Editors and representatives of media civil society organisations (CSOs) from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey met in Njivice, Montenegro on 13-16 October to discuss the role of editors in restoring media trust. The meeting, organised within the EU-funded ‘Resilience’ project, provided a platform for media professionals to exchange experiences on sustaining media operations that promote high-quality journalism. Constructive journalism, cross-border collaboration, countering the spread of online disinformation, and hate speech were among the topics discussed.

Stefan Janjić, the editor-in-chief at Fake News Tragač from Serbia explained that the process of countering disinformation in his country usually required countering hate speech as well. “Based on our archive, 42% of false content contains some kind of hate speech or toxic narrative. Most often this is about neighbouring nations – the absolute champions are Albanians, then Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina – and we also have migrants and the LGBT+ population,” explained Janjić. During the Editors’ Forum participants watched three documentaries about the role of the media in shaping our reality: Patka, Collective and Junk Folder.

The regional programme ‘Resilience: Civil society action to reaffirm media freedom and counter disinformation and hateful propaganda in the Western Balkans and Turkey’ is implemented with the support of the European Union.