Together with the Shedhalle Zurich, K3000 and Level Ltd., Medienhilfe Ex-Jugoslawien organised the media workshop. It took place in Zurich, October 27-31,1998.

Totally seven people from various radio and video media projects in former Yugoslavia took part: Ms. Jeta Xharra, Media Project – Pristina; Ms. Marica Bender, Radio ZID – Sarajevo; Ms. Mina Vuletic, Video Production of Radio B92 and ANEM – Belgrade; Mr. Drazen Pantic, Internet Department of Radio B92 – Belgrade; Mr. Marko Peljhan, Ljudmila – Ljubljana; Mr. Oliver Sertic, ATTACK’s Media Broup – Zagreb; Mr. Zelimir Zilnik, Terra Film – Novi Sad. There were also 10 participants from Switzerland who took part in the workshop: from Shedhalle Zurich, K3000; Level Ltd. and Medienhilfe Ex-Jugoslawien, as well as one participant from New York.

The workshop consisted of discussions, work on joint production, and public presentations. The discussions were focused on a few issues that are crucial for defining the general approach to media and the type of media coverage/reporting – boarders, language and identity. The experiences were exchanged in order to find a way to co-operate as a multi-lingual group of the media professionals with various cultural background and professional experience. The basic questions that were related to were the following: 1. How can cultural differences come into existence? How are they produced? 2) What is the function of language as an instrument of mutual exclusion by nation states? And 3) What is the importance of the region in constructing national/international identity? The actual alarmingly bad situation with the independent media in Serbia was also one of topics. The participants were exploring the ways to use tactical media in achieving extended broadcast coverage as a mean to fight against the regime’s restrictions and bans of the independent media, especially electronic ones.

The production work was carried out in three teams: radio, video and Internet. Radio team worked on editing of two radio talk-show broadcasts: 1) panel discussion from the workshop’s introductory discussion, and 2) the final workshop’s discussion. It also produced experimental broadcast on multilingual radio and a few radio jingles. Video team made two videos – one on the life and the atmosphere in Lngstrasse, Zurich (shot by Zelimir Zilnik and Berta Jottar), and the other one on problems of Kosov@ Albanian refugees and asylum seekers recently in large numbers coming to Switzerland (done by Jeta Xharra and Zelimir Zilnik). The other members of the team have been fully involved in digital editing of the material. People in Internet team designed the structure of a special website. All the participants took the material with themselves in order to finalise it. The final versions will be subsequently till the end of the year put on the website. All media whose participants took part in the workshop, as well as the workshop’s co-organisers, will have mutual links from their websites to this one.

Each evening during the workshop, starting from 20:00, 2-3hours lasting presentations for the public were held in the premises of K3000. They were not aimed at giving the audience insight in media houses and project our participants work in. The audience was presented the following programmes composed of Internet RealAudio and Real Video presentations, screening of video productions, and discussions with the guests: 27.10. – Ljudmila; 28.10. - ATTACK and Radio ZID; 29.10. - Media Project Pristina and Terra Film; 30.10. - Radio B92 and 31.10. - ANEM.

The workshop’s media coverage contained of interviews with the participants, which were focused on their work and media context in the areas they came from. Mr. Drazen Pantic gave the interview about the media situation in Serbia after the new Media Law was introduced for "Echo der Zeit"/SR DRS (broadcast on 29.10.). Ms. Jeta Xharra had three interviews: for "Anabell", for WoZ, and for "Neuer Zürcher Zeitung". Besides, four workshop’s participants and the representative of Medienhilfe Ex-Jugoslawien were guests in two-hours alive programme on Radio LoRa (Zürich) and Radio Rabe (Bern) on October 30.

One extremely important idea emerged, and a draft project proposal for its realisation has already been done. The project deals with exploring possibilities to use tactical media to extend radio broadcast of the independent electronic media in Kosov@, which is for the time being either prevented (RTV Koha Ditore and Radio Kontakt)or exists only as a virtual radio (Internet Radio 21 of Media project – Pristina). Medienhilfe considers the project as one of its key activities in the next year.