Last Word on Balkan Insight . . . for now

You may have noticed that the last half-dozen entries have referred you to a Balkan Insight article containing something utterly ridiculous about Macedonia. The frequency of 'utterly ridiculous' articles has intensified in the past month - hell, the past week - to the point where I have to step back and wonder: what is going on?

Macedonia is really a wonderful place. And yes, there are a lot of ridiculous things going on, but to read Balkan Insight, one would think that the circus came to town and never left. I've read Balkan Insight since my arrival here, and barring the occasional flare-up between Greece and Macedonia on the name issue, the number of articles concerning Macedonia corresponded with the country's size. Balkan Insight also covers Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Croatia; the front page headlines for Macedonia were relatively few compared to the rest.

Yet in the past month, I would say that over half the stories I have seen on the main page have been about Macedonia, despite some very interesting things going on in Albania at the moment. Macedonia has an upcoming election, which might explain this disparity, but Albania also has an election and hasn't received nearly as much coverage. Moreover, all these articles on Macedonia are written by the same person. The same reporter has been giving us the Alexander/Tose fountain-statue, folk singers healed by war criminals, VMRO's presidential homophobia, etc., etc.
It's a grab bag of Balkan absurdity, all in a few weeks.

I don't mean to say that these articles are not true. But, since I receive most of my English-language news from one source (Balkan Insight) which receives Macedonian stories from one source (this single reporter) I have to wonder about the editorial thought process.

Suspicious minds. . .