By: Medina Malagić
Yesterday, ‘Sarajevo Times’ had the opportunity to welcome a group of nine journalism students from Denmark who came to BiH as part of a study visit. The purpose of their visit lies in an eager interest to learn more about the situation of the media in BiH and the actual issues and problems that the country is currently facing.
They learned about ‘Sarajevo Times’ through an Internet search, since they were looking to find English news from Sarajevo and took the opportunity to visit us to become better acquainted with our work, activities, mission and how ‘Sarajevo Times’ contributes to improving the state of independent media in BiH.
For the group of Danish students, this was their first time in Sarajevo and in the region. They showed their eagerness at learning as much as they could about the situation of the media in our country in the short period of time that they were in BiH.
They explained to us that they came here without any understanding of BiH, neither the repercussions of the past conflict nor the current events, especially regarding the trajectory of the EU accession process of BiH. They realized that once they began speaking with people here, they began to learn something new.
They elucidated to us that the reason for the lack of knowledge in Denmark and Western Europe on BiH is due to the fact that BiH does not receive much media attention.
One of the students told us that since BiH is barely mentioned in the media in Denmark, they wanted to come and see for themselves and to focus on the future of the media in BiH.
However, they surmised that next year the country might receive a higher level of media coverage, where the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the 30th anniversary of the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo will be marked.
Another student expressed her concern that coverage from other countries on BiH might be potentially one-sided, because most people struggle to understand to conflict, thus making it difficult to write a good piece that would provide a correct, unbiased and clear perspective. She said that there needs to be ample time and space to sufficiently explain what is happening in this country.
This is why they were overall pleased with their stay in Sarajevo, since they met a lot of honest people who were focused on the future, who were willing to speak with the students and share their experiences with them, which gave them a greater understanding of BiH. Hopefully, they will use this enriching experience to convey their experiences to a wider public in order to trigger a bigger connection and understanding between BiH and countries in Western Europe.
