INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL
Center for Understanding and Institutional Cooperation
ISSN: 1857-8640
DOI: 10.5897/UJ-CENTRUM
Email: centrum.qmbi@gmail.com
MEDIA FREEDOM AS AN INEVITABLE PART OF THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION DEBATE IN MACEDONIA
DOI: 10.5987/UJ-CENTRUM.17.009.1 | Article Number: E2244ECE9 | Vol.6 (1) - June 2016
Author: Pollozhani Flaka
Keywords: democracy, transparency, freedom, censorship
The right to freedom of expression is often considered the most important human right, especially by western states. In this paper I will try to explain a very important component of this right, freedom of the media in Macedonia which is essential for fully implementation of freedom of expression. Freedom of the media is very important indi-cator for the level of democracy in a society, so in this paper I will try to summarize the developments on the Macedonia’s media environment in the past few years, in order to use that as an indicator about the general situation of freedom of expression in Macedonia. According to international organizations Reports on the freedom of media, Macedo-nia is ranked the last on the list among Western Balkan countries, as stated in the final report of Freedom House Macedonia is considered to have ‘not free’ status and by that it seems to be the only purple point in the region. This paper, based on arguments and recommendations of international actors working in the field, will try to answer also which is the position and role of the journalists in our society, are they “watchdogs” of the government, can they freely seek for the truth?
1. Amnesty International Report on Macedonia 2015/2016
2. Agency for audio and audiovisual media services, Анализа на пазарот на аудио и аудиовизуелни медиумски услуги за 2015 година, http://www.avmu.mk/images/Analiza_na_pazarot_na_ audio_i_audiovizuelni_mediumski_uslugi_za_2015_godina.pdf
3. Belicanec Roberto, Ricliev Zoran, Maping Digital Media: Macedonia, 2012, http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default /files/mapping-digital-media-macedonia-20120625.pdf
4. Donev D., Dukov J., Calovski V., Kamcevska V, Trajanovski N., Prikaz za mediumskata scena vo Republika Makedonija,in: Europe Here and there, Novi Sad(Feljton), 2013
5. European Commission, Progress Report on Macedonia, 2015
6. European Convention on Transfrontier Television, Council of Europe, 5 May 1989
7. Freedom House, Report on Freedom Press in Macedonia 2016
8.Hammarberg Thomas, Media Freedom in Europe, in: HumanRights and a changing media landscape, Strasbourg (Council of Europe Publishing), 2011
9.Ipsos Strategic Plus (2012), Ispituvanje na javnoto mislenjevo odnos na pazarot za elektronski komunikacii vo Makedonija, www.acc.mk/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc
10.McQuail Denis, Mass Communication Theory, London(SAGE Publications), 2005
11.OSCE, Legal Analyses of the Draft Law on Media andAudiovisual Media services of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 2013
12.Report on the SEEMO Press Freedom Mission to theRepublic of Macedonia/ Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 2011,http://seemo.org/files/Media%20Scene%20in%20Macedonia%20edited.pdf
13.Reporters Without Borders, 2016h ttps://rsf.org/en/macedonia.
14.South East Europe Media Organization, Report on MediaFreedom in Macedonia/FYROM, 2014, http://www.seemo.org/ Republic-of-Macedonia-FYROM-2014-Media-Report%20.html
15.The Association of Journalists in Macedonia, All Journalistsare Kezarovski,http://www.znm.org.mk/drupal-7.7/en/node/686