World Press Freedom Day is celebrated today, for the 28th time. The Metamorphosis Foundation congratulates all journalists, media workers and all the others who fight for the freedom of expression and for human rights.
The free and professional media have a key role in securing knowledge and voice for the citizens, uncovering corruption and developing a culture of criticism where the citizens are less and less scared to question the authorities’ actions and are authorized to participate in the democratic processes in useful ways.
The Metamorphosis Foundation recognizes that an informed society is of essential importance in securing accountability both in the public and the private sector.
According to the research conducted by the international non-governmental organization “Reporters Without Borders,” the freedom of the press in the country has been improving in the past several years. But, there are many challenges that have to be overcomed.
As the Reporters Without Borders indicated in its latest report, for 2021, in North Macedonia, high-ranking government officials continue to threaten and insult the media, while cyber-bullying and verbal attacks on journalists on the social networks are happening more often.
“All of this served to strengthen the well-embedded culture of impunity. At the same time, the pandemic has made the reporting more complicated,” stated the Reporters Without Borders about the freedom of the press in North Macedonia.
The Metamorphosis Foundation has long ago perceived the negative consequences that might have resulted from the inflow of disinformation and the need for accurate, checked, and credible information, which during the COVID-19 pandemic showed to be of extreme importance.
Metamorphosis Foundations’ last year research that was conducted in accordance with the available information by the end of February 2020, is indicating the dangers if the reforms in the media sector do not continue.
During the past decade, Metamorphosis developed a rich media program that in the past several years grew into a special part of the foundation’s work named Media for Democracy.
The goal is to provide delivery of information for the general public based on facts. It encompasses the work of improving the media literacy and the development of critical thinking through CriThink, including the tool for fact-checking Truthmeter.mk, which is the first and only member of the International Fact-Checking Network from North Macedonia. Also, Metamorphosis is completely devoted to accurate and fact-checked reporting, analyses, and data visualizations through the Meta.mk news agency and Portalb.mk, Albanian language news site.
