News and other media from "The Region"

I try to keep this list updated (but do this less frequently than I should) and complete (this is an impossible task) but inevitably you will find some missing sources and bad links, that sort of thing. Let me know when you do find them or if want to tell me that some source should be on this list.

REGIONAL

• Al Jazeera Balkans: Very good at poaching the best columnists from other publications. Published in the local language(s).

• Anadolu news agency: Coverage of the region from the state-owned Turkish news agency (often of decent quality in spite of this). In the upper right there is a language choice button.

• Balkanbiro: Reporting and analysis covering the region, in German.

• BBC Serbian: Sort of like BBC, but in Serbian, and without quite so much Farage.

• 6yka: Political and cultural magazine from Banja Luka, brings together some of the best writers. Published in a variety of the official languages of Bosnia and Hercegovina.

• Deutsche Welle: Daily news and often a decent analytical piece. Press the "DW in 30 languages" button at the top for a choice of languages, one of which you are bound to like.

• Kontrapress: "We do not poison you with celebrities, sports, crime stories, entertainment and other commercial garbage."

• Le Monde Diplomatique: The regional edition of the publication you all know and love.

• N1: Television station with separate news pages dedicated to Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Hercegovina. Probably the best place to go when you want live coverage of something.

• Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso: Journalism with a bit of an ethnographic flavour. Articles in English, Italian, and Polycentric.

• Remarker: Emphasis on interviews related to politics, philosophy, and culture.

• Slobodna Evropa: Daily news, but it is the dossiers, interviews and weekly features that make it stand out. There is an English-language edition at this site.

• Tačno: Mostly essays and opinion from around the region, published by the "Centre for Critical Thought". There is a selection of translations at their English language site.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

• BH Magazin: "The smarter people have deferred long enough!"

• Depo Portal: A depot of a portal.

• Dnevni Avaz: Populist daily paper from a big corporate publisher. The publisher puts out other publications, including BiH beekeeper.

• Dnevni List: The title means "daily paper," and that is indeed what it is.

• Frontal.ba: The blogs are the best feature.

• Frontal.rs: Maybe Cyrillic wouldn’t be threatened if they wrote anything sensible in it.

• Glas Srpske: The title says it all. A fun place to follow innovations in the transliteralization of non-regional personal names (on the day this page was updated they had stories about Џесика Алба and Кортни Кардашијан).

• Klix: This used to be called Sarajevo-X and was one of the first BiH original news and opinion portals. They changed their name to Klix, in a tale that should be a cautionary example to anybody thinking of listening to a market consultancy.

• Nezavisne novine: The name means Independent paper. No, really, it does. That is a literal translation. From Banja Luka covering all of BH.

• Novo vrijeme: News portal with a positive attitude.

• Oslobođenje: Staying true to its roots since they were pulled out. It has a great history, but now it is owned by a brewery and a tobacco company. They have a short English language selection of daily articles published as Daily news.

• Poskok: Just in case you were not certain about their political orientation, they named themselves after a snake.

• Radio Sarajevo: News, essays, blogs and "dno dna". The radio station with which they are affiliated is definitely not one of the worst, and it has a live stream on the page.

• Slobodna Bosna: A combination of news and analysis, probably one of the more exhaustive and better quality general news sites in BiH.

CROATIA

• 24sata.hr: The equivalent of those free papers that they pass out at train stations, and equally well suited to lighting a barbecue.

• Croativ: Imagine waking up in a parallel world where everything is constructed out of hate-filled national fetishes.

• Dnevnik: A news portal very much like other news portals.

• Forum.tm: Do you like polemics? Yes, you like polemics.

• H-Alter: For the "Hrvacka alternativa".

• Index: Your portal for all kinds of stories, whether you wanted them or not.

• Jutarnji List: The daily paper for the morning, when you are still feeling optimistic. Also publishes the magazine Globus.

• Kulturpunkt: News, articles and announcements about (you guessed right) culture.

• Libela: All about gender and democracy.

• Lupiga: News, arguments, and more arguments, with the accent on culture.

• MAZ: News and a little bit of opinion from the Antifascist Network of Zagreb.

• Nacional: Yes, it is behind a paywall, but no, you don't mind. Now it no longer exists, so you mind even less.

• Narod.hr: Considering that their main goal is to promote interethnic hatred, they have a surprisingly good recipes section.

• Net.hr: A little bit of everything. No, a lot of everything. Highly recommended to people who like entertainment news and popup ads.

• Novi List: Sometimes this is an independent paper from Rijeka.

• Novosti: It really just keeps getting better. Do not confuse this with any other publication that goes by the name of Novosti, that way lies perdition.

• P-portal: I don't know, maybe read this if the page of Novosti crashes?

• Slobodna Dalmacija: It's an institution. Isn't that enough?

• Slobodni filozofski: The rebellious students of the Faculty of Philosophy want you to know some things.

• Tportal: Quickly gathering together many of the best columnists.

• Večernji List: The daily paper for the evening, when your hopes have been crushed.

• Zagrebancija: Great title! Also, great title.

KOSOVO

• Bota Sot: The news of the world

• Epoka e Re: This is the dawning of a new era.

• Fol Drejt: “Editorial policies are based on a critical approach, but not blackmail, an open attitude towards all parties, but not loyalty to negative phenomena.”

• Gazeta Express: This daily paper also has (go to the bottom of the page) articles in English and Macedonian.

• Koha Ditore: Probably it would be fair to call this the leading daily paper.

• Koja Jone: From Albania, an independent paper.

• Kosova Sot: The headlines are big, and they are colourful.

• Kosovo2.0: Opinion, culture, orientation to young people. All articles are in Albanian, Serbian, and English languages.

• Kossev: Published in Mitrovica in Serbian, also includes a section of articles in English.

• New Perspektiva: In Albanian and Serbian. Promotes peace and mutual understanding.

• Shqip.com: A pretty comprehensive news site. A good source for investigative articles on corruption.

MACEDONIA

• Fokus: Not ficus.

• Kajgana: How can you fail to read a news site with a title like "scrambled eggs"?

• Koha: News and other things in Albanian language.

• Libertas: Political news and a wide selection of dessert recipes.

• Makfax News Agency: Be cautious.

• MIA: The state news agency. has nothing to do with the popular musician of the same name.

• MKD: General portal with all kinds of stuff.

• Net Press: An online only news agency.

• Nova Makedonija: The first Macedonian daily newspaper, they say.

• Nova TV: Comprehensive regional news portal, also with TV.

• Reporter: Find out what the regional celebrities are up to.

• Republika: News and opinion.

• Sitel: News site of the television station.

• Sloboden Pečat: A reasonably good daily paper.

• Standard: It's standard.

• Telma: And where is Louise?

• Time: A frequently updated aggregator with items from all major local and national Macedonian sites.

• Večer: Good evening.

MONTENEGRO

• Dan: Do you like sensationalism? Me too, also they have a section on "lov and ribolov".

• Monitor: Independent magazine, often provocative.

• Montenegrina: Culture and art in Montenegro. Also provides an English language site.

• Pobjeda: The traditional daily.

• Pod lupom: "Under the magnifying glass," an investigative journalism portal. Includes a (very useful!) English language section.

• Vijesti: The portal is getting to be a little bit ambitious.

SERBIA

• B92: I am old enough to remember when they were independent and courageous. But I am very old. At least they are frequently updated. They also have an English language site.

• Blic: In between the features on celebrities, occasionally a good news story. The regional champion in printing HEADLINES you will NEVER BELIEVE in ALL CAPS!!

• CINS: The Centre for Investigative Journalism. Also has an English language site.

• Danas: An independent paper despite the occasional lapse here and there. La lotta continua.

• Informer: Start every day with an enemies list!

• Insajder: Longish-form journalism with a refined taste for stories on corruption and press freedom.

• KRIK: Your source for corruption news. Also in English, even if corruption is the universal language.

• Kurir: The bad boy of sensationalist tabloids, it shifted its political orientation but kept the same aesthetic.

• Nedeljnik: Your standard cheesy weekly news magazine.

• NIN: At one time it was edited by Frane Barbieri, but that was a long time ago.

• Noizz: Mostly entertainment stuff but here and there they will surprise you, pleasantly.

• Novi Magazin: It's new. It has an English language site, which appears to have been last updated in 2016.

• NSPM: Answers the eternal question, "what do you do if you have a doctorate but are not a good scholar?"

• Peščanik: The weekly radio broadcast has become a portal for good essays, a selection of which are also available in English.

• Politika: According to Njuz.net, "still the oldest daily paper". A tendentious selection of news articles and opinion essays covering the field from far right to extreme right.

• Večernje Novosti: The Velvet Underground of dubious tabloids -- everyone who has ever read it has started one of their own. Other ones may be wilder, but they were demanding that Trieste be invaded before you were even born.

• Vice Serbia: Regional branch of the international grab bag magazine. The quality is often better than you expect.

• Vreme: A weekly news magazine. Like the weather, sometimes it is good.

• Beta news agency: It is a news agency, bless its little heart.

• Tanjug: Once the Yugoslav state news agency, it persists on existing in zombie form under dubious legal and ownership conditions. A good source of press releases from ruling and other far right parties. Includes an English language site.

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA

• Balkan Insight: News, features, commentary and interviews. Several special topical sections. Likes to hide its best stuff behind paywalls.

• B92 English: Like B92, for better or worse, but in English

• Pointpulse: Regional site on police integrity and trust.

• Total Croatia News: Emphasis on, you guessed, Croatia. A bunch of tourism stuff, but lately more journalism.