Yugoslav journalism is again in crisis. Recent decrees banning foreign re-broadcasting and the closure of several media demonstrate that the practice of open journalism remains a difficult business in Serbia. The war in Kosovo has only increased polarisation between Serbian- and Albanian-language media. Politics, as ever, divides, and a unifying professionalism among the media is hard to find.

Media Focus aims to help expand the ideals of professionalism among the journalistic community in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It also seeks to assist local and international agencies, governments, NGOs and foreign media to track and support the development of an open Yugoslav media.

A project of the London-based Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), the bulletin will provide a bi-weekly analysis of the media coverage of political issues in Yugoslavia, available in English and, soon, in Serbian language versions. (See back page for information on receiving it.) Produced in collaboration with the Belgrade research agency Argument and the Media Center, Media Focus will present a critical mirror of the performance of the Yugoslav media.

Critical and constructive. The obstacles to an open media are not only official. Regulatory restrictions, fiscal investigations and economic difficulties all play a role in inhibiting independent-spirited journalism. But so do journalists themselves. Change must also grow from within the profession, and it is this process which Media Focus seeks to encourage.

From the media purges and war fury to the dark moments of Bosnia, experiencing the worst that the media have churned out in the past 10 years throughout the former Yugoslavia (and in some non-Yugo media, too) is enough to make one deeply ashamed to be a journalist. Yet official control is only part of the story. What dispirited real media professionals was the readiness, even eagerness, with which so many journalists dispensed with professional standards and engaged in war-mongering -spreading hatred and, yes, killing with their words. Atrocities were consciously unreported or misreported; others were reported that initially never happened but later, in a self-fulfilling prophecy, took place. Obviously, feelings like patriotism or national identity can inspire a strong sense of duty. But Yugoslav journalists distinguished themselves in the extent to which they pursued these loyalties to the exclusion of professional responsibilities of the reporter to speak the truth.

The international press created its own distortions, pursuing stories-and glory -at the expense of balance and professionalism. Yet the aim of this project is to look for home-grown weeds. Each edition will present analysis of recent coverage of political issues in the main Yugoslav media, from monitors in Belgrade, Podgorica, Novi Sad and Pristina.

Our analysts will focus on unprofessional reporting, patterns of manipulation, media language that incites hatred or intolerance, half-truths disguised as THE truth, out of context quotes, favouritism, news laced with comment, and all of the other tricks of the trade through which words can bring such disastrous actions. We hope that an awareness that their work is being evaluated will encourage a more responsible journalism within the local media.

At the same time, since no one has a monopoly on the truth, Media Focus will itself be open to criticism, and we invite reaction and response. To launch that process, we have adopted a special format for this pilot edition. In the following pages, eminent writers from the media -as well as officials -give their opinion on the state of the media in Yugoslavia. The next bulletin will present the first proper monitor and analysis