The Ministry of Information Society put it on paper, the draft law on audio and audiovisual media services, but without consulting all stakeholders in a wider debate. The main emphasis is on reducing political influence, but illogical passages are still noticeable.
According to the first report on media coverage of 2017 local elections realized by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AACMU), Macedonian broadcasters generally respect professional journalistic standards, providing diverse views on political issues.
The Macedonian government has adopted the measure from Plan 3-6-9 which stops government advertisements in commercial broadcasters and print media, billboards, internet portals, with the exception of social media. From now on, communication with citizens will be granted through the public broadcasting service.
After almost seven years in prison, Velija Ramkovski, the owner of the former A1 television, has left the prison for treatment. It is uncertain when he will return to Idrizovo for serving his sentence of 13 years: for the moment the countdown of the penal days is stopped. Ramkovski was arrested in December 2010, after the spectacular police action entitled "Cobweb”. According to Ramkovski, the police intrusion into A1 headquarters was a political hike commissioned by VMRO-DPMNE and Nikola Gruevski.
Citizens are perceiving a strong subjectivity in the media when reporting information, according to an AAVMU's study . 62 percent of respondents believe that different media give largely discordant information about the same events.
A strike in on at Media Print Macedonia, the company that owns three newspapers "Dnevnik", "Utrinski Vesnik" and "Vest." The employees are demanding to receive their salaries.
According to „Freedom House“, Macedonia remains nailed in the group of partly free countries with no improvement. "Freedom House" states that the situation in the Balkans has worsened in terms of electoral processes and the rule of law.
The Macedonian civil society sees no visible activities in order to achieve the urgent reform priorities relating to media. According to insiders, there are indications about lack of professionalism of the media regulators.
Macedonia is among the lowest ranked countries in the region's index (2016) of clientelism in the media, suggests a researche published by the Public“ Association.
Association for the Media, the Ethics Council and the Macedonian Institute for Media, assessed that through financing political programs paid at high cost , the government turned media into a spinnning tool
