Lajmet

Elections are not experienced by citizens only through polling stations and political campaigns. They are also experienced through the information environment in which voters encounter political messages, news reports, competing claims and increasingly complex forms of digital content.

For journalists and media organisations, election periods bring a particular responsibility to provide citizens with accurate, timely and diverse information while navigating an environment shaped by political communication, digital platforms and rapidly evolving technologies. At the same time, election-related disinformation, foreign information manipulation, gendered disinformation and synthetic media are creating new challenges for verification and public-interest journalism.

These challenges have become increasingly visible in Kosovo's recent electoral experience. Monitoring of Kosovo's 2025 election periods documented a range of problematic information, including fabricated polls, false statements attributed to public figures, AI-generated or manipulated videos, interethnic narratives and forms of foreign information manipulation and interference. Separate monitoring also documented gender-based disinformation, hate speech and misogynistic content targeting women candidates and Members of Parliament during the 2025 election campaign.

At the same time, journalists and media organisations operate within a broader media environment in which questions around political pressure, access to public information, journalist safety, SLAPPs and the independence of media institutions remain part of the public discussion. Reporters Without Borders' 2026 country profile describes Kosovo's media market as diverse and dynamic while identifying political and economic pressures, SLAPPs, access to public information and risks to journalists' safety as continuing challenges.

The combination of these developments raises important questions about how citizens encounter and assess information during elections. How can election-related claims be verified quickly and responsibly? How should newsrooms respond when misleading or manipulated content becomes viral? What role do digital platforms play in shaping political communication? How can journalists identify synthetic media? And what can media professionals across countries learn from one another?

Against this backdrop, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) will organise the CIVIC_ACT Civic Dialogue “Media and Elections: Who Shapes What Voters See and Believe?” on 12 October 2026 at Hotel Prishtina in Prishtina.

The event will bring together journalists and media professionals from Kosovo and the wider region to exchange experiences on election coverage, disinformation and the changing digital information environment. As CIVIC_ACT's Civic Dialogue focused on disinformation, elections and foreign influence, the event will create space for regional perspectives and practical exchange on challenges affecting information integrity and public-interest journalism.

The first part of the programme will feature a regional panel bringing together perspectives from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Italy, Montenegro and Greece. Speakers will discuss election coverage and the information environment in their respective countries, with a focus on election-related disinformation, political communication, digital platforms, verification and public trust.

Bringing together experiences from different media environments will allow participants to examine both common challenges and country-specific experiences. While media systems and electoral contexts differ, journalists across the region increasingly work in information spaces where political communication, journalism, social media and user-generated content intersect, making the verification and contextualisation of information more complex.

The discussion will then move to an interactive regional exchange under the theme “Western Balkans and Media Coverage of Elections: Are We Learning from Each Other?”

The session will focus on common challenges in election coverage, including disinformation, foreign influence, digital platforms and synthetic media. Participants will compare experiences, discuss practical responses and identify lessons that can be shared across countries.

Rather than focusing only on the challenges, the exchange will explore what journalists and media organisations can do in practice to strengthen information integrity and public-interest journalism during election periods. Participants will consider approaches to verification, responses to misleading and manipulated content, regional cooperation and ways of maintaining accurate and responsible reporting in rapidly changing information environments.

Particular attention will also be given to gendered disinformation, recognising the ways in which online information environments can create additional pressures for women journalists, candidates and public figures. The regional exchange will provide an opportunity to discuss how journalists and media organisations can respond to such narratives while maintaining professional standards and protecting inclusive public debate.

The event will conclude with key lessons and practical recommendations emerging from the regional exchange. These conclusions will bring together the main points discussed throughout the event and identify priorities for journalists, media organisations and other relevant actors.

The recommendations will contribute to the follow-up of CIVIC_ACT, helping identify areas for future capacity building, regional exchange and practical cooperation aimed at strengthening information integrity and democratic resilience.

The event is organised within the framework of CIVIC_ACT – Empowering Public Watchdogs to Counter Disinformation and Strengthen Democratic Resilience in Europe, a project coordinated by the Centre Science and Innovation for Development (SCiDEV), Albania, and implemented in partnership with the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), North Macedonia; Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), Serbia; Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Kosovo; Association of Journalists of Albania (AJA), Albania; European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Belgium; and Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Netherlands, under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, funded by the European Union.

CIVIC_ACT is implemented from 2 February 2026 to 1 February 2028 with the aim of strengthening democratic resilience by empowering public watchdogs, including journalists, civil society organisations, youth, digital creators and academia, to counter disinformation, resist SLAPP intimidation and contribute to democratic debate across Europe.

Event: Media and Elections: Who Shapes What Voters See and Believe?
Date: 12 October 2026
Time: 14:00–17:00
Venue: Hotel Prishtina, Pejton, Prishtina, Kosovo
Organised by: Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK)
Framework: CIVIC_ACT – Empowering Public Watchdogs to Counter Disinformation and Strengthen Democratic Resilience in Europe

Disclaimer

The project “Empowering Public Watchdogs to Counter Disinformation and Strengthen Democratic Resilience in Europe” (CIVIC_ACT) is coordinated by the Centre Science and Innovation for Development (SCiDEV), Albania, and implemented in partnership with the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), North Macedonia; Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), Serbia; Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Kosovo; Association of Journalists of Albania (AJA), Albania; European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Belgium and Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Netherlands, under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, funded by the CERV Programme of the European Union.

Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.