IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 159, July 25, 2000

STORM OVER MACEDONIAN MEDIA LAW

The Macedonian government is being accused of planning to introduce 'draconian' censorship over the unruly local press.

By Tom Hughes in Skopje

The last decade has seen the media in Macedonia multiply. Radio, TV and newspapers have all mushroomed and daily newspaper circulation is now estimated at between 170,000 and 200,000 compared with 70,000 to 80,000 seven years ago. There are eleven daily newspapers, including two in Albanian, one in Turkish and two devoted to sport. The latest addition, a new daily called Vest, started publication a few weeks ago.

All good news, but media expansion has brought a steep rise in the number of journalists in Macedonia, many of whom lack adequate training or experience and have no real grasp of the issues on which they report. Nor is there any institutional commitment to promoting the kind of independent journalism desirable in a democratic society. The media is often manipulated and although much of it is nominally independent, most sections are affiliated to political parties or groups. The result is often poor quality, nationalistic and provocative reporting.

For example, in recent weeks the opposition-affiliated newspaper, Utrinski Vesnik, published inflammatory and xenophobic articles claiming that alleged government concessions to ethnic Albanians and the international community threaten the integrity and security of the state. For its part, the government-controlled newspaper, Nova Makedonja, has insinuated that an opposition leader is in league with notorious drug dealers. Meanwhile, the Albanian language daily Fakti has published unsubstantiated reports alleging that Serbian agents staged recent incidents along the Kosovo border to try to provoke conflict between Macedonia and Kosovo. In each case, professional standards are sacrificed in favour of political agendas.

Prior to 1993, the media was regulated through the government administered Nova Makedonja printing house and Macedonian State Television. Now the Ministry of Information is finally drafting a long-awaited 'Law on Information', which will probably be adopted by parliament in the coming months. Its supposed aim is to establish a legal framework to make journalists accountable, while guaranteeing their freedom and independence - including fines and other penalties for unprofessional reporting.

Although a draft of the legislation has yet to be unveiled, it is said to be based on Slovenian and Dutch models. International organisations such as the Council of Europe have also been asked to comment on the production of the text. This has not stopped the Macedonian media from accusing high-ranking government officials of preparing draconian regulation and censorship Some articles have even compared the proposed law with the kind of censorship recently imposed by the Milosevic regime in Belgrade.

The legislation certainly does fail to address what many feel is the real issue, namely lack of government transparency and insufficient public access to information. The secrecy concerning the draft text of the law is a case in point. It has only fuelled media speculation. Although the concerns of the journalists may be exaggerated, they should not be ignored. The Macedonian media is sometimes subject to political interference and this new law could conceivably be used by a government to silence the opposition in times of political strife.

The media also argues that the legislation duplicates existing criminal legislation by allowing the government to move faster to impose financial penalties for unprofessional reporting. This may be true, but it should be seen partly as a response to serious problems in the Macedonian judicial system. It presently takes not months but years to pursue a criminal case through the courts. Both government and media have legitimate concerns which should be addressed. Proper regulation to improve professional media standards is certainly needed, however further legislation is probably not the best way to proceed. Rather, some form of enforceable and realistic self-regulation - if properly implemented and monitored - could enhance the credibility of the media and stem current excesses without handing increased control to the government. Tom Hughes is an analyst for an international organisation based in Skopje.

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