University of Graz A House of Cards: Bosnian media under (re)construction Media assistance as a tool of post-conflict democratization and state building Student: Niđara Ahmetašević Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Florian Bieber A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy under the Joint PhD Programme in Diversity Management and Governance. Graz, June 2013 2 © 2013 Niđara Ametašević All rights reserved 3 ABSTRACT A House of Cards: Bosnian media under (re)construction Media assistance as a tool of post-conflict democratization and state building Niđara Ahmetašević Since the 1980s, media assistance is often used as a tool in democratization processes and state building in post-conflict or fragile states. A number of international organizations, governmental, non-governmental, or inter-governmental, foundations and professional organizations are getting involved in assisting media to develop, while sending material and technical support, offering trainings but also getting involved in the establishment of regulatory bodies, and introducing media laws. This method is yet not well researched, and its effectiveness is under the question in academia as well as by practitioners in the field. In this thesis, I explore whether media assistance was an effective tool of democratization and state-building in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country that became semi-protectorate after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord. This thesis discuses if the imposition of the rules that regulate the media, can contribute to the process of democratization and state building, and look into how it affected professionalization of the media. The case of Bosnia is particularly indicative since it was one of the first and one of the biggest media assistance efforts, and some of the methods tested here have been transferred to other post-conflict countries, like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Almost at the same time when I will be defending this thesis, it will be five years since I was diagnosed with cancer. Less than a year after operation, chemo and radiotherapy, I was on my way to the UK to start with this research. In some way, this work was like a therapy for me and after everything, on the day I submitted this work, I want to believe that I made it, again. I am immensely grateful that I was not alone in this period of my life. I want to thank to my supervisor Professor Florian Bieber for being confident that I can do this, and for having patience with my lack of knowledge or when I was so sure I knew something, and it came out that I did not, as well as for giving me a chance to learn so much, and opening an entire new world for me. I am thankful to my doctor Nermina Kantardžić who encouraged me to purse this PhD as a therapy for my illness. I was not sure if after exhausting therapy and trauma of being a patient in a Sarajevo hospital, in conditions that are not humane, I could do anything in my life but she told me that I will be just fine, and I am. She also advised me to be surrounded with people I love and I took that advice. I want to thank all the people who were with me while I was sick, and to encouraged me over the years, and believed in me, and made me laugh. Thanks to Slobo, Simona and Mila, to Alma L., and teta Kaća, Amira, Maša, Marija, Elma and Sema, Jasmina, Almir, Skender and Amila, Hana, Maša K., Nataša, Heidi, Marit, Ed, Dino, Danijela, Aleksandra, Željka, Alma D., Bojan and Dada, Iva, Šoba, Saša, Danka, Senad, Kanita and my friends in Bašča. My foggy brain makes me forget some people I am sure, but I am thankful to all the people who draw a smile on my face. I want to thank Lara Netelfield, who encouraged me to do a PhD in the first place, to Tarik Jusić, Susan Abbot and Armina Galijaš for their advice and help, Dunja Mijatović and Helena Mandić for their comments and help, Dragan Golubović, Dijana Prljić from KAS in Sarajevo, to Monroe Price for giving me the opportunity to be around him and learn, and to Nataša Kršulj without whose help I would not be able to finalize this work. A special thank you goes to all the people who agreed to be interviewed for this research and helped me in finding documents. I would not be able to conduct this work without support from the Chevening Scholarships, Konrad Adenauer Fellowship, UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships, assistance from the Norwegian Embassy in Sarajevo and the Rudi Roth Scholarship. Finally, more than to anybody else, I am grateful to my parents Amina and Šakir who taught me to believe that I can win in any situation of my life, be it war, or cancer. I think one more time I can say that I survived. At the end, work of many people influenced my thinking and my research, but this work is entirely mine, and all mistakes remain my own. 5 Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..........................................................................................................................7 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER II: BOSNIAN EXPERIMENT ................................................................................................. 12 Research question and hypothesis ................................................................................................................... 13 Case study ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Literature review ............................................................................................................................................. 18 Research methodology and approach .............................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER III: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 26 Democracy and democratization ..................................................................................................................... 26 Media - democracy and democratization ........................................................................................................ 30 Media assistance .............................................................................................................................................. 32 Imposition of freedom ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER IV: THE WAR AND THE MEDIA ......................................................................................... 39 Three shades of propaganda ............................................................................................................................ 39 Political propaganda and media intervention .................................................................................................. 41 New leaders - new propaganda ....................................................................................................................... 43 Back to the roots .............................................................................................................................................. 46 Media as the weapon to attain political goals .................................................................................................. 48 Words and pictures of war ............................................................................................................................... 51 Justifying crimes ............................................................................................................................................. 54 A crucial element of war ................................................................................................................................. 57 The end of war and the beginning of new media era ...................................................................................... 58 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER V: MEDIA REGULATION AND LEGISLATION ............................................................... 64 Why regulate the media? ................................................................................................................................. 64 Three interrelated dimensions of consolidation of media freedoms ................................................................ 65 The power of reforms ...................................................................................................................................... 66 A state of media anarchy ................................................................................................................................. 68 Time for the changes ....................................................................................................................................... 73 New provisions ................................................................................................................................................ 76 Limited effectiveness .....................................................................................................................................