – supports the development of science and culture in Kosovo, whilst promoting cooperation to break down barriers between the different ethnic and national groups. Operating mostly in Kosovo, VKBIK also has projects in Bosnia and Serbia, and the type of services they provide include training, counselling and organisational services.
TV for All
This initiative seeks to combat the spread of misinformation and false claims from politicians by establishing television transmission in the rural areas of Kosovo, removing sources of ethnic tension and helping to bring the Bosniak community more fully into Kosovan life and out of ‘media darkness’.
Kosovo may be a 21st Century country, but it can be difficult to see in the South and East where many residents cannot receive a signal from the national television station, Kosovo Television, leaving those that can afford it relying on expensive satellite services, and those that can’t without. VKBIK research has shown that for many people in the region it is the latter, creating a huge barrier to the delivery of reliable information, as misinformation spreads across the area adding to already fragile tensions and conflicts. This is exacerbated by the fact that the majority of people affected by the lack of a free public service are of the Bosniak community, a group who already perceive themselves to be deliberately isolated from the rest of Kosovo society.
TV for All was established to address this problem. Beginning in the municipalities of Zupe and Dragash, where many people have no alternative but to listen to Serbian radio, or watch Serbian TV, hearing most of their information about Kosovo only from a Serbian perspective, TV for All sought to organise influential parties in Kosovo to arrange a deal with TV Kosovo to build a television infrastructure in order for people to enjoy a free public service.
VKBIK has so far carried out this work in only these two small municipalities, with the problem still existing across the rest of the region. It estimates that to build enough transmitters would cost approximately €130,000, and is currently looking at furthering its fundraising strategies to bring the whole region out of ‘media darkness’.
