Besa Luci on The Geotalks: How manipulation through emotions, propaganda, AI and influence happens in Kosovo

Regional media platform The Geopost has officially launched a new series of interviews and conversations, titled "The Geotalks", which aims to address in-depth the topics of narratives, propaganda, fake news, disinformation, and information disorder in general.

The first episode of this series featured Besa Lucin, a renowned media expert and editor-in-chief of the independent platform Kosovo 2.0, widely praised for her critical, analytical, and fact-based journalism.

During the conversation, it was emphasized that one of the main elements used in the spread of disinformation is emotion, often to the detriment of facts. Concern was raised that, increasingly, emotions are gaining ground over verified information, directly influencing the way citizens perceive reality.

Luci emphasized that manipulation through emotions is not a new phenomenon, but has existed since the beginnings of journalism and the press. However, according to her, the fundamental change of the last decade is directly related to technological development and the ease of information distribution.

"Technology has made it much easier to reach the public, and that's where we've seen an explosion of propaganda, disinformation, and misinformation," Luci said, adding that these phenomena are even more amplified in times of political and social polarization, not only in Kosovo, but globally.

According to her, political actors often manipulate feelings of fear, economic and social insecurity to push certain agendas. This makes Kosovo and the region a particularly sensitive terrain to propaganda narratives.

She underlined that the lack of economic well-being, political security and social stability creates wide space for manipulation, which is exploited not only by politics, but also by individuals or groups with financial interests.

An important part of the discussion was devoted to the relationship between the media and the public. The question was raised whether the media follows the public or the public follows the media, at a time when many media outlets are driven by clicks and online traffic. Luci described this as a complex issue, emphasizing that traditional media economic models have collapsed and the dependence on online advertising and clicks has intensified competition between media outlets.

“This pushes many media outlets to lower professional standards and produce sensational, click-friendly content, often based on fear and emotion,” she said.

As a concrete example of the spread of emotional and unverified information, the case of the so-called "Pristina ghost" was mentioned, a content generated by artificial intelligence, which was widely believed by the public, even by people who have a role in verifying facts.

According to Luci, this shows that the decline in information standards increases the scope for blind faith, which is especially dangerous in the context of geopolitical propaganda.

She warned that the lack of quality, fact-based information directly endangers democracy, as citizens lack a sound basis for making informed decisions. This situation, she said, is further exacerbated by geopolitical clashes and growing global interests.

In this context, the example of the 2016 US presidential election, where false narratives and disinformation influenced electoral behavior, was also mentioned. Luci recalled that much of this content was produced by young people in North Macedonia, who had understood what kind of news generated emotions and financial gains.

Regarding Kosovo, he emphasized that during election campaigns, anonymous portals often appear, without transparency of ownership or editorial content, which only function temporarily to distribute propaganda.

Another serious problem, according to her, is the lack of ability of citizens to distinguish genuine media from social media posts, especially among older generations.

In this spirit, the recent campaign of the Kosovo Press Council was also mentioned: "Either it's news, or it's a lie", underlining that the term "fake news" is contradictory, as news, in essence, should be based on facts and verification.

The Geotalks series aims to continue similar discussions, providing space for professional debate on the greatest challenges of information and media in modern times.