Written by Ljubisa Bojic

A Serbian journalist is attempting to establish an association of bloggers in order to boost citizen journalism and support press freedom. Ljubisa Bojic says there is a growing and powerful blogging community in the country and he wants to provide training courses to help them articulate themselves more clearly and to ensure their concerns and opinions are reflected in the mainstream media.

A growing and powerful group is emerging in Serbia, the bloggers and citizen journalists who are using their sites to question authority and to call for more freedom of expression.

Last year, BK television was taken off the air following a ruling by the state broadcasting agency. The arrival of police outside BK’s Belgrade headquarters was a dangerous strike against free reporting in the region.

The silencing of BK led to a surge in bloggers going online to debate the issue on numerous public discussion forums.

Last month the home of Vreme journalist, Dejan Anastasijevic was damaged when a grenade exploded outside a window. As soon as the event was reported, the Serbian online community inundated the B92 Weblog and set up a petition supporting the reporter and calling on the authorities to track down those responsible.

These and many other events have clearly shown that the online community in Serbia is eager to add its opinions and views to those expressed through traditional, mainstream media. Interestingly, as this growth in bloggers and citizen journalists continues there has been a downturn in newspaper sales in the region.

The media scene is changing and it’s time to recognize this.

In some countries this growth in freedom of expression has been met with resistence. Some governments require bloggers and citizen journalists to register. In other cases, bloggers have had their sites blocked or have even face jail terms.

That is not the case in Serbia, but many unresolved issues still remain, including Kosovo and the Metohia dispute, economical hardship, unemployment, and the burning issue of the freedom of the media. And it is on these issues that the bloggers and citizen journalists have a voice that must be heard and recognized.

The formation of a Serbian Bloggers Association would be an ideal way to bring together all those who want to express themselves online.

Such a group would represent the interests of bloggers and citizen journalists and offer training and support through seminars, discussion forums and conferences.

It would also ensure that the views of this new media wave is also reflected and heard through mainstream media.