The weekly "ZERI" has 54 years of existence. It was established in 1945. More than 1,700 issues were published until now. Zeri was a youth weekly paper in Albanian, changing into the political weekly for a broader public in 90s. In a period in the eve of wars in former Yugoslavia, Zeri had very high circulation (100,000 copies) and was fully self-sustainable paper. As political and economic conditions in Kosov@ worsened in 1994, Zeri was forced to seek international donor support to finance 20% of its operating costs – with 80% still covered by advertising and subscription income. Only in 1998 did Zeri seek funding for 30% of its total expenses. However, as a result of forced expulsion from Kosov@, Zeri is presently dependent on international donor contributions.

Zeri’s editorial policy has been independent from any of existing streams on the Kosov@ Albanian political scene. Representatives of all parties have written articles or given interviews to Zeri, as well as many relevant local independent analysts and intellectuals. The main aims have been to support the process of the political resolution of the Kosov@ conflict; to stand for a democratisation of the Kosov@ society and to offer its readers information, reflections and evaluations of prominent foreign experts and intellectuals regarding the Kosov@ issue.

After being forcefully deported from Kosov@, the editors and staff of Zeri re-created their leading Kosov@ newsmagazine to start covering issues of special concern for the Kosov@ Albanian community in exile throughout Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. While issued in exile, Zeri played one of a crucial roles in generating needed information for the Kosov@ Albanian refugees (in Albania and in Macedonia) and displaced persons (in Montenegro).

Zeri has currently two major projects: the first one to further improve its weekly edition and the second one to start publishing the daily.

Zeri is at present the only political weekly in Kosov@. Its staff comprises of 12 editors and journalists, 14 correspondents from all major West European and Balkan centres, as well as from USA, and other technical employees. Due to the fact that in Pristina no rotation print facilities still exist, Zeri is being printed in Skopje/Macedonia and then transported to Kosov@. This however increases the paper production costs for the time being. Zeri‘s circulation is 10,000 copies, out of which the major part (7-8,000) is sold in Kosov@ and the rest in Macedonia. Despite work in very difficult conditions, the paper already manages to cover around 70% of its production costs by sales. The editorial policy that is fully independent from any of existing political streams, high-quality of analysis, presentation of different views and opinions in regard to key Kosov@ issues are for sure the main reason for the papers success. With improvement of economic and social situation in Kosov@, the weekly can count on increasing circulation.

In order to realise the project, Zeri should conduct the following activities: