OSCE controls media in Kosovo
80 percent international pop music quota imposed on radio in Kosovo.
Tony Blair said the Kosovo war was just, because it was a "war for values". And indeed the NATO and the OSCE have set out to impose their values on Kosovo, which is now a colony. That includes reshaping society, and the media. The media control goes further than in Bosnia, where the OSCE had a more limited role.
In Sarajevo, for instance the government structures of the former Yugoslav republic survived the war. In Kosovo the NATO ejected the previous government, the UN has taken over the civil administration, and the restructuring of society is the task of the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The OSCE has set up a Mission in Kosovo, which is in effect a colonial administration, but with a political goal: the "democratisation" of Kosovo. (It is integrated into the United Nations Interim Administration for Kosovo (UNMIK) under the Special Representative Bernard Kouchner. Its Operational framework includes:
- civil administration, under the United Nations itself;
- humanitarian assistance, led by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees;
- democratization and institution-building, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
- economic reconstruction, managed by the European Union.
The OSCE definition of democracy is quite logical in itself: a democratic society is a society ruled by democratic forces, with democratic schools, democratic organisations, democratic culture, democratic music, democratic books, and of course democratic media. As you see, this definition of democracy does not necessarily include the consent of the people. For the OSCE the imposition of a democratic society is "democracy", even if that is done by military occupation. It is also a negative definition: democracy for the OSCE is the suppression of "non-democratic" culture, organisations, and media. You do not need a degree in political philosophy, to see that this will result in an arrogant dictatorship of a self-styled "democratic elite".
The High Representative in Bosnia, Carlos Westendorp, was notorious for his detailed interference in all aspects of society. However, he took several years to build his bad reputation. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo clearly wants to waste no time: its media policy has already alienated some people. The main problem is that the OSCE has dictatorial powers over the media in the name of democracy. The Department of Media Affairs includes a division for "Media regulation, laws and standards":
"This division will serve as the Media Regulatory Commission to regulate the full range of media within Kosovo, including print, radio, television, and all information-distributing electronic media requiring frequencies or cable transmissions. The Media Regulatory Commission will manage the broadcast frequency spectrum, allocate frequencies, issue licences, and promulgate a Broadcasting Code of Practice for electronic media as well as a temporary Press Code for print media."
This gives the OSCE control over the content of all press, radio and TV in Kosovo, and of all Internet traffic to or from Kosovo. Under present conditions in Kosovo, where the electricity supply is disrupted, the radio is probably the most significant medium.
Among those to protest at the new regulations was the World Press Freedom Committee WFPC, a conservative lobby of large western media industries. (The Chairman is James H. Ottaway, of Dow Jones: most of the directors are from US media associations). This is ironic, since the WFPC supported the so-called "independent media" in Kosovo. In fact it subsidised the "independent" Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore in Pristina. Although no doubt everyone at the WFPC supported the NATO war in Kosovo, they object to the OSCE strategy for introducing a "democratic" media structure by media regulation. The methods of the WFPC are not very subtle either: for them it is self-evident that US media tell European journalists how to work. Its activities included distributing 10 000 copies of a Russian-language "Handbook for Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe". They already told the African media what to do, in the "Handbook for African Journalists". When such an organisation complains about the "colonialist mentality" of the OSCE in Kosovo (according to a New York Times report), then clearly, OSCE has been extremely arrogant.
As with the case of Carlos Westendorp, this arrogance is best visible in the details. One such detail is the music quota imposed on the Pristina radio station. It must broadcast at least 80% "international pop". It is not clear from the source (a newsgroup message) if the UN Civil Administration or the OSCE decided on this quota. It seems bizarre, that some people think that forcing Kosovo to listen to the Vengaboys is "democratisation". But obviously there are people like that in international organisations who think like that.