The mass media in Kosovo consists of different kinds of communicative media such as radio, television, newspapers, and internet web sites. Most of the media survive from advertising and subscriptions.
Kosovo's Constitution and laws provide for freedom of expression and press freedom. Yet, these are often at stake due to political and economic interferences, fostered by media ownership concentration.Freedom House, Kosovo 2015 Press Freedom report
History In 2016, Reporters Without Borders ranked Kosovo in 90th place in its World Press Freedom Index, down three places from 2015 when it was in 87th place. In 2013, Kosovo was ranked in 85th place, below the average of the Western Balkan and far away from the countries of European Union. This was a slight progress from the 86th place of 2012.
Legislative framework The legal framework of Kosovo is deemed relatively good. The Constitution of Kosovo protects freedom of expression and media freedom.
Defamation and libel are decriminalised, but author, editor, and publisher may be liable for damages. The Criminal Code regulates hate speech. There is no special protection for state officials. Before going to court, the person seeking damages has to try with the publisher or with the appropriate regulatory body. A negative note is that journalists may face civil proceedings for defamation without support by their media outlets. Also, in defamation and insult cases the burden of proof is on the defendant, namely the journalist.
Censorship is forbidden, except in the cases of provocation of violence and discrimination.
A law on the protection of journalistic sources was passed in 2013 by the Kosovo parliament, based on Belgian standards, deemed among the most advanced in Europe.Elda Brogi, Alina Dobreva, and Pier Luigi Parcu, "Freedom of Media in the Western Balkans", study for the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights, October 2014, EXPO/B/DROI/2013/16
The 2010 Law on Access to Public Documents Law on Access to Public Documents, Republic of Kosovo guarantees access to information to official documents maintained, drawn or received by the public institutions. Applicants must submit a written request for the information that they wish to access. Each ministry has an official that is tasked with dealing with access requests, though implementation is uneven and overloaded courts are not a viable avenue for redress.
Online content is not regulated by law in Kosovo, besides generally applicable norms. The 2013 Code of the Press Council of Kosovo includes guidelines for online journalism, e.g. on responsibility for monitoring and control over published materials.Kosovo Press Council (2012), Guidelines of Code of Conduct. Pristina: Kosovo Press Council
Kosovo media are free to enter the market freely, although the licensing system - and the politicisation of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) may be a hurdle.
There remain concerns about hate speech and defamation in the media. In September 2013, three persons were indicted for hate speech after protests against the Kosovo 2.0 print magazine issue entitled "Sex", which included content addressing LGBT issues.
The main issue with Kosovo's legislation, rather than its broad alignment with EU standards, is its uneven implementation, due to the lack of experience of the policy and judiciary and the challenges of interpreting a fragmented anc growing corpus of laws.
Status and self-regulation of journalists A definition of journalist was provided in the 2013 Law on the Protection of Sources. It defines a journalist as "each natural or legal person, who is engaged regularly or professionally to contribute directly in the gathering, editing, production and dissemination of information to the public through the media".
The Association of Professional Journalists records around 20 cases annually of intimidation or threats against journalists, although physical threats violent attacks have not been recorded. Job security for journalists is not guaranteed, and cases of breach of contracts are often not reported to the authorities or to the public for fear of losing the job. Freedom House concluded in 2015 that "journalists have few professional rights, earn low wages, and often work without contracts, leaving them vulnerable to corruption and prone to self-censorship"
Two codes of ethics regulate the profession: the Kosovo Press Council's 2005 Code of Ethics, and the Independent Media Commission's 2010 Code of Ethics. Yet, the journalists' knowledge of media legislation is rather low. Investigative journalism is mostly lacking, as journalists end up reporting on protocol news, and no media has dedicated lawyers.
Journalists and editors are exempted from requirements to testify, according to the 2013 Criminal Procedure Code. They also have the right not to reveal their sources, except if necessary to prevent serious threats possibly leading to death, according to the 2013 Law on the Protection of Sources.
The Kosovo Press Council (KPC) is the self-regulatory body of the press, composed of 18 members from print and online media. It deals with around 100 claims per year, and its decisions are respected and published - though not self-executive. It is not yet financially sustainable and relies on foreign donors. It also has to face the issue of adjudicating on online media, particularly copyright and privacy violations, and hate speech.
Self-censorship is on the rise, due to the "permeability of editorial independence in the face of advertisers, political pressure through the close links between media owners and politicians and the global dwindling media revenues, particularly in the written press", according to the Kosovo NGO INDEPINDEP Institute for Development Policy (2013), The State of Media in Kosovo, 2012. Analysis .
Although several journalists' associations exist, there is no officially recognised professional trade union.
In May 2016, a Freedom of Expression, Media and Information Freedom of Expression, Media and Information in Kosovo, Çohu!, Kosovo 2.0 and KPC report was published by Çohu!, Kosovo 2.0 and KPC which used the European Council's 27 Indicators for Media in a Democracy. It found that "While some progress has been made over the years, overall challenges remain with regard to freedom of expression and information, the legislative and regulatory framework, and independence, to ensure freedom of expression, information and media."
Media outlets According to IREX there were 92 radio stations and 22 television stations in Kosovo in 2012.
Media ownership is not regulated by law, but it was deemed "transparent" by the INDEP institute in 2012. Private print and broadcast media have to register with the Kosovo Business Registration Agency and disclose their ownership structure. The Independent Media Commission requires media companies to send it annual ownership reports and to disclose the same information with tax authorities. Anyway, media that are not registered as companies have no such legal requirement. Although ownership transparency rules are effective, the real backers of several print media remain opaque.
Media ownership is mainly local, as no foreign investor operates on the market. Media ownership concentration is very strong, according to the 2014 European Commission progress report.
Commercial media are mostly funded through advertisement revenues. Dependence on big advertisers - particularly the public or state-owned ones - often leads media to self-censorship when their interests are at stake. The state only provides small funding for minority media. In the analysis of advertising market in the Republic of Kosovo by Independent Media Commission 44% of the budget of public companies goes for advertisements in national televisions, 10% in local televisions, 8% in national radios, 9% in local radios, 11% for daily newspapers and 18% for other media. Kosovo lacks strong private advertisers, thus leaving private advertisers dependent on foreign donors. Most media outlets remain financially unsustainable, and operate only thanks to political or business supporters.
The 2008 financial crisis greatly affected Kosovo media; two daily newspapers closed in 2012, resulting in job losses and lack of job security for journalists.IREX (2013b), Europe & Eurasia. Media Sustainability Index 2013: Kosovo . Pristina. Yet, media close to political interests seem to withstand the crisis better and to secure advertisement funds more easily.
Public service broadcaster The public service broadcaster is Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK, regulated by the Law on Public Broadcasting. Its financing was originally guaranteed by a license fee paid over electricity bill, until the Constitutional Court declared that it was not due and shifted RTK's budget over state subsidy (0.7% of Kosovo's budget). The change raised concerns for the preservation of RTK's independence. The legal requirement for RTK to plan an end to the transitional state budget funding has not been enacted.
RTK has been criticised for lack of investigative journalism and political bias, e.g. in the extensive coverage of the ruling political party (including the annual meeting of the ruling Kosovo Democratic Party) as opposed to the short and misleading coverage of opposition Vetvendosje 2012 protests, which was deemed "a major signal of state financing putting the editorial independence of public television at risk" (IREX, 2013b). Moreover, RTK coverage only reaches 62.7% of Kosovo's territoryIndependent Media Commission of Kosovo (2013), Annual Report for 2012 RTK Board members are elected by the Parliament by majority vote, thus entrusting their appointment to the majority parties. Political pressures aside, RTK maintains an untapped potential thanks to good equipment and professional editors and journalists.
Print media
In Kosovo there are several operating newspapers. They include: The Kosovo Spectator ('Independent') - English language Revista Kosovarja is a magazine published in Kosovo. It was founded on October 24, 1971 Kosova Press ('Independent News Agency KosovaPress') is first News Agency on Kosovo. The news agency Kosova Press was established on January 4, 1999. Since that time, it has published information in these languages: Albanian, English, German and French. It currently publishes in Albanian and English. Koha Ditore ('Daily Time'), the only newspaper published before 1999, remains the leading daily newspaper. Its founder and owner Veton Surroi founded the Reformist Party ORA (now part of LDK), and the newspaper is run by his sister Flaka Surroi. Gazeta Express ('Express newspaper') was established in 2005 as an independent daily, financed by IPKO, Kosovo's leading private telecommunications company. In tabloid format, it is known for its distinctive editorials and op-ed's, as well as focus on investigative journalism. Arbresh ('Portali arbresh')is a Kosovo newsportal Infopress Bota Sot ('World Today'). Headquartered in Zurich, it launched as the newspaper of the Kosovo diaspora in Switzerland. Its editorial line supported the Democratic Party of Albania and the Democratic League of Kosovo. InfoKosova ('Portali InfoKosova') is a Kosovo newsportal Bota Press ('World Press') Pro-LDK. Epoka e Re ('The New Epoch'), established in 1999. Kosova Sot ('Kosovo Today') independent. Claims to have the highest circulation. Lajm ('News'), est. 2004, pro-AKR, owned by the businessman and politician Behgjet Pacolli. Tribuna ('The Tribune') Zëri ('The Voice'), owned by Blerim Shala, an analyst and journalist who also took part in the Kosovo status process negotiations Teleshkronja Post News and Media website based in Drenas (Ex-Glogoc) owned by Teleshkronja Post news company, founded date: 26 November 2017. Kosova24 ('Kosova 24') is an independent newsmedia based in Prizren owned by Kosova 24 SH.P.K., founded date: 13 May 2020.