In Kosovo, many reporters have found that their traditional education in journalism has not prepared them for today's digital landscape. Cyber threats, misinformation, and an inability to effectively promote their work to new audiences online pose significant challenges to information integrity and democracy in the country.
To respond, USAID has been supporting the Journalist Information Integrity Academy over the past two years to give media professionals new digital skills. Established in partnership with the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, the academy offers tailored courses on personal information management, cybersecurity best practices, leveraging evolving social media algorithms, and other topics that are not traditional curriculum in journalism schools. So far, more than 32 media professionals from Kosovo’s most prominent outlets have taken these courses, with new sessions scheduled to take place in the months ahead.
“This academy has really emphasized new methods of verifying online information in an era where the integrity of news is increasingly at risk,” notes Agnesa Qorri, one of eighteen journalists participating in the academy’s second cohort. Agnesa further emphasized that training on cyber security and verifying images and videos were absolutely critical to her day to day work but had never been covered in previous courses in Kosovo.
Experienced journalists like Agnesa and her colleagues are critical to defending information integrity and democratic society in Kosovo. By helping them learn new skills to thrive in a 21st century media environment and improving media literacy among the general public, USAID hopes to foster an online community equipped to combat disinformation seeking to sow discord and undermine faith in Kosovo’s democratic institutions.
NDI for USAIDKosovo