"But Kosovo wasn't a big deal to media.. to the people here.. it was just sort of done.. I guess.."
Wasn't calling Kosovo a "genocide" only played up after the bombing started? I thought Kosovo only became a big story to the masses after the bombing had already started and the media was spending so much time focused on the refugees - seemingly all day and everyday. The sensationalist reporting surrounding the refugees, combined with the daily bombing reports of the bombing destruction got many people highly concerned about Kosovo for the first time.
You might be right. My memory doesn't always serve me well so someone more into the subject might be able to help us out here. To my knowledge the genocide was played up before hand because of what happened in the other balkan wars. It was sort of the attitude "ahh Serbia is at it again". I could be wrong but I think history played into the matter. It is true that the mass graves weren't dug up to well later but I think word leaked out on the "genocide" that was going on well before the war started.