02.02.2011: If it Bleeds, it Leads
Transion On Line, 12 June 2000, Artur Nura
It is strange, but unfortunately true, that a segment of the international press is presently perpetuating a myth that all Kosovar Albanians - to say nothing of the Albanians of Macedonia and Montenegro - are gangsters, drug dealers and plot makers. As my own experiences have illustrated, though, this is not the first time that Albanians have faced this reality: during the Albanian crises of 1997 to 1998, many European media outlets seemed to need, in obvious defiance of the facts, to portray the Albanians of Albania as renegade paramilitary fighters and gangsters bent on destroying the Albanian state.
Today, the details are a little different, but the stereotypes are the same and have merely been geographically relocated to the Albanians of Kosovo.
Surely, every person has the right to form and hold his or her own opinion, even if it is patently incorrect. However, individuals who represent an institution in service of the public have a special responsibility to be factual and objective. Journalists, in particular, have a strict obligation to respect the ethics and rules of their noble profession, particularly as it shapes the opinions of the wider world.
Journalism is rightfully called the Fourth Estate or the fourth power of an organized State and, in accordance with its ethical code, should be perceived by its practitioners, the wider public and the functionaries of State alike as operating as a power within the state but completely independent of the State.
It is strange, but unfortunately true, that a segment of the international press is presently perpetuating a myth that all Kosovar Albanians - to say nothing of the Albanians of Macedonia and Montenegro - are gangsters, drug dealers and plot makers. As my own experiences have illustrated, though, this is not the first time that Albanians have faced this reality: during the Albanian crises of 1997 to 1998, many European media outlets seemed to need, in obvious defiance of the facts, to portray the Albanians of Albania as renegade paramilitary fighters and gangsters bent on destroying the Albanian state.
Today, the details are a little different, but the stereotypes are the same and have merely been geographically relocated to the Albanians of Kosovo.
Surely, every person has the right to form and hold his or her own opinion, even if it is patently incorrect. However, individuals who represent an institution in service of the public have a special responsibility to be factual and objective. Journalists, in particular, have a strict obligation to respect the ethics and rules of their noble profession, particularly as it shapes the opinions of the wider world.
Journalism is rightfully called the Fourth Estate or the fourth power of an organized State and, in accordance with its ethical code, should be perceived by its practitioners, the wider public and the functionaries of State alike as operating as a power within the state but completely independent of the State.
28.02.2009: If it Bleeds, it Leads
Transion On Line
If it Bleeds, it Leads, 12 June 2000
Artur Nura
It is strange, but unfortunately true, that a segment of the international press is presently perpetuating a myth that all Kosovar Albanians - to say nothing of the Albanians of Macedonia and Montenegro - are gangsters, drug dealers and plot makers. As my own experiences have illustrated, though, this is not the first time that Albanians have faced this reality: during the Albanian crises of 1997 to 1998, many European media outlets seemed to need, in obvious defiance of the facts, to portray the Albanians of Albania as renegade paramilitary fighters and gangsters bent on destroying the Albanian state.
Today, the details are a little different, but the stereotypes are the same and have merely been geographically relocated to the Albanians of Kosovo.
If it Bleeds, it Leads, 12 June 2000
Artur Nura
It is strange, but unfortunately true, that a segment of the international press is presently perpetuating a myth that all Kosovar Albanians - to say nothing of the Albanians of Macedonia and Montenegro - are gangsters, drug dealers and plot makers. As my own experiences have illustrated, though, this is not the first time that Albanians have faced this reality: during the Albanian crises of 1997 to 1998, many European media outlets seemed to need, in obvious defiance of the facts, to portray the Albanians of Albania as renegade paramilitary fighters and gangsters bent on destroying the Albanian state.
Today, the details are a little different, but the stereotypes are the same and have merely been geographically relocated to the Albanians of Kosovo.
28.02.2009: Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Central Europe Review,
Vol 2, No 13
3 April 2000
Montenegro stands up to Belgrade
Artur Nura
It appears that the latest challenge to the dictatorial Serbian scenery comes from the tiny Republic of Montenegro. The smallest of the former Yugoslav republics, Montenegro is of extreme strategic importance for Serbia, and its position as the Yugoslav Federation's only access to the Adriatic Sea makes the issue of separation is a tricky one. But the Montenegrin people, who stoically resisted Turkish occupation and remained the only independent state in the region during the Ottoman period, seem to be trying to repeat their history of independence today, with the same stoicism but with a greater degree of moderation.
Vol 2, No 13
3 April 2000
Montenegro stands up to Belgrade
Artur Nura
It appears that the latest challenge to the dictatorial Serbian scenery comes from the tiny Republic of Montenegro. The smallest of the former Yugoslav republics, Montenegro is of extreme strategic importance for Serbia, and its position as the Yugoslav Federation's only access to the Adriatic Sea makes the issue of separation is a tricky one. But the Montenegrin people, who stoically resisted Turkish occupation and remained the only independent state in the region during the Ottoman period, seem to be trying to repeat their history of independence today, with the same stoicism but with a greater degree of moderation.
26.02.2009: Where Worlds Collide
Transition On Line
Essays and Views
Where Worlds Collide
by Artur Nura
18 October 2002
An interview with Aurel Plasari.
The history of small nations and peoples passes through the doors of tragedy--this ancient proverb has too often proved apt in the case of the Albanian people. After languishing for decades, their cause emerged forcefully onto the international stage in 1990, when a gathering of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia in Kacanik, and thousands of young people in the Albanian capital, Tirana, forced their way into European embassies to request asylum.
Long artificially dormant, the plight and unique culture of this Balkan nation lay before the eyes of Europe. Although these political events signaled the Albanians’ emergence from obscurity, they may have given a false impression that a new epoch was dawning in the Balkans. Instead, Europe came face to face with a Balkans of the past, where great nations play power games, where religions and ideologies clash and people suffer as a direct result. Those who viewed the dominant Islamic faith of the Albanians as a negative factor in their relations with Christian Europe, however, were flabbergasted when NATO bombs began falling on Yugoslavia in 1999, to the direct benefit of Kosovo’s Albanian-speaking, Muslim majority. But the past stays with Albania, and considering the two fundamental elements of a nation’s development--the characteristics of its people, and the hard facts of its geography--Europe’s poorest and least understood country would be unwise to count on the same level of commitment in the future on the part of the great powers. Scholar, writer and critic Aurel Plasari sketched out in a recent interview some underlying patterns that have molded the difficult history of Albania and the Albanians.
Essays and Views
Where Worlds Collide
by Artur Nura
18 October 2002
An interview with Aurel Plasari.
The history of small nations and peoples passes through the doors of tragedy--this ancient proverb has too often proved apt in the case of the Albanian people. After languishing for decades, their cause emerged forcefully onto the international stage in 1990, when a gathering of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia in Kacanik, and thousands of young people in the Albanian capital, Tirana, forced their way into European embassies to request asylum.
Long artificially dormant, the plight and unique culture of this Balkan nation lay before the eyes of Europe. Although these political events signaled the Albanians’ emergence from obscurity, they may have given a false impression that a new epoch was dawning in the Balkans. Instead, Europe came face to face with a Balkans of the past, where great nations play power games, where religions and ideologies clash and people suffer as a direct result. Those who viewed the dominant Islamic faith of the Albanians as a negative factor in their relations with Christian Europe, however, were flabbergasted when NATO bombs began falling on Yugoslavia in 1999, to the direct benefit of Kosovo’s Albanian-speaking, Muslim majority. But the past stays with Albania, and considering the two fundamental elements of a nation’s development--the characteristics of its people, and the hard facts of its geography--Europe’s poorest and least understood country would be unwise to count on the same level of commitment in the future on the part of the great powers. Scholar, writer and critic Aurel Plasari sketched out in a recent interview some underlying patterns that have molded the difficult history of Albania and the Albanians.
26.02.2009: Extreme Division
Central Europe Review,
Vol 3, No 12
26 March 2001
Reflections on the
violence in Macedonia
Artur Nura
As fighting rages around Tetovo, Albania is divided on how best to deal with the ethnic Albanian extremists who have been exchanging fire with Macedonian authorities.
Tirana's leftist ruling parties have, for the most part, condemned the violence in Macedonia and have urged ethnic Albanian extremists to put down their guns.
After a meeting in Tirana, Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta and the leaders of Macedonia's two main ethnic Albanian parties, Arben Xhaferi and Imer Imeraj, stated that any violence is counterproductive to Albanian interests and the position adopted by political representatives of the Albanian community in Macedonia.
Vol 3, No 12
26 March 2001
Reflections on the
violence in Macedonia
Artur Nura
As fighting rages around Tetovo, Albania is divided on how best to deal with the ethnic Albanian extremists who have been exchanging fire with Macedonian authorities.
Tirana's leftist ruling parties have, for the most part, condemned the violence in Macedonia and have urged ethnic Albanian extremists to put down their guns.
After a meeting in Tirana, Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta and the leaders of Macedonia's two main ethnic Albanian parties, Arben Xhaferi and Imer Imeraj, stated that any violence is counterproductive to Albanian interests and the position adopted by political representatives of the Albanian community in Macedonia.
