Interview: Ibrahim Mehmeti – Director of the media programs in “Search for Common Ground”

The media build the basis for future Balkans, too

Our government has to meet the civic organizations and help them through better communication

C.W. – The civic organization “Search for common ground”, where you are part of since its beginnings, celebrated its 10 years of existence this year. At the beginning of February the three-year regional media project “Bridges for new Balkans”, run by you, finished. What have its contents and specifics been?
I.M. – Over the past three years, the project “Bridges for new Balkans” has worked on production of printed, radio and television editions from all over the Balkans region, through a common production and various activities that cover common cooperation. The large number of partners that were a part of the project have produced and distributed over 3 million copies of magazines, given out in several languages, as well as thousands of minutes of radio and television shows, broadcast in several languages all over the region. I understand “Bridges for new Balkans”, our biggest project so far, as a suitable crown of our realized, smaller projects. It comprises the regional magazine “Caravan”, the local magazine “Multiethnic Forum”, “The Balkans Kaleidoscope” (regional TV exchange), as well as “Search for Common Macedonia”, created and distributed materials by local radio and television exchange.

C.W. – What percentage does the work with and on media take while planning the annual activities of “Search for Common Ground”?
I.M. – I cannot talk about the other aspects, but in my opinion the work on media is extremely important. Since we are a very big organization, we are divided into certain operating sectors, but there is no restriction related to how long will a project take within the overall activities. They depend on the needs that occur in a certain period. We think that in this period it is very important to work on the media, because they can transform the society from the position it takes, to a position where it wants to be. 


C.W. – Your editions of “Caravan” and “Multiethnic Forum” have been distributed to the citizens of Macedonia via the daily newspapers in both Macedonian and Albanian. What is the feedback from the readers in Macedonia and the region?
I.M. – We have had some quite good communication with our audience, although, in the beginning, besides the positive reactions, there was also some scepticism by the readers and viewers. The positive reactions we have received were better than we really expected. The reactions have shown that the problems we have treated are close to the citizens, that they attract their attention. The closeness of the Balkans states that the citizens of all countries feel, imposes the need for bigger transparency, common communication, exchange of views, obvious problems, positive and negative tendencies in this period of the development of each country, but also the Balkans as a whole.


C.W. – Nowadays, the realization of a media project where journalists and intellectuals, publicists and politicians of different entities take part, undoubtedly requires some great skills. You have been the first to manage to complete the idea of existence of media multiethnic editions in the region, on this level of development of the civic society, within the projected deadline.
I.M. – I think that a part of the answer can be found in the fact that the approach we have realized in our media projects, is sometimes imitated with a hope that in this way a goal will be realized that for the others is not authentic. In my opinion, the audience can tell the difference when someone really wants to promote and do something new in the sphere of multiethnic and inter-states communication, rather than something that means using a certain current trend. Unfortunately, it exists, there are some imitations, but they cannot compete with the clearly set idea. I think we have succeeded in it, in spite of the fact that it was not easy, because we have gradually been working on the idea since 1994, since I have been a part of the “Search for Common Ground”. The project “Bridges for new Balkans” cannot be imitated, because it has its own specifics. Our media projects are a part of the process for creating a solid ground for the future Balkans. In this process one has to be careful, patient and flexible to the existing conditions. We had no particular problems in establishing the communication with journalists, intellectuals who have taken part with their texts, neither in Macedonia, nor outside of it. They all wanted to cooperate, to open themselves, to integrate, but it is necessary to find the necessary formula that is however based upon common trust.


C.W. – The projects attract with their written and visual contents that depict a realistic picture of the conditions in both the country and the region. They seem true, a life, unlike the view of the reality packed in different daily-political packages offered by the mass media.
I.M. – I was lucky to cooperate with some excellent journalists who are famous and reputable in their countries, but the most important is that they are willing to change something on the Balkans, to make their contribution. As far as the subjects are concerned, we propose them together; they result from the common agreements. I think that the readers had a chance to read some quality texts, authors’ views of the reality that make “Bridges for New Balkans” as a project different from the others. We are trying to depict the reality, but also to show the positive tendencies for the beautiful things happening around us.


C.W. – You cover subjects from the field of politics, economy, health, social policy, culture, and in the focus of your attention is “the small man”, as many want to call “the ordinary citizens”. You have created a capital of realizations that can be used by the state, too. Does the Macedonian country show any interest to accept the presented realizations and to establish the necessary intercommunication?
I.M. – “The small, ordinary man” that you have noticed in our editions was actually in the focus of my personal interests, but also in the focus of interest of the desk in all our editions, since he is quite neglected. All daily, even weekly editions in the media compete among themselves to grab the most interesting events to the audience. It is very easy to come to some daily-political topics that are the most represented in the media, while the ordinary people, looking through that prism of interests, are less relevant, less represented. The topics related to them, besides being neglected, are also difficult to process. Therefore they are left aside and are rarely met. The citizens got our editions for free; we justify our existence through the serious processing of topics that are neglected and that we have made visible. That was the project’s objective and I think that it is very important for the citizens to get a wider picture of what is happening around them, outside the daily-political events.

As far as the cooperation with the state is concerned, we have not established any serious communication. I am trying to point to them that it can be useful if they take into consideration the realizations from our project. There are some individuals who show interest, but I think that the state in whole is still far from the required level of necessary and serious acceptance of the realizations offered in such a way. I hope that gradually the competent ministries, Government's organs, parliamentarians and the Parliament itself will seriously take into consideration the received and publicly presented realizations for our reality, facts from the Balkans.


C.W. – The experience you have gained gives you an opportunity to think about Macedonia today, within the sphere of development of the civic society, of the civic sector.
I.M. – I think that in this phase of the social development, everybody understands the term “civic sector” in their own way and differently, but still the citizen has a central role in it. Seen like this, we are far from the true conceptualisation of what a civic society is. In this sense Macedonia is in a more specific situation because it is a multi-ethnic country where the development of the civic society means respecting multi-ethnicity. If we talk about the citizen, the state has to give him an opportunity to develop his society, to offer him a chance, to feel himself as a creator. Now we have opportunities, in a long-term process, to build new positions for the citizens and new mutual relations with the state. With the project that we worked on for three years we have tried to help the citizens to realize their position, their role, but also the opportunity to influence the creation of society and the social processes in an open and transparent way. That is the reason why the state in this phase of development is to pay bigger attention for the civic organizations to establish bigger and stronger communication in order to implement the realizations in its programs and strategies.

 

C.W. – Does it mean that the need for intensifying the cooperation becomes more obvious, through bigger common projects between the state organs and you, as one of the few organizations that has passed the most dramatic ten years since the creation of the civic sector in the country?
I.M. – There are such attempts, but they are limited. Sometimes the cooperation does not have to be carried out directly, with certain ministries. We can also cooperate through informal forms, as common agreements, participation in action and other plans, there are various tools and instruments, but the most important is to establish intercommunication. At this moment we have to speak often and work on how to establish the necessary communication. The civic organizations communicate and get financial support by the foreign governments, donators, organizations, but we do not have the necessary communication and financial support by our government. Our government has to meet and help civic organization through better communication. It is a part of its duty, to help the citizens to improve their life.


C.W. – How do you comment the establishment of the first Non-governmental Parliament in the country?
I.M. – I am not really familiar with the Non-governmental Parliament, but I do not understand the point of why it is necessary for it to be established and why there are 120 parliamentarians. I think that the idea is a bit trivialized by copying the number of deputies in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. We should not imitate the Parliament, but cooperate with it. We should thoroughly work to establish communication with the Government and the Parliament and to influence them, to make them realize the arguments, the realizations that the civic sector has, and not to copy the form of their existence and to fight in showing who is better.


C.W. – How are you going to continue working in 2004?
I.M. – Currently we are finishing all the activities from the three-year media project and according to the received results, we hope to continue. We might not continue with the same media form, we might have more editions, we will see.