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When the new country of Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 it received extensive, but fleeting, international news coverage. This study seeks to provide insight into how an international news event was orchestrated by participants and how news coverage was planned and implemented by international media. We do so by investigating factors initiating, enabling, shaping, and limiting the global news coverage of this story. Particular attention is paid to the close relationship between local ‘fixers’ and media representatives, which is instrumental in most international news coverage, but which has received little scholarly examination; and to the influential role of the UK-based international television news agencies.

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As a backbone of reporting in war and conflicts, fixers offer essential assistance to the foreign correspondent in conflict zones, also in Pakistan. With valuable local knowledge and contacts, fixers can arrange travel to secure entry of foreign correspondents into conflict zones in addition to securing interviews with otherwise unattainable figures, while offering reliable translation services. Pakistani media, despite being one of the largest and most developed in South Asia, remains under the strict control of powerful military establishment and government, while seeming to mirror the overarching government sentiment with a distinct lack of research-based news. Challenging this state of affairs, local journalist fixers seek to conduct research and investigative journalism, making them an attractive asset for western correspondents travelling to Pakistan. Based on data from interviews with local fixers and journalists in Pakistan, this article reveals the many security problems for local fixers in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions in Pakistan. It also shows that the fixers’ rights and interests are not protected by media organizations or the governments. Additionally, fixers face increasing censorship from security agencies and death threats from militants. This study discusses the harsh realities fixers face in the conflict zones of Pakistan where international press lack access due to increasing restrictions imposed by the government, and the violence perpetrated against media workers by the Islamic State and other radical groups, like Taliban and Baloch separatists.

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This article documents the findings of an empirical project combining socio-legal and media studies, which examined journalists’ perceptions of their role in relation to transitional justice in Kosovo. Based upon the qualitative analysis of 30 semi-structured interviews with professional journalists in Kosovo during the summer of 2018, the article shows that key issues in the study of transitional justice appear in respect of what, building on notions of ‘peace journalism’, can be termed ‘transitional journalism’. Issues include the extent to which ‘transitional journalism’ is, or should be, a distinct ‘field’ at all; as well as debates about the relative priority to give to accountability, reconciliation, historical accounting, or victims’ rights within the practice of ‘transitional journalism’ at any given time. Identifying and engaging with these issues will allow greater agency in, and ownership of, decisions taken about ‘transitional journalism’.

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly used for visiting historic places. Research on VR experiences in dark tourism (that focuses on mortality) focuses almost exclusively on adults. No studies were found that used virtual tours to engage children with their own country’s conflicts. The present study addresses this gap by designing and developing virtual tours in four cities of Europe with a troubled past. Virtual tours engage children and youth in historical conflicts using multi-perspective storytelling. The aim of this pre-test post-test comparative case study is to examine the change on students’ perceptions of their country’s troubled past after their interaction with a virtual tour of their capital. A secondary aim is to document students’ evaluation of the virtual tour. A questionnaire examining students’ perceptions was completed before and after students’ individual interaction with a virtual tour. Participants included 360 students (212 from Cyprus, 42 from Germany, 63 from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and 44 from Kosovo). Findings indicate a statistically significant positive change in perceptions of troubled pasts for primary/secondary students from Cyprus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Germany. Preliminary results are promising and indicate the effectiveness of virtual tours as tools that can have an effect on students’ perceptions of troubled pasts, particularly for children rather than young adults. Students’ evaluation of the virtual tours was positive, irrespectively of participants’ age, indicating high acceptability.

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