Grants >> Grantee Spotlight: Center for Information Decontamination
Central and Eastern Europe
  • CEE Program Highlights
  • CEE Grantee Spotlight


    • 2005 Central and Eastern Europe Program Descriptions:

    Albania
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    Bulgaria
    Croatia
    Kosovo
    Macedonia
    Moldova
    Montenegro
    Romania
    Serbia
    Central & Eastern Europe Regional

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    A decade after the end of armed conflict, Bosnia-Herzegovina continues to be plagued by ethnic separatism, political instability, and economic stagnation. The situation is particularly grim in Republika Srpska (RS), Bosnia's Serb-controlled entity, where an extreme nationalist political leadership harasses minority populations, refuses to allow refugees to return, stifles political opposition, and obstructs cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This restrictive political environment inhibits objective media coverage and the open discussion of issues fundamental to the development of democracy.

    To address these challenges, the Center for Informative Decontamination (CID) produces a landmark television program called Buka (Noise), which features live public debates on cutting edge social, political, and economic topics affecting citizens in Republika Srpska. Based in Banja Luka, CID was founded in 2000 by prominent young journalists and youth activists committed to fostering civic activism.

    Since its creation, CID has implemented numerous projects promoting youth civic participation, conducted get-out-the-vote campaigns aimed at young voters, and published a monthly youth magazine. Since its debut in 2001, Buka has become one of the most popular television programs in RS, particularly among youth. The program is broadcast on Alternativna Televizija, a NED grantee and one of the few independent television stations in the RS, rebroadcast by one of three public television stations in Bosnia, and made available on the Center's website (www.6yka.com). The show reaches 70 percent of the population in RS, as well as parts of the Bosnian Federation, Serbia, and Croatia. The Center uses innovative approaches to build the program's audience. For example, young artists from the region provide the backdrop to each debate by creating original works of art (see picture).

    During the weekly shows, prominent political leaders, religious authorities, journalists and civic activists are invited to debate issues such as media independence, citizen participation in decision-making processes, youth activism, human rights, religious freedom, ethnic tolerance, and historical reconciliation. Viewer participation is an integral component of the show; the debates incorporate questions posed by a live studio and online audience. By providing relevant contact information at the end of each program, the Center also encourages citizens to follow up with appropriate authorities on issues discussed during the shows.

    Multi-year NED support has enabled the Center to promote greater public discourse among citizens in RS on critical issues facing Bosnia- Herzegovina. The program's provocative topics and in-depth discussions focus on key issues which are often manipulated by political elites and are rarely covered objectively by the media. For example, following the broadcast of the 1995 execution of six Bosnian civilians by Serbs near Srebrenica, Buka was the only show in the RS to conduct a discussion on war crimes committed by Serbs and the continued unwillingness of the RS to face the past. Programs like Buka offer hope for a united, tolerant, and democratic Bosnia-Herzegovina. * Indicates Department of State Funding Beyond NED's Annual Appropriation

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