Abit Hoxha

• Terzis, Georgios & Hoxha, Abit (2025). Journalism safety interventions: Ethical perspectives and possible impacts amongst women journalists covering conflict. Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies. ISSN 2001-0818. 14(3), p. 299–319. doi: 10.1386/ajms_00192_1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The article presents an analysis of ethical perspectives of journalism safety training programmes using utilitarianism, contractualism, cosmopolitanism, deontological ethics, discourse ethics and care ethics. It also examines the various risks journalists face, including physical danger and psychological trauma, and the importance of comprehensive risk assessments vis-à-vis training programmes. The article is based upon interviews with mainly female trainers and participants, and participatory observations. Moreover, it details interventions by organizations like DT Global and Peace Journalism Lab in physical, psychological, digital and financial domains. The ethical drivers behind these interventions are explored, with an emphasis on the moral responsibilities of journalists and media organizations, as well as the organizers of those interventions. The research underlines the complexities and ethical dilemmas in journalism safety training and calls for continued assessment of their effectiveness in the face of evolving risks. The article concludes with reflections on the potential impacts of training interventions, the resilience and resistance of journalists in conflict zones, and the need for ongoing development of ethically grounded safety programmes.

• Hoxha, Abit (2025). Dealing with Troubled History: How Journalists in History Newsbeat Reconstruct the Past in Media Productions Today. In Siapera, Eugenia; Fiedler, Anke & Andresen, Kenneth (Ed.), Media and Past Conflict in Europe: Dynamics of Mediation and Power. Routledge. ISSN 9781032513959. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter analyzes the epistemological challenges of news and other media productions among journalists covering the troubled past and history into making of the conflict narratives in the present. Kosovar media is a new structural development for the new nation in Europe with only starting as independent media in mid 1990s and transforming into pluralistic media after the war in Kosovo (1999). Despite the war ending in 1999, the continuation of conflict ´by other means´ is present in the media content and makes up a significant portion of daily news. Using data from 8 in depth interviews through reconstructive and retrospective interviewing method with selected prominent journalists, this chapter looks at the practices and values of news and other media productions. Analyzing the content of media productions in three relevant media on troubled past newsbeat looks at the narratives, choices of sources and the background of such media production. This chapter finds the practice of production and how past is looked upon by journalists. Subjects of differences in gender vis a vis narrative construction, sexual violence and representation of women, minorities and the past are explored in one hand while looking at the overall discussions of Europe and European integration. Overall findings are that journalists are coining a newsbeat on the troubled past, developing a particular type of journalism that has already been framed by the authors as ´transitional journalism` which overlooks at the practice of news production through the lenses of transitional justice.

• Hoxha, Abit; Andresen, Kenneth; Paschalidis, Panagiotis & Fiedler, Anke (2025). Producing indefinite drafts of history: Journalists’ roles in historic revisionism in Europe and beyond. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism. ISSN 1464-8849. 26(2), p. 387–405. doi: 10.1177/14648849241233381. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper seeks to explore to what degree revisionism and journalism interact in a European context. By looking at countries with troubled pasts, such as Greece and Spain, which are well into the European Union and also the euro-public sphere, and Kosovo, which uses European Integration as a framework to deal with its conflicting past, we aim to answer the crucial questions of what historical revisionism in journalistic productions is; how it emerges and how it is addressed by journalistic productions in such discourses. We use data from 22 semi-structured in-depth interviews with selected journalists who cover ‘troubled past,’ identified by searching content on the media with the same keywords. These journalists represent a pool of professionals who research the past and forensically deconstruct events and documents to come to new conclusions or re-interpretations of the past through present journalistic productions. Our data suggest that journalists indeed have a narrative of the past in their minds and are eager to explore it further in seeking an ideal professional role of finding out the truth as a counter-revisionist measure. In doing so, journalists also face competing loyalty between their identity and professionalism, belonging, and political situation. Greece, Spain, and Kosovo have suffered very different past conflicts and have different ways of dealing with the past, but journalists in all three countries compete for the true narratives of war and the past. Writing the first draft of history, they argue that the latter is continuously under revision.

• Hoxha, Abit & Andresen, Kenneth (2024). Future of Dark Tourism in Kosovo: From Divisions to Digital Possibilities. In Stone, Philip R. & Wright, Daniel W.M. (Ed.), The Future of Dark Tourism. Channel View Publications. ISSN 9781845418977. doi: https:/www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/the-future-of-dark-tourism/?SF1=work_id&ST1=CVIEW-65d5d7bb89a3f. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This book offers critical scenarios of dark tourism futures and how our significant dead will be remembered in future visitor economies. It outlines key features of difficult heritage and future cultural trauma and highlights the role of technology, immersive visitor experiences and the thanatological condition of future dark tourism.

• Gebremeskel, Solomon Kebede & Hoxha, Abit (2024). Protesting for change: Ethiopia's diasporic media and the fight for democracy. In Tshuma, Lungile; Matsilele, Trust; Mpofu, Shepherd & Msimanga, Mbongeni (Ed.), Media, social movements, and protest cultures in Africa : Hashtags, humor, and slogans. Lexington Books. ISSN 9781666970142. p. 183–201. Full text in Research Archive
• Hoxha, Abit; Andresen, Kenneth & Mulliqi, Getoarbë (2024). Solidarity, safety and journalism: Collaboration between Ukrainian and Kosovar journalists in times of war. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism. ISSN 1464-8849. p. 1–19. doi: 10.1177/14648849241303112. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper discusses the issues of safety and solidarity of journalists for journalists in a cooperative project where Ukrainian journalists fled to Kosovo at the time of war in Ukraine. Through international non-governmental mediation, several journalists have moved to Kosovo after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to continue the work of reporting from Kosovo. This is done with the help of journalist peers in Kosovo. The political situation is not favorable for journalists in Ukraine, also considered the fact that Ukraine has not recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state, but this provides a political opportunity to extend this solidarity in political spectrum as well. Interviewed journalists claim that this “functional solidarity” is essential in media development and aid in the future and is a new way to look at safety of journalists. The altruistic solidarity of journalists for journalists also has its culprits of political consequences such as being part of political agendas to try and develop political bridges at the times of war. Findings such as willingness to extend help, planning for solidarity and joint interactions will further advance studies on safety of journalists and reflect on best practices of solidarity among journalists for the future endeavors of similar nature. The role of existing institutions such as journalist associations and international non-government organization are explored as well, defining their role in the process. Ukrainian journalists are in Kosovo to reveal this story of unusual collaboration.

• Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera; Ramaprasad, Jyotika; Springer, Nina; Hughes, Sallie; Hanitzsch, Thomas & Hamada, Basyouni [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Conceptualizing Journalists’ Safety around the Globe. Digital Journalism. ISSN 2167-0811. 11(7). doi: 10.1080/21670811.2022.2162429. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Killings, as the most extreme form of violence against journalists, receive considerable attention, but journalists experience a variety of threats from surveillance to gendered cyber targeting and hate speech, or even the intentional deprivation of their financial basis. This article provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework of journalists’ safety, summarized in a conceptual model. The aim is to advance the study of journalists’ safety and improve safety practices, journalism education, advocacy, and policy making - vital as press freedom and fundamental human rights face multifaceted challenges, compromising journalists’ ability to serve their societies. Journalists’ occupational safety comprises personal (physical, psychological) and infrastructural (digital, financial) dimensions. Safety can be objective and subjective by operating on material and perceptional levels. It is moderated by individual (micro), organizational/institutional (meso), and systemic (macro) risk factors, rooted in power dynamics defining boundaries for journalists’ work, which, if crossed, result in threats and create work-related stress. Stress requires coping, ideally resulting in resilience and resistance, and manifested in journalists’ continued role performance with autonomy. Compromised safety has personal and social consequences as threats might affect role performance and even lead to an exit from the profession, thus also affecting journalism’s wider function as a key institution.

• Nicolaidou, Iolie; Zupancic, Rok; Fiedler, Anke; Andresen, Kenneth; Hoxha, Abit & Ntaltagianni, Christina [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2022). Virtual tours as emerging technologies to engage children and youth with their country’s historical conflicts. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET). ISSN 1868-8799. 17(21), p. 164–183. doi: 10.3991/ijet.v17i21.32853. Full text in Research Archive
• Sweeney, James; Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2020). Transitional Justice and Transitional Journalism: Case-Study on Kosovo. International Journal of Transitional Justice. ISSN 1752-7716. 14(3), p. 483–503. doi: 10.1093/ijtj/ijaa017. Full text in Research Archive
• Hoxha, Abit & Andresen, Kenneth (2020). Violence, War, and Gender: Collective Memory and Politics of Remembrance in Kosovo. In Ana, Milosevic & Tamara, Trost (Ed.), Europeanisation and Memory Politics in the Western Balkans. Memory Politics and Transitional Justice. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030546991. p. 263–283. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-54700-4_11. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth; Siapera, Eugenia; Fiedler, Anke; Hoxha, Abit & Traunspurger, Julia (2020). Report on the state of the art in the field of memory, conflict and media. Troubled Pasts in Journalistic and Citizen-led Media. CORDIS, the European Commission's official information service for Research & Development - 'Technology Marketplace'. doi: 10.3030/769252. Full text in Research Archive
• Skjerdal, Terje; Josephi, Beate; Hanusch, Folker; Alonso, Martin Oller; Shapiro, Ivor & Andresen, Kenneth [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2019). Profiles of journalists: Demographic and employment patterns. In Hanitzsch, Thomas; Hanusch, Folker; Ramaprasad, Jyotika & Beer, Arnold S. de (Ed.), Worlds of Journalism. Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe. Columbia University Press. ISSN 9780231186438. p. 67–102. doi: 10.7312/hani18642-005. Full text in Research Archive
• Gonen, Yonatan & Hoxha, Abit (2019). Interactions between Journalists Located in Different Sides of a Conflict: A Comparative Study of Two Conflict Zones. Journalism Studies. ISSN 1461-670X. p. 2495–2512. doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2019.1604154. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2019). The Development of Roles in Kosovo: From Fixers to Journalists. Journalism Studies. ISSN 1461-670X. 20(12), p. 1732–1746. doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2019.1639539. Full text in Research Archive

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• Zupancic, Rok; Kocan, Faris; Andresen, Kenneth; Bojarska, Katarzyna; Farrell, Seamus & Dacosta, Ricardo [Show all 17 contributors for this article] (2023). Troubled Pasts in Europe. Bristol University Press. ISBN 9781529233629. 205 p. doi: 10.51952/9781529233643. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Based on the findings of a major research project, this book investigates how European societies confront their troubled pasts. The text explores what measures can be taken and which strategies endorsed to overcome difficult historic legacies in seven European states, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus and Poland

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• Dralega, Carol Azungi; Kruger, Franz; Hoxha, Abit; Rosa, Emily Catherine La; Conill, Raul Ferrer & Olsen, Ketil [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). AI Assistants, Audiences and News Discovery. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  AI SYMPOSIUM AT GIMLEKOLLEN: AI assistants are quietly becoming the gatekeepers of news. This half-day symposium brings together researchers, journalists, editors and policy actors to examine what that means for democracy, trust and the future of public knowledge.

• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2023). Du kan få den versjonen av fortiden som passer for deg (Kronikk i Fædrelandsvennen). Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2023). Seminar: Lansering av nytt spill og unik vandretur om andre verdenskrig i Kristiansand. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sluttseminar med presentasjon og evaluering av RePASTs aktiviteter Vi arrangerte et sluttseminar for RePAST-NOR 1. juni 2023, i samarbeid med Arkivet freds- og menneskerettighetssenter. Vi inviterte deltakere fra høyere utdanning, videregående skoler, reiseliv, frivillige organisasjoner og privatpersoner. Det var ca. 80 deltakere fra alle disse sektorene. Seminaret inneholdt foredrag om Dark Tourism ved Dr. Philip Stone (verdens ledende forsker på området), presentasjoner av den digitale vandreturen og «Historiejakten», samt at alle deltakerne testet ut begge deler. Det ble en workshop med verdifulle tilbakemeldinger på hvordan RePASTs ulike produkter fungerte. Program: Program: 09.00-09.15 Kaffe/te/drikke og forfriskninger 09.15-09.25 Velkommen og informasjon om dagen 09.30-10.15 Dr. Philip Stone: Dark Tourism and Difficult Heritage: Concepts, & Consequences 10.15-10.30 Pause med kaffe/te 10.30-10.45 Lansering av vandreturen i fotsporene fra andre verdenskrig i Kristiansand – fra Odderøya til ARKIVET 11.00-12.30 Vi tar vandreturen!' Avgang fra ARKIVET med buss til Odderøya. Så går vi i grupper gjennom Kvadraturen og stopper ved stedene som er lagt inn i appen/vandreturen og ender opp i ARKIVET. 12.00-13:00 Lunsj serveres på ARKIVET 13.00-13.15 Samtale om vandreturen 13.15-14:00 Lansering av dataspillet Historiejakten – en jakt på kilder om andre verdenskrig i Kristiansand. Vi spiller! 14.00 Tilbakemelding på spillet, oppsummering og avslutning.

• Hoxha, Abit (2023). USes and abuses of history. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A workshop on the uses and abuses of history in Norway and presentation of RePAST's innovative tools.

• Hoxha, Abit (2023). Dealing with the troubled past in Kosovo and Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Presentation of RePAST and REPAST-NOR - dealing with the troubled past and how innovative tools can help us.

• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2023). Unveiling the Dark Secrets: Exploring Kristiansand’s Dark Tourism. [Internet]. ClioMuse hjemmeside (Athen, Hellas). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Feature story about the development of the WWII digital walkong tour in Kristiansand, a cooperation between ClioMuse, UiA, and Arkivet.

• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2022). RePAST - findings and lessons learned. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  ABSTRACT RePAST investigated how European societies deal with their troubled pasts in the present through the analysis of conflict discourses rooted in those pasts. The project also explored the impact of those discourses on European integration, and focused on four fundamental spaces of civil society and sources of informal education: oral and official history; journalistic and citizen-led media; arts and culture; and formal and informal politics. Eight countries were selected as cases: Cyprus, Germany, Poland, Greece, Bosnia, Kosovo, Ireland and Spain. RePAST interdisciplinary approach involved cross-country comparative analysis and innovative actions for citizens’ engagement with troubled pasts. UiA led a work package on professional media, cutting across all countries under study. The talk will focus on three main findings: The respondents with indirect conflict experience (e.g. those who fled conflict or are part of families who directly experienced conflict) are less likely to reconcile with the troubled past than those with direct experience in conflict. For those with indirect experience, media, family and social context provide an amplified view of the conflict, whereas those who experienced the conflict troubles during their life time, are more likely to move on. Narratives from the troubled past have an influence on what is going on today. Narratives of past injustice and improper dealing with the troubled past do influence the present, as manifested with the decrease in trust in political and justice institutions but also in media. There is a need for more history teaching. The formal curriculum should include oral history, alternative sources and other sources of information, so that a broader range of views are represented in historical accounts. This should be done with technology and digital means such as games and other innovative tools (RePAST-NOR)

• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2022). Andre verdskrig i Kristiansand blir digitalt formidla. [Internet]. uia.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Artikkel i forbindelse med lanseringen av RePAST-NORs aktiviteter 1. juni 2023. Intervju med Kenneth Andresen, Abit Hoxha og direktør ved Arkivet, Kristine Storesletten Sødal.

• Hoxha, Abit; Andresen, Kenneth & Karsrud, Signe Tørå (2021). Promo for dokumentarfilmen "Five days a human". Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1) Dokumentarfilm, arbeidstittel «Five days half human» (pilot og manusutvikling) Vi har utviklet en pilot og en del av manus til en dokumentarfilm basert på livet til en av de overlevende fra Kosovo-krigen i 1998-1999. Han forteller sin historie, hvordan han har det i dag og besøker området i Kosovo der han og familien måtte flykte til. Dette er utviklet i et samarbeid mellom Universitetet i Agder og produksjonsselskapet Dokufilm AS i Kristiansand. Neste steg blir å sikre finansiering for videre opptak og produksjon.

• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2019). Preliminary results from Kosovo in the Horizon2020 Project RePAST. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2019). Divided societies and divided past.How journalists deal with the past in Kosovo. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2019). Politics of Memory in Post-War Kosovo: Restarting collective memory. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth & Hoxha, Abit (2019). Challenges to freedom of expression and safety of journalists, implementation of rule of law in ending impunity for crimes against journalists & Gender equality in media. Full text in Research Archive
• Hoxha, Abit (2025). Indicators and Mechanisms of Threats to Democracy. Resilient Media for Democracy in Digital Age . doi: https:/resilientmedia.eu/?p=1830. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Kenneth; Fiedler, Anke; Siapera, Eugenia & Hoxha, Abit (2021). Troubled pasts and the media. European Commission. doi: 10.3030/769252. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract This report presents the empirical findings of the research into the media, conflict and memory of troubled pasts. Theoretically, the report relies on the circuit of culture, which understands media and cultural artefacts as emerging out of five processes connected in a circuit. Building upon the discussion of previous iterature in the report D3.1, the research design focuses on the processes or production, representation, reception and identity, where we had previously identified conceptual openings and lack of data across all eight case studies. In approaching the process of production, we conducted in depth interviews with journalists covering the memory of conflict; to address openings in the study of representation, we conducted a discourse analysis in different significant moments of time; in understanding reception and use, we conducted focus group discussions with members of the lay public and social media analyses across three digital platforms. The findings are discussed both in terms of the national case studies and their specificities and in a comparative manner. The analysis and discussion of the key findings indicate that in media memories of past conflict, the circuit of culture is characterised by disconnects, interruptions, and blockages. In production, we identified contradictions between journalists’ perceived role of objective observer and polarized and ethnically segmented news outlets; Representations tended to follow well trodden paths and were resistant to change; reception and use showed a polyphony and diversity of views and experiences, introduced new dimensions, such as the role of socio-economic divisions and everyday life concerns, and a concern with healing the traumas left by the conflict. Finally, we present the findings in terms of a typology of conflict discourses in the media while paying attention to power asymmetries between hegemonic, counter and silenced memories.

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