The media themselves became a focus of the Kosovo war: some Western politicians criticised the coverage provided by their own national media, and Nato bombed Serbian broadcasting. Kosovo was also dubbed the first Internet war, but while the Internet played an important role in making alternative sources of information and commentary available, this has to be set against the global reach of the media of the leading Nato powers.

In coverage of the build up to war, the bombing campaign itself, and the subsequent Nato occupation of Kosovo, the mainstream media of the Nato bloc often failed to report important facts and submitted the official version of events to little or no scrutiny. The major Western news organisations acted as a de facto propaganda arm of Nato, rather than fulfilling their professed role as servants of democracy.

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