“The law is too detailed, it has been infantilized, caricatured, to the point where it determines which programme should be aired and when. It limits the freedom of expression and, moreover, introduces censorship and auto censorship in the media”, said Katerina Kolozova from the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje (ISSH) at today’s presentation of their report titled
“Assessment of the effects of the existing regulation on audio and audiovisual services over the editorial freedom”.
At the press conference attended by Naser Selmani, head of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), Kolozova noted that the provisions of the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services are proof of the phenomenon of “state capture”, where the executive power is given excessive control over the media through excessive legal regulation.
While answering a journalistic question regarding today’s statement by the Minister Damjan Manchevski made at Metamorphosis’ e-Society conference, who said that the Government should not be the engine of reforms in the media sphere and the proposed law on audio and audiovisual services, the AJM’s head said that politicians should not be trusted.
“It’s all empty words, they act contrary to such pledges, because there are tendencies that resemble the conduct of previous governments,” Selmani said.
He reiterated the requirements of AJM for repealing the fines in the new proposed law amending the law on audio and audiovisual media services and demanded that the state no longer interfere with the regulation of private media, but rather leave their content to be in accordance with the preferences of viewers.
“In Macedonia, the private broadcasting media outlets are excessively regulated. The state interferes too much, which affects the program scheme and the content, as well as the financial condition of the media. Our recommendation is for the state to leave the kind of program that will aired to the preferences of the viewers, and not the politicians,” Selmani said.
He, as well as Kolozova, stated that the new proposed law must be fine-free, and the Government should leave the media to self-regulate instead of imposing rules.
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”.
