Open Letter to the Media from Eran Fraenkel, Executive Director, Search for Common Ground, Macedonia
Skopje, March 22, 2001
Dear Madam, Dear Sir:
I am on the ground in Macedonia and the author of the appeal for responsible journalism.
Since I have received many such requests for a response, I am using this opportunity to write an open letter to the Western media:
The questions you ask are legitimate, but not the point of the appeal. I've been here for the past 7 years and have seen the way in which the press views the Balkans as a whole and Macedonia in particular. Like the oath one takes as a witness in a trial, the issue here is whether the stories are not only the truth, but the whole truth. My answer is: absolutely not.
We can discuss at length whether the violence currently afflicting W. Macedonia is partly, wholly, or entirely not home-grown. We can also discuss at length to what extent there is popular support for the violence, and why.
But what I don't see in the press is that many people are trying, by various means, to stem the erosion that is occurring in Macedonia. All I've read about is increasing violence and an exodus of people from W. Macedonia. It is treated as inevitable, pre-ordained, and often as justified.
What about the various media appeals for unity and reason?
What about NGO appeals against violence?
What about the women's march for peace?
What about people who in their everyday life and existence are struggling to prevent this allegedly inevitable dissolution of their country?
Where are their stories in the foreign press?
Where is the story of Albanians who have opted to stay in Macedonia out of choice, not out of lack of choice?
Where is the exploration of the lack of political dissent in the Albanian community? Are Albanians a faceless monolith with one and only one voice?
Clearly not. But clearly yes in the foreign media.
Where is the story of the Albanian, Macedonian, Roma and Turkish kids in the TV show Nashe Maalo who have made a public plea for peace?
In other words, where is the effort to understand Macedonia and not just to feature breaking news. If the answer is that breaking news is what sells in the West, then we have a condemnation of the media in the West and not a condemnation of Macedonia. This, like the reporting of the Kosovo war and Macedonia's role in that crisis, seems to be a challenge that the foreign media fail to meet. This is what angers, insults, and ultimately discourages Macedonians of all ethnicities from believing that their reality truly matters to anyone outside. This is the image that you are creating. If you care to, you can also change it.
Eran Fraenkel
Executive Director
Search for Commong Ground, Macedonia (sfcg@sfcg.org.mk)
Notes:
Eran Fraenkel is the director of Search for Common Ground Macedonia, speaks fluent Macedonian, Albanian and English and is a noted Balkans historian.
Search for Common Ground was founded in 1982 in Washington, DC, and the European Centre for Common Ground was established in Brussels in 1995. Both organizations share a vision of transforming how the world deals with conflict -- away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. To implement this vision, SFCG carries out programs that aim to resolve conflict, and prevent violence. Search for Common Ground in Macedonia is established in 1995.
