E-mails flood websites in defence of Serbian case

Serbs who feel wronged by the tone of international news bulletins have swamped broadcasters with e-mails in an effort to describe…

Serbs who feel wronged by the tone of international news bulletins have swamped broadcasters with e-mails in an effort to describe the Kosovan crisis as they see it.

CNN, Sky News and the BBC are among the broadcasters to devote sections of their websites to e-mails about the Kosovan conflict, many of which come from inside Serbia and Kosovo.

One of the most striking postings on the CNN website is from Miorad Janic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade University and the father of six-year-old Andjelka, the child who drew the picture (right). While the picture suggests a defiance astonishing in a child so young, her father describes her more customary terror at the family's predicament.

"During the NATO airstrikes she runs under the desk, cries, trembles and urinates every 10-15 minutes."

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However, a later message from Mr Janic is more political. "We don't want to attack any foreign country. We just want to save our beautiful Serbia and Yugoslavia from Albanian terrorists and separatists. . We don't have problems with ethnic Albanians and many other minor nations living in Kosovo, but we have with newcomers from Albania."

CNN realises that such a site is wide open for propaganda use and has posted a disclaimer warning that while the network has done its best to "allow access only to those who seem to be from within the bombing zone or refugee areas", it "cannot guarantee the authenticity of the poster or his/ her comments".

Sky News has used e-mails extensively in its coverage of the conflict. This was particularly dramatic in the first few days of the airstrikes, when the Serbian interior ministry excluded journalists from Serbia.

On Sky's "Your Call" site, a posting from Mirko in Yugoslavia epitomises the wronged tone of Serbian messages to all the networks: "I wish I were an Albanian refugee, not a Serb! Why? The whole world takes care of them, and their suffering will end soon, while the suffering of the whole Serbian population is increasing."

A Yugoslav called Aleksander appeals to Sky viewers to see the war as more than a game. "Please try to imagine that I am not the target on a Playstation. I am not a bad guy in a video game where you get points and a `winner' title when you kill me. When you kill me it's really `game over' for me. Let's play some other games. There are so many of them with happy endings, joy, emotion, and why not love?".

Roddy O'Sullivan

Roddy O'Sullivan

Roddy O'Sullivan is a Duty Editor at The Irish Times