Jeta Xharra is a Kosovar journalist and director of the ;Balkan Investigative Reporting Network’s Kosovo division. Xharra is the presenter and editor of the television debate show ;“Life in Kosovo,” a groundbreaking program that tackles some of Kosovo’s most controversial subjects. It is the most watched current affairs program in Kosovo. Xharra’s articles have appeared in publications including the The Independent, The Economist, The Sunday Telegraph, and Jane’s Intelligence Review. Xharra began her career as an investigative journalist when she was just 18 years old, as a fixer and interpreter for the BBC bureau in Kosovo. On her first day of work, Serbian anti-terrorist units besieged a small village outside of Pristina where the leader of the Kosovar Liberation Army lived with his family. Xharra traveled alongside the BBC team to cover theattack, in which troops killed nearly 50 villagers, including many women and children. Throughout the conflict, Xharra continued her work with the BBC and eventually became Kosovo bureau chief. After the war, Xharra studied in the U.K., where she received a master’s in war studies from Kings College and a master’s with distinction in screenwriting from the London College of Printing. During this period, she worked as assistant editor for the Newsgathering Planning Team at the BBC World Service in London and for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. After completing her studies, Xharra returned to Kosovo to pursue her career in media. She is now the country director for Kosovo at the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, an NGO that trains journalists and produces original reporting of its own. She has produced the television program “Life in Kosovo” since 2005.
