‘Reporting War’, organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in Sarajevo, examines journalists’ role in the Yugoslav wars – and how some nationalist media helped to fuel them.
Azem Kurtic
‘Reporting War’, organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in Sarajevo, examines journalists’ role in the Yugoslav wars – and how some nationalist media helped to fuel them.
Photo: Emmanuel Ortiz.
Reporting War: The Role of the Media in the Collapse of Yugoslavia, which opens in Sarajevo on Wednesday, explores the work of foreign correspondents who covered the wars of the 1990s, some of whom described the experience as “our Vietnam”.
It also shows how some media outlets amplified historical grievances and fuelled the fear and hostility that helped pave the way for the conflicts in Yugoslavia.
“This exhibition is not only about looking back at how media contributed to the conflicts of the 1990s, but also about understanding the responsibility journalism carries today,” said Nejra Mulaomerovic, project manager.
“At a time when misinformation spreads faster than ever, revisiting these experiences helps us recognise the consequences of propaganda and the importance of ethical reporting,” she added.
The exhibition builds on broader efforts by BIRN to document the role of journalism during and after the Yugoslav conflicts, such as BIRN’s long-running Last Despatches series, which chronicles the stories of journalists and media workers killed during the wars and their aftermath.
The project documents more than 140 cases of reporters who lost their lives, many while covering the conflicts, others targeted in their communities, and highlights the persistent lack of accountability for these killings.
It underscores how journalists were often treated as enemies for reporting inconvenient truths amid rising nationalist tensions. Beyond its historical focus, the exhibition draws parallels with today’s media landscape, raising questions about the impact of algorithm-driven news, declining trust in traditional outlets and growing polarisation in societies worldwide.
The exhibition is a part of BIRN’s efforts to open a Reporting House Museum in Sarajevo, which will serve as a permanent space for exhibitions and will be dedicated to media workers who lost their lives during the 1990s wars.
The exhibition opens at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.
