Education:

September 1997-         Enrolled at the European University Institute, Florence (Italy),    PhD
                                    programme,  Department of Social and Political Science, specialisation in media transition and
                                    democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe. PhD thesis: "Scribes and Scroundels: The impact
                                    of the battle between journalists and politicians on consolidation of democracy and conflict
                                    prevention in transitional democracies. Comparative study of Central and Eastern Europe and the
                                    Balkans".

                                    The thesis (by now quite advanced) is supervised by and Prof. Jan Zielonka and Prof. Philippe
                                    Schmitter. It attempts to highlight principal obstacles, which slowed down or hindered democratic   
                                    development in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bosnia and Kosovo. It uses other CEE
                                    countries such as Rumania, Bulgaria and Russia as comparative background. Among main
                                    indicators to determine the overall media freedom and the quality of democracy the following
                                    variables are taken into consideration: struggle between media and the usually strong
                                    government (dependent variable), economic development, political party scene, media pluralism,
                                    communist legacies, corruption and Mafia, existence of media laws, typology of licensing
                                    modalities, government’s pressures on the media and on journalists (independent variables).

July 1997                    Masters’ thesis at University of Bologna (Italy). (Grade: 110 with distinction A+).
                                   Title: "Dangers  of a Sudden Liberalisation of the Media in Immature Democracies: The Case of
                                   Stan Tyminski During Presidential Elections in Poland in 1990".

August 1994               Graduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley (USA). Department of Mass
                                   Communications, specialisation in advertising and political communication. Supervised by Todd
                                   Gittlin (Mass Media and Politics).

October 1990             Enrolled at the Università degli Studi di Bologna (Italy), Department of Communications.
                                   Supervised by Prof. Pier Paolo Giglioli (mass communications) and Prof. Umberto Eco (semiotics).

June 1989                   A’Level Exam Stefan Batory Secondary School, Warsaw, Poland

July 1987                     Saint Louis Secondary School, Kumasi, Ghana
 

Work experience:

March –     December 2000 OSCE Mission in Kosovo – Head of Media Regulations, Laws and Standards Division,
                  Media Affairs Department in HQ Pristina. I set up the division, hired and supervised a considerable number
                  of highly specialised local and international staff consisting of lawyers, engineers, licensing officers, legal and
                  regulatory advisors. My area of responsibility was to assist the TMC and included the following:Drafting of the
                   broadcasting law for Kosovo

• Drafting of statutes of public service television
• Negotiations with International Telecommunications Union in Geneva of the frequency plan for the region
• Successful negotiations with UN and KFOR regarding concession of the authority over management of the civilian broadcasting band to the future Interim Media Commission
• Commissioning of a company for elaboration of the frequency plan for the region
• Implementation of the frequency plan (involving the simultaneous change of frequency by over 130 civilian and military radio stations). The possible danger of causing interference with aeronautic and military microwave communications involved creation and co-ordination of quick response teams, military assistance and technical mobile teams. The action was successfully conducted without major problems.
• Conducted licensing of over 130 Kosovar, international and military radio and TV stations in the entire region of Kosovo, elaborated terms and conditions for licenses and putting out a tender for local and nation-wide licenses.
• Was actively involved in setting up of the Media Appeals Board and of Media Advisory Panels

• Setting up of the division in the initial phase of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, hiring and training of local and international staff
• Creation of the methodology of qualitative and quantitative media analysis,
• Creation of a network of media monitoring in Pristina, Regional Centers and Field offices (total of local trained monitors 25)
• Co-authorship of the research project involving 4 Universities and 2 researchInstitutes entitled "Building the Fourth Estate - The Role of International Organisations in Development of Democratic Media in Central and Eastern Europe, Baltic Republics and the Balkans". Project written on behalf of the European University Institute to obtain funding of the European Commission.
• OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Media Analysis Consultant and Media Monitoring Co-ordinator for the Media Experts Commission in Sarajevo, BiH. I created and implemented the methodology for monitoring the media during elections. On the basis of this work I was recommended for the position of the Head of Media Monitoring in Kosovo by the chairperson of the MEC and the OSCE Spokesperson.
• 1998 presentations on "Media Coverage and Conflict Prevention" at the European University Institute, Florence (Italy) and Universita di Bologna (Italy).

 

Polish: excellent
Italian: excellent
English: excellent
Spanish: good
French: fairly good
Russian: fairly good
Serbo-Croat: basic

Publications and reports:

• "The Intractable Peace. Kosovo 1999-2000. A Radiography of the First Post-War Year" Chapter on Media in Kosovo. Published under umbrella of the Robert Schuman Centre, at the European University Institute, Florence (co-editor and co-author)
• "The role of international organisations in media regulation and development in post-conflict zones". Draft presented to OSI, Budapest, forthcoming.
• Co-authorship of the research project involving 4 Universities and 2 research Institutes entitled "Building the Fourth Estate - The Role of International Organisations in Development of Democratic Media in Central and Eastern Europe, Baltic Republics and the Balkans". Project written on behalf of the European University Institute to obtain funding of the European Commission, Brussels
• Report on Media Monitoring Elections 1998 written for Media Experts Commission
• "Carpe per Diem - Strategic Considerations on the Future of the Media in Bosnia-Herzegovina" (with Timothy Cooper), paper presented at a conference on Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention at IUE November 1998
• Manual for Monitoring the Media During Elections commissioned by OSCE Mission in BiH

1999  Fellowship from Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation), Budapest for policy studies on Media Development in
          the Balkans

1998 Ph.D. Fellowship from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome

1994-97 Scholarship for graduate studies in Berkeley, California from the University of Bologna.

Skills:

• Good managerial skills
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Multicultural experience (spent 2 years in West Africa, US, Italy, Bosnia, Kosovo
• Good knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe (by birth and by academic research)
• Strong methodological background on advanced academic level: quantitative and qualitative research, regression analysis, interview techniques, participatory observation, comparative analysis