“The idea had been brewing for some time, but it finally came to life after hearing a story from a colleague who works at a small newsroom in northern Kosovo: unrest had broken out in Mitrovica, but instead of taking to the streets to report on it – as her heart and sense of responsibility toward her community told her to do – she had to attend yet another four-hour project meeting mandated by a funding agency, where she had to discuss endless technical and administrative details. I told myself: support that makes it harder for a local journalist to do their job, rather than making it easier, there is no way in which that can be right”.

That insight led Ilir Gashi – a journalist, activist, and media development expert – to seek a new path to make the complex relationship between small community media in the Balkans and donor agencies – often foreign – more efficient, effective, and meaningful. “These agencies support the media’s mission but – all too often – even when the intentions are genuinely good, the way the entire system of support is designed and delivered ends up working against the interest of the media and the public they are serving”, claims Gashi.

This is how the Balkan Alliance for Local Media was born, a regional network of small independent, community, and minority media outlets from Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, with the goal of putting journalism back at the center of attention within a system – that of international donors – which often struggles to put itself in the shoes of those working in a challenging environment like that of the media in the Western Balkans.

“We are a small media outlet that has decided to focus on human rights, a complex issue to address in a divided country like Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to the challenge of financial sustainability, we face threats to journalists’ safety and intense political pressure, such as the law on ‘foreign agents’, later struck down by the Constitutional Court” Vanja Stokić, founder and director of the portal etrafika.net, tells OBCT.

For a project like “etrafika.net,” support from external donors is vital, but the procedures they require can make life very difficult. “There are two of us in the newsroom, and all the administrative work falls on my shoulders. Too often, filling out forms, applications, and reimbursement requests makes it impossible to do journalism,” Stokić argues. “In a divided society like ours, even some funders’ demands to highlight financial support with visible elements – such as stickers on microphones and cameras – make our work riskier and more difficult. While the law on foreign agents has been overturned, the prejudices remain.”

In neighboring Serbia, too, challenges abound. “Working on projects, under the current logic, very often means adopting a scattered approach and sometimes forces us to drift away from, rather than toward, the heart of our mission: serving our community and providing in-depth journalism, even on topics unrelated to current events,” Vladimira Dorčova Valtner, founder and director of Storyteller, tells OBCT. Storyteller is a bilingual – Serbian and Slovak – news outlet dedicated to slow, in-depth, and constructive journalism.

“Donors often shy away from the idea of covering the structural costs of a media outlet like ours, but they don’t realize that providing stability – in a situation of scarce resources and institutional hostility, such as the one we face here in Serbia – is a crucial step for media outlets that want to remain free,” concludes Dorčova Valtner.

The need for a paradigm shift – a new way of connecting funders with Balkan media – has led etrafika.net, Storyteller, and dozens of other small media outlets in the region to join the Balkan Alliance for Local Media. From the space for reflection opened by the organization, a “Call for Change” emerged — a brief guide outlining concrete steps that could spark a small revolution in the sector.

The demands range from a more conscious focus on long-term sustainability to the call for more streamlined formal application and reporting procedures, while also placing the safety of journalists, fair access to resources, and the impact of journalism on the communities served back at the center of these efforts.

“I’ve been working with local media in the Balkans for 15 years. Over time, a system has taken hold that, at first glance, seems immutable. But change is both possible and necessary. The first positive outcome of the founding of the Balkan Alliance for Local Media is that it has created a space where we can discuss and envision a different reality, and bring into the public sphere a debate that until now has remained private,” says Gashi.

“I won’t hide the fact that what has made this discussion even more urgent is USAID’s withdrawal from its commitment to the region, which has made available funds even scarcer,” continues the coordinator of the Balkan Alliance for Local Media. “However, the structural problems highlighted were already all present,” concludes Gashi.

The challenges that remain to be addressed are many and varied. European donors, primarily EU institutions, often require, for example, co-financing for funded projects – a condition that many small Balkan media outlets struggle to meet. Then there are security issues, both regarding the personal safety of journalists and the economic and legal security of media outlets, with increasingly frequent cases of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), which would require dedicated resources.

“We don’t expect immediate changes; we know it will be a long process. But I believe the Balkan Alliance’s initiative is already bearing fruit,” Stokić echoes. “Recently, we were contacted by a major European organization that wants to develop a new approach to making small grants available to media outlets. They asked us to help them define new rules and procedures that would be easier for small organizations like ours to manage. This is an important sign, coming right on the heels of the organization’s creation.”

“The problems and challenges facing small media outlets are very similar across all countries in the region. By joining forces, we can give greater visibility to our needs and those of our readers,” says Dorčova Valtner. “We are currently exploring different paths to become self-sufficient: realistically, however, for pluralistic, quality journalism in the Balkans, the role of donors will remain central for a long time to come. That is why acting together on the path to change is so important.”