Kosovo Albanian journalists and their colleagues from Serbia have decided to use the Internet to gain what politics has failed to obtain: easing of ethnic tensions still widely present in the province since the end of the 1998-1999 war.
Two independent news agencies - Beta from Belgrade and KosovaLive from Pristina - have jointly launched a website www.kosovakosovo.com, establishing for the first time direct news and information exchange channels between Kosovo and Serbia.
At the website "The Albanian-Serb Information Forum," they provide reliable information from Kosovo in Albanian, Serbian and English languages, as well as various surveys and opinion polls, while also organising conferences for journalists.
"What we are trying to achieve is to establish a culture of dialogue... a battle of wits and ideas rather than one of bullets," said Nenad Sebek of the non-governmental Dutch agency Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe, which has helped the project.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since a Nato-led bombing campaign ousted Serbian troops from the mainly ethnic Albanian province in 1999 to end a Serbian crackdown on rebels.
However, inter-ethnic tensions have remained high as Kosovo's Albanian majority wants independence, while the Serb minority and Belgrade want it to remain a province of Serbia-Montenegro.
The UN Security Council decided in May to review this summer Kosovo's implementation of UN-set democratic standards that are a condition for the opening of final negotiations on the province's status.
Except for internationally mediated contacts between Kosovo and Serbian politicians, there were no voluntary and direct talks between the two sides since the war.
And despite the strong international presence led by Nato, violent anti-Serb riots in March last year killed 19 people, underscoring Belgrade's claims that the UN has failed to provide a safe environment for the return of some 200,000 Serb refugees.
"It is important to have a civilised dialogue... on both sides ahead of the expected Kosovo status talks," said Beta manager Ljubica Markovic.
KosovaLive and Beta journalists estimated that direct information exchange channels between Albanian and Serb journalists were crucial in the province.
"There are many taboos. It is enough to say the word Kosovo in Serbia and you are entering politics. We wanted to give a small contribution to tackling taboos through exchanging information about reality on both sides," Markovic added.
KosovaLive editor-in-chief Kelmend Hapciu said the goal of the project was to show that "different opinions could be discussed without insults and hate speech."
"Everything between Belgrade and Pristina was politics so far. Now, everybody on each side can see the reality on the other side and takes its stance," Hapciu said.
Sebek said his organisation has supported the project as "it breaks new ground and takes a step ahead of the politicians, engaging in a dialogue where there has been none."
"It shows that no matter what kind of a solution will be found for Kosovo, Albanians and Serbs will always live next to each other as neighbours," he added.
"Being good neighbors is much more useful than being bad ones," said Sebek.
Both Kosovo and Serbian journalists were aware of the tough work ahead of them, but hoped their co-operation would be seen as a first step towards a better future.
"We don't have an illusion we can change our world dramatically this instant. But we can show the way how to overcome it in the long run," Markovic said.