GPKT Media Working Group

Phase I Activities

Following consultation meetings (GPKT Meeting Report 7) in early 2004, the GPKT Media Working Group was established in June 2004 with the aim of formalising working relations among media organisations in the GPKT region, as transfrontier co-operation among the various media would not only serve this particular sector but would also be crucial for the success or failure of any transfrontier co-operation activity. The Working Group members, primarily television station directors and chief editors, decided to regularly exchange information, transfer experience and work together to identify priority initiatives for media in the micro-region.

The September 2004 conference in Kumanovo (GPKT Meeting Report 9) saw the establishment of a joint GPKT Editorial Board, an operational body to manage proposed joint programming and act as a co-ordinating mechanism for various other micro-region media co-operation activities. The Editorial Board reached consensus on several ideas for practical cross-border co-operation, such as: joint production of documentaries and thematic programmes on common issues in the GPKT micro-region; use and/or exchange of equipment, journalists and technicians between media houses; and, close co-operation with the municipal co-ordinators for the GPKT micro-region to engage municipal support for cross-border media co-operation. At subsequent meetings, the Working Group incorporated new representatives from Trgoviste, co-ordinated on applications for joint documentaries to the GPKT MPLF cross-border micro-grant programme, and worked on the development of the GPKT website (GPKT Activity Update 32), involving GPKT news archive and video downloads of joint programmes. On the basis of the decision to begin to involve radio stations in the group, in June 2005 with technical support provided by EWI four GPKT radio stations broadcast two pilot ‘Radio Bridge’ programmes (GPKT Activity Update 21) – joint emissions of radio stations connected through a telephone line.

Two joint documentaries financed through the EWI micro-grants programme were presented at the end-of-cycle Media Seminar ‘News from the Other Side’ (GPKT Meeting Report 27) in June 2005, along with other multi-ethnic programmes produced by the GPKT television stations. The GPKT Media Working Group reiterated its determination to work towards development and networking through joint programming, training and exchange of information, and to aim at establishing an independent regional media structure.


Phase II Activities

Following the announcement by the Serbian government of the opening of four new local border crossings between Serbia and Macedonia, six GPKT television stations worked on the production of a joint programme (GPKT Phase II - Media Report No 1) in three languages in December 2005, presenting the life of the different communities living in the immediate vicinity of the announced new border crossings. The joint programme, including eight reportages from the border villages on both Serbian and Macedonian sides, stressed the need for immediate action on the construction and opening of the new crossing points.

February 2006 saw the first strategic meeting (GPKT Phase II - Media Report No. 2) of the GPKT Media Working Group in the second project cycle, in which radio stations from all municipalities took part for the first time since the Group’s establishment. The Group planned its activities for the following months, including joint documentaries on higher education and cultural heritage, a joint radio youth programme, and professional journalism trainings.

As a first step in the implementation of the Group’s work plan, four radio stations worked together with GPKT Youth Council volunteers to produce a pilot youth radio programme (GPKT Phase II - Media Report No. 3) in three languages. In the coming months, the GPKT radio stations, with EWI’s support, will be working on fundraising to make the GPKT youth programme a regular part of their programming.

In addition to the Media Working Group’s activities, GPKT media provide regular coverage of GPKT events and are involved in the production of the latest TV panel discussion on women’s issues, an initiative of the GPKT Women’s Working Group in April 2006, and in the ongoing production of the GPKT Youth Council’s magazine ‘Youth Bridges’.