Media Development In Post-Conflict Societies (Kosovo Case)

It is a fact that media plays an important role in post-war reconstruction enhancing the dialogue on issues related to dealing with the past and democratic institutional building. Media continues to be challenged by financial and market dynamics, political influences, and the quest for increasing market share. Over the last two decades, Kosovo has witnessed an increasing role of the media in processes of conflict transformation and institution-building. Yet the media is grounded in the dominant national frames and political ideologies. This paper discusses the dynamics of media development and the role it has played in overcoming the conflict in post-war and post-independence Kosovo. The role of media in conflicts became all important in social research, especially in the „new wars” in Rwanda, Congo and the former Yugoslavia, in the 1990s. In addition to locally generated financial means, media development has been shaped by international donors support that frames freedom of media as one of the major pillars of democracy. Research on the role of media in conflict transformation in Kosovo is still lacking. This paper seeks to address this gap offering an analysis of the role that media has played in conflict transformation and the co-creation of shared social imaginaries as a precondition for a cohesive society in Kosovo.