According to the latest report from “Freedom House” for the freedom of the media, the status for Macedonia went from “partly free” and was reduced to a “Not Free” country due to the discovery of the government illegally wiretapping journalists, corruption among officials and media owners, and the increasing threats and attacks on media workers.
” Macedonia’s media landscape is deeply polarized along political lines. Self-censorship among journalists is common, due primarily to pressure from media owners with particular business or political interests and, more recently, concerns about surveillance. Journalists are poorly paid and face threats and harassment for engaging in investigative or critical reporting. The law on open access to public information is unevenly and selectively enforced, with officials delaying responses and shunning independent or critical media outlets “, the report said.
“Freedom House” estimates that the Macedonian Association of Journalists (MAN) is associated with the ruling party in power, while the AJM are more aligned with the opposition.
According to the report, most private media are related to political or business interests that affect their content, and state media tend to support government positions.
” The public broadcaster, Macedonian Radio and Television (MRT), mostly ignored the wiretapping scandal, while the recordings themselves appeared to reveal direct government influence over the broadcaster’s reporting. Macedonia has a large number of broadcast and print outlets for its population, but progovernment media—including the public MRT and several private television stations and newspapers—hold a dominant position in the market “, says”Freedom House”.
The report shows that journalists face low wages, lack of job security, and poor working conditions, making them more vulnerable to editorial pressure from the owners.
