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17 years have passed since the March pogrom. The violence started in Kosovska Mitrovica and then continued in other parts of Kosovo. The result was the expulsion of the Serbs, the destruction of their religious properties and buildings. The reason for the massive violence was false news about the fate of three Albanian children in the municipality of Zubin Potok, in northern Kosovo.
In those days there were frequent protests in southern Kosovo, one taking place on March 16, 2004. On the same day, three Albanian children drowned in the Ibar river in the village of Cabra in Ibarski Kolasin.
“It just came to our notice then. What I do remember is Ms. Baker, a UNMIK police spokeswoman who spent hours in that town. According to her testimony, she told us that on the night of the 16th she tried to explain to the media that should not come out with tabloid headlines, “said Tatjana Lazarevic, editor of the KoSSev portal.
However, the media did. Although there was no official confirmation of the boy’s fate, the Kosovo public service Radio Television Kosovo announced that the victims of the attack were a group of Serbs. Media coverage continued in a tone similar to the trigger for two days of violence in Kosovo.
“Some families brought some basic things and left Čaglavica with a couple of bags and moved to Laplje Selo, saying that that way they would protect themselves. There were small children, young mothers who were extremely worried, gunshots were heard, people were running through the fields, ”says Zorica Vorgucic, a journalist for RTV KIM.
Caglavica was finally saved thanks to the intervention of the American KFOR.
During the two days of violence, six cities and nine villages were ethnically cleansed and more than 4,000 Serbs were expelled. Eight Serbs and 11 Albanians were killed, more than a thousand people were injured, including dozens of members of the international forces. About a thousand Serbian houses were burned or badly damaged, 35 churches and monasteries were desecrated or completely destroyed and looted. All this in the eyes of the international community.
That something like this cannot happen without a clear response from Serbia, said President Vučić. It says that Serbia does that without threatening weapons, without inciting and without asking for blood.
“Saying something else today, not calling things by name, pretending to be naive, not remembering, forgetting” would also be a crime, and we are not prepared for it. Just as we are not willing to forget the crimes committed by members of our people. Not even the ones she could have prevented, and it is not our wrong policy, “said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
And maybe everything could have been avoided if there had been a reason to report. The role of the media in the March events was described in an OSCE mission report.
“If it had not been for the reckless and sensational media coverage of March 16 and 17, the events could have taken place differently. “They may not have reached the intensity and level of brutality that we have witnessed, or they may not have occurred at all,” read the OSCE mission report on the role of the media during the events of 17 September. March 2004.
The only question is whether the media in Kosovo and beyond have learned this lesson.
