Television beyond Cold War Blocks: the role of TV Koper-Capodistria in overcoming Upper Adriatic Border divisions

TransborderTV aims to deconstruct the history of the Cold War in Europe through an in-depth qualitative analysis of the activities of TV Koper-Capodistria (TVCK). This Italian-language Yugoslav TV station was created in 1971 to address the needs of the Italian ethnic minority in Yugoslavia, but it soon became a fundamental tool of transborder communication. This channel brought the first colour broadcast to Italian viewers, its programme schedule being regularly published in the Italian national press. However, TVCK was not only a platform for bilateral links. In a time of harsh ideological, political and military contrapositions between East and West, the case of TVCK represents a key example on a global level. While scholars have mainly analysed the impact of Western media on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the role of Eastern media remains largely neglected or marginalised as propaganda. Researching the successful transborder operations of TVCK will help to dismantle a rigid and unilateral perception of Cold War hierarchies and enable us to reshape the image of recent European history. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, which will consider the research at macro (political decisions and organisational aspects), as well as at the micro level (the experiences of viewers and key professionals), I will examine the consequences of the positioning of Yugoslavia as the only socialist country that adopted PAL, the Western broadcasting standard, as well as the roles of local society on both sides of the Italo-Yugoslav border given the fact that TVCK actively involved the Italian minority in Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav (Slovenian) minority in Italy. Moreover, I will explore the political and societal background which allowed TVCK to be tolerated by the Italian government and to be accepted by the Italian audience. Finally, given the groundbreaking nature of TVCK, TransborderTV will enrich the ongoing academic debate to de-westernize concepts of modernity.