The first channel of MTV reacted today to the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services’ (AAVMU) remarks, laid down in the report on monitoring media coverage for the period from 16 to 24 September 2017, that MTV1 haven’t complied with the provision for balance in reporting on the activities of the opposition political parties represented in the Parliament.
On the other hand, MTV’s first channel reacted by saying that since the beginning of the campaign, they have been reporting in accordance to the rules of media coverage of elections and according to the laws in general as well, while the imbalance stated in AAVMU’ report has occurred due to the time it has allotted to the views of the main opposition party regarding the work of the Government.
“In AAVMU’s report, the section on representation of the subjects in predominantly informative genres and in the section on direct addresses of the subjects, the Government is the most present subject and consequently the time allotted to the opposition is adequate. In this context, it should be taken into consideration that during the monitoring period there were accomplishment reports of Ministers on the work done in the first hundred days, which were the cause for the opposition representatives’ reactions. Due to the fact that, besides balance, objectivity in reporting is required as well, and MTV1 complies with the higher legal acts, such as the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, which requires objectivity, timeliness and accuracy, and also complies with the most important legal act , the Constitution, which prohibits censorship”, reads the reaction from MTV 1.
The text is made within the framework of the project “Media Reform Observatory”, implemented by the Foundation for Internet and Society Metamorphosis, “Agora” Center for Promoting Civil Values and the Platform for Investigative Journalism and Analyzes – PINA, with the financial support of the “Foundation Open” Society – Mace
donia “. The content of the text is the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be considered to reflect the views of the “Open Society Foundation – Macedonia”.
