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Media Monitoring - Republic of Macedonia, 2005/2006
Editor: Goran Stojkovski M.A.
Analysts: Biljana Mihajlovska, Daut Dauti, Iskra Paskalova, Marijana Markovic M.A. Monitors: Aleksandar Stevanovski, Aneta Nechak, Ahgela Kuzmanova, Vasil Ashtalkoski, Elena Slavkovska,
Edmond Sotir, Irena Hristov, Kristina Trajkova, Nagib Shalja, Sultana Chuleva, Tina Girova
NGO Info-center: Gradski zid, blok 8, 1000 Skopje; tel/fax: (02) 3233 560; 3216 690 [email protected]; [email protected] www.nvoinfocentar.org.mk
Network Media Program Budapest
P i l o t I s s u e
M E D I A M I R R O R
May-July 2005
The electronic version of the report is available on www.nvoinfocentar.org.mk
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 2 NGO Info-center, July 2005
Table of content
1. Introduction 3
2. The Media Positions Towards the Social-Political Events and the Manner of Coverage 4
2.1. General Conclusions 4 2.1.1 Comparative Data on the Monitoring of Social and Political Affairs 5
2.2. Comment on the Media Positions on the Subject Matters Covered by the Monitoring 6
3. Specific Aspects of Individual Media 9
3.1. Television Stations 10
TV “A1” 10
TV “Kanal 5” 11
“MTV 1” 11
MTV 2 (Programme in Albanian Language) 12
TV SITEL 13
TV Telma 14
3.2. Daily Newspapers 15
“Vest” 15
“Vecer” 16
“Vreme” 17
“Dnevnik” 18
“Utrinski Vesnik” 18
“Fakti” 19
APPENDIXES 21
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 3 NGO Info-center, July 2005
1. INTRODUCTION “Media Mirror” is a continuing programme for monitoring of the media in the Republic
of Macedonia, with the goal to present a clear picture of the professional standards and
information criteria of the media, and the manner in which they cover and interpret the key
social processes and events.
A special methodology was developped for the purpose of this monitoring, the first of
its kind in the country, which was tested in May and July of this year by a team consisting of an
editor, four analysts and eleven monitors. The results of the pilot stage of the monitoring are
presented in this report, which covers the period from May 16 to July 10, 2005.
The monitoring included six daily newspapers and six national TV broadcasters: "Vest”,
"Vecer", "Vreme", "Dnevnik", "Untrinski vesnik", "Fakti", TV “A1”, TV “Kanal 5”, "MTV 1",
"MTV 2", TV "Sitel" and TV "Telma". The selection of the monitored media was conducted on
the basis of the evaluation of the influence they have, or could have, on the general public in the
Republic of Macedonia.
The applied methodology demonstrates whether the media coverage of the events was
detailed, moderate and balanced; whether the journalists’ reports and articles were supported by
listed, precise and clear sources; whether the media consulted all sides of a given conflicting
situation; whether they avoided arbitrary comments, evaluations, etc.
In addition, the analysis surveys the manner of presentation of the information (scope,
time and position/location); whether it was illustrated with visual aids; what was the treatment
of diverse political options and politicians, diverse ethnic and cultural values, through the use of
language and terminology; the use of journalistic genres; and the existing differences, if any,
between the monitored media in terms of their presentation of the same events and phenomena.
Simultaneously, the monitoring analyzes the eventual positions of the media regarding the
government, opposition, ethnic communities, certain political parties or views.
This analysis covers the subjects of media attitudes towards:
1. International integration issues related to the Republic of Macedonia: EU, NATO, the
process of finding solutions to the name-dispute with Greece, the Hague Tribunal,
terrorism;
2. The Region: the Republic of Macedonia relations with Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, Greece
and Bulgaria;
3. Internal politics, political events and security: decentralization, structural reforms (the
judiciary).
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 4 NGO Info-center, July 2005
During the reporting period, a total of 3,065 published articles and texts were analyzed:
texts, illustrations, comics and cartoons, articles in the central information programmes
of the electronic media relating to the listed thematic issues.
2. THE MEDIA POSITIONS TOWARDS THE SOCIAL-POLITICAL EVENTS AND THE MANNER OF COVERAGE
2.1. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
● The Monitoring shows that the media, when informing on social-political events,
demonstrates disconcertingly high levels of: a) imprecise/unclear sources of information; b)
unmarked illustrative material, without note of their origin; c) articles and stories inherently
conflicting by nature, which consult only one side of a conflict; d) anonymous articles and
stories; etc.
● The unnamed sources and those defined in the most general of terms are often used by the
media to place unconfirmed information from the domestic scene, and also when informing on
events that take place abroad. The media don’t provide explanation of the said manner of use of
sources, nor do they give the reason why a source is listed as anonymous. On the other hand,
the anonymous sources give ample space for manipulation. The information is based on sources
defined in general terms, for instance, “the Ministry of Economy” or “the Kosovo side”, which
make it impossible to make a fair judgment of the validity of the presented information.
● The printed media tend to publish several stories and articles on the same topic in a single issue,
quoting the same undefined and unnamed “sources”. The mutual characteristic of such articles, and
often of the television reports, is that they don’t have a generally leveled structure, i.e. they are
informative, but often the information is augmented by direct comments provided by the
authors themselves, or by indirect, interpreted, unidentified sources. So, what should be, on the
face of it, a straightforward report on the events, often transforms into a comment based on
sources of the following type: “the experts:”, “the Government believes...”, “we learn that...”,
“sources in the negotiation team”. This type of articles/stories carry the additional burden of
judgments and phrases that diminish the activities of the said entities (“The Government
prepares a soft scenario...” or “The Government came to its senses and now makes plans to
save itself from the announced customs taxes...”), but also restrict the right of the citizens to
make their own judgment on the bases of the presented facts.
● The majority of the media use “the experts” and the “knowledgeable people in the field” for
indirect presentation of judgment and evaluations, but also to prognosticate and predict the final
outcome of problems, situations, and processes... Having in mind that these are usually
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 5 NGO Info-center, July 2005
prominent social people, often independent from the political events and situation. it is unclear
why they remain unnamed.
● The majority of the printed media, in an attempt to avoid to explicitly present their position
on a topic, a story or op-ed article, use the opportunity to present their positions visually and
publish photo-news, cartoons, comics and feature photos. On the other hand, many headlines
and photos on the front-pages do not allow for a visual distinction, i.e. perception of the
messages that the media wish to convey.
● For all media, there is a characteristic approach to the construction of headlines and headers
to the news stories, which seem exaggerated and even slightly bent intro to the contents of the
articles they refer to. On the other hand, to make something that will be more appealing on first
view, a headline will have greater value in its own merit than as an integral part of a longer
article.
2.1.1 Comparative Data on the Monitoring of Social and Political Affairs
Of the topics and thematic fields that are the subject of this monitoring, during the report
period, the media paid the greatest attention to the activities of the process of decentralization,
followed by Macedonian relations with the neighbours (primarily with Kosovo and Serbia) and
the Euro-integration processes. During the period covered by this report, the media paid the
least attention to the relations between Macedonia and NATO.
This ranking of the topics is supported by the findings, which show that decentralization
was covered by a total of 758 articles and stories. Such intensive coverage is primarily due to
the Parliamentary debate on the Draft-Law on Use the of Symbols of Ethnic Communities, and
the date (July 1, 2005) of the official start of the process of decentralization. According to the
number of published articles on this subject, the most interested was “Vecer” daily (124
articles), followed by “Vreme” (114), TV “Telma” (103) and “Fakti” daily (75 articles). The
least interested was TV “Kanal 5”, with 21 reports and stories.
In terms of Macedonian relationships with the neighbouring countries, the media were
most interested in the Kosovo situation, followed by Serbia and Montenegro, or more
specifically, the dispute between the Serb and Macedonian Orthodox Churches (MPC and
SPC). The largest number of articles and stories on these topics were published by “Vreme”
daily – 101, while the least coverage was seen with TV “Sitel” (28) and “Vest” daily (15).
Regarding the Euro-integration processes and Macedonian relations with the European
Union (EU), “Utrinski vesnik” published 89 on the topic, while “Vest” published just 13
articles.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 6 NGO Info-center, July 2005
The least presented subject was “Macedonia-NATO” relations, whose greatest coverage
was by “Fakti” daily in Albanian and “Vecer” daily, with 17 reports and articles each, while TV
“Sitel” and “Vest” daily published only 5 and 1 article, respectively.
A detailed statistical overview of individual media coverage on a given subject is presented
in the annex to this Report (Table on the intensity of publication of materials in the report
period, by media outlet).
2.2. COMMENT ON THE MEDIA POSITIONS ON THE SUBJECT MATTERS COVERED BY THE MONITORING
There was an evident interest of the monitored editorial offices in the Macedonian
European integration processes. Some media have even dedicated special editorial departments
and sections to the European Union (for example, “Eurorama” in “Dnevnik”; “EuroZoom” on
TV “Sitel”). The media demonstrated intensive interest in all aspects of the EU and
Macedonia’s chances to be accepted for full-membership, especially after the constitutional
crisis that appeared in the Union. The overall impression is that the media will publish any
statement or cover any event that mentions Macedonia, or for that matter the Western Balkans,
regardless of its political and social significance, or the person that gave the statement.
In comparison with the intensity and enthusiasm of the journalists to cover the European
integration processes, NATO membership is very much absent from the media. Unless there is
a concrete event directly related to NATO, the media carry no articles or stories. There are rare
(often non-existent) materials designed to present the values and the philosophy of the North
Atlantic Alliance to the general public. On the other hand, most media publish information
emphasizing the the importance of NATO membership for Macedonia.
This analysis also registered the creation of connections between NATO and other
topics, especially when reporting on the four war crimes cases that the Hague Tribunal should
return to Macedonia (“NATO Fears the Return of the Four Cases from the Hague” / “Will
there Be a Political Crisis in Macedonia?!”). Thus, the media contributed in the attempts to
over-emphasize the social and political significance of these cases. With a lack of concrete facts
and information, there is no explanation for the insistence of most of the media to have given
the apocalyptic connotations to these cases and thereby indirectly stirting fears for the security
of ordinary citizens that can’t have a direct influence on the final outcome.
Regarding the Hague Tribunal, the media report on the court proceedings against Ljube
Boskovski and Johan Tarculovski and the four cases of war crimes submitted to the Tribunal.
The majority of the media does not approve of the way that Carla del Ponte, the Chief
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 7 NGO Info-center, July 2005
Prosecutor, treats the cases from Macedonia1, the return of the four cases to Macedonia is an
unclear affair. The media mainly reports from concrete sources who often give contradictory
statements, The resulting ambiguities are confusing but not of the journalists’own making
Regarding the name-dispute with Greece, Speculation on the possible Macedonian
proposals for the name of the country are the main characteristic of the coverage in almost of
the media. Most media openly support the policies adopted by the Macedonian state leadership
on this matter.2
The coverage of regional aspects by the media is dominated by interest in developments
in Kosovo, especially the marking of the border with Macedonia, the possible introduction of a
visa regime for Macedonian citizens, the customs on Macedonian exports to Kosovo, and the
legal and political status of the protectorate...3 The Government’s policies towards Kosovo are
met with disproval by the media, while the policies promoted by President Crvenkovski have
met greater support than criticism (in spite of the fact that on other issues, the media are not
inclined to promote the President’s positions). The media adopted the most critical position on
the Macedonia-Kosovo customs regime negotiations, as they called it, “the incapacity of
Macedonian negotiators to fight for more favourable terms”. The media reported in terms of
“winners” and “losers”4 in the negotiations. The reporting on the customs negotiations was
dominated by anonymous and unnamed sources, which has reduced the coverage to the general
public, quite inexcusably, to the level of mere speculation.
Following “Kosovo”, the focus of the media was directed to Macedonian relations with
Serbia and Montenegro5. This gave the opportunity to many diverse entities and persons to
express their views on the recognition of the “Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric” (original 1 Most media don’t approve of the way Carla Del Ponte, the Hague Chief Prosecutor, treats the Macedonian cases. As an illustrations, we have the cartoon by certain author Kozar (the initials in the signature of the cartoonist is ineligible), published in “Vreme” daily of June 29, 2005. The author criticizes Carla Del Ponte very strongly, depicting her holding an axe and a feather in her hands. Next to the axe is the caption “Justice for Macedonia”, and next to the feather is the caption “Justice for the Albanian terrorists”. The Chief Prosecutor has a necklace with a medallion in the shape of the Dollar sign (it is unclear whether the author hints at the statement by the Prosecutor about the lack of funding for the Tribunal and the return of the four war crimes cases to the Macedonian courts). The media has already created such a picture of the developments that can lead the readers to judge the position of Carla Del Ponte and the Hague Tribunal on the four war crimes cases as controversial. 2 The one exception is TV “Sitel” (under the editorship of Dragan Pavlovic), which hesitates to give its full unconditional support. Almost all media (with the exception of TV “Sitel”) refused to support the initiative presented by Nikola Gruevski, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, for a referendum on this issue. 3 “Vreme” daily demonstrated particular interest in the status of the Macedonian minority living in Kosovo. During the report period, the paper paid solid attention to the Gorani and published a number of articles on their status and situation. 4 The Macedonian language media, in predominantly pessimistic tones, continually suggest a feeling of “loss and capitulation of Macedonia”, when reporting on political and economic relations with Kosovo. The presented articles don’t offer enough in-depth analysis that would corroborate and confirm the conclusions about “loss and capitulation”. 5 The majority of the media used the front-page or the general announcement of the daily news to announce the concert by Serb singer Svetlana Ceca Raznjatovic. Some reporters drew the parallels between the singer’s past, i.e. the relationship between Arkan and SPC, and the current issues and developmens in the relations between MPC and SPC. The media sponsorship of the concert by “MRTV” was seen as the “epitome of hypocrisy”. The initiative by VMRO-NP, to stop the airing of Serbian music in the ether of the Republic of Macedonia has met disproval and criticism.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 8 NGO Info-center, July 2005
acronym POA- Pravoslavna ohridska arhiepiskopija), most media took the position that the
recognition of POA is an act directed against the Macedonian nation as a whole, not just the
MPC. A certain balance in the coverage was reached by providing the space for the statements
by the so-called POA and SPC, but also through the criticism directed at the inertia on the
behalf of MPC. Almost all media, “nervously” and strongly condemned the actions of the SPC.
This overt negative connotation was also given to the official Serb policies, in spite of the fact
that this was, above all, a religious matter.
At one moment during this analysis, the media pushed aside the generally good relations
between Macedonia and Albania, due to the official position Tirana took towards the initiative
of the Macedonians living in Albania to establish a political party. Some of the media also
condemned the passivity of the Macedonian Government to this problem. The coverage was
completed with reports on the ultimate registration of the party – Macedonian Alliance for
European Integration, and the statements by Gjorgji Tane (the only Macedonian running in the
Parliamentary Elections in Albania), who said that his failure to win a seat in the Parliament
was due to the weak national awareness of the voters, and to the lack of support from
Macedonia.
The media have a very positive view of the ongoing upward trend of Macedonian-
Bulgarian relations, especially the positive policies promoted by the leaders Presidents
Crvenkovski and Prvanov. Therefore, the “Doctor Honoris Causa” title awarded to the Prime
Minister Vlado Buckovski has received a significant media coverage. On the other hand, the
initiative of the Bulgarian President to transport the relics of St. Cyril from the Vatican to
Bulgaria, met with condemnation in the media. The start of the OMO “Pirin” campaign in front
of the European institutions for recognition of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria was
marked by the media with reports on the plans of the organizations and the essential points of
the letter that is to be sent to the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, OSCE and the
UN. The media also covered the voting of Macedonian Bulgarians in the Bulgarian
Parliamentary Elections.6
6 The coverage of the Macedonian-Bulgarian relations includes a series of articles published by “Fakti” daily in Albanian. Namely, for a period of time, “Fakti” gave very negative and critical treatment to the appointment of Abdurahman Aliti to the position of Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia in Sofia.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 9 NGO Info-center, July 2005
The coverage of the decentralization process was dedicated to three issues: Draft-Law
on Use of Flags of Ethnic Communities7, the process of implementation of the decentralization
and the functioning of specific municipalities, above all, to the City of Skopje8.
The reform of the judiciary is mentioned in a great number of articles, but the media
rarely offer more detailed information on the concrete solutions that they propose. Having in
mind the extensive coverage on this topic, the positions presented in the published articles and
reports are often poor. The media prefers criticism over praise, with poor research on to support
their critical evaluations. Often, the “position of the experts” regarding the changes in the
judiciary, the appointment of judges by the National Judicial Council, presents the view of a
single often anonymous university professor. In spite of the fact that the positions of several
experts are often presented, the reporting is dominated (and gets its tone from) the views of a
single expert, who is correctly named, but not quoted, being rather interpreted. So, it happens
that the coverage is dominated by criticism that holds the view that the changes “...are a cover
for the attempts to make the highest judicial instances the instrument of the Government”9.
3. SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF INDIVIDUAL MEDIA In order to determine and study the specific aspects characteristic for each individual
media, the analysis used six factors in the treatment of the selected material (articles/reports,
illustrations, comic strips, cartoons): 1. The treatment of the analyzed topics (number and
intensity of the coverage, the scope, placement of the articles in the pages of the print media or
the airing in TV broadcasts); 2. The genre structure and character of the article or the story; 3.
The relation Header-Headline-Leader and text-illustration (announcement-report-footage); 4.
Sources of information; 5. Actor(s); 6. Treatment of the facts.
7 A relatively large number of articles were published on the issue of the Draft-Law on Use of Flags of Ethnic Communities. The discussions of this issue included the announcements of the procedure on the Law of Use of Languages, but also the changes of the national coat-of-arms and the national anthem. Some headlines either provided emphasis to certain segments of the contents of the article, or provided their suggestions on this topic. In this context, the media condemned the positions of certain politicians: the statement by MP Boris Kondarko “Does the US endanger the sovereignty of the Moon?” given at the Parliamentary pulpit, were used as a direct cause for several sarcastic, ironic and critical commentaries. In addition, the “Pecko” comic strip commented on the “I have a dream” statement by Ljupco Jordanovski, the Speaker of the Parliament. To his statement “I have a dream” Pecko answers: “The people also have their dream, Mr. Jordanovski!”. After Jordanovski’s question what does the people dream, Pecko delivers the punch line: “For you to wake up!” 8 During the report period, the media published extensive criticism of the personnel policies adopted by Major of Skopje, Trifun Kostovski. The negative coverage was motivated by concrete events (the appointment of new advisors to the Cabinet of the Mayor and the competition for Directors of public enterprises), and the criticism was based on the information received from the “City Hall corridors” and “we learn that...”. Most media didn’t even attempt to present the story of the entities they criticize, and no mention was made if the said entities refused to comment the allegations. On the other hand, the media are not satisfied with the work by the Mayor regarding the existing problems in the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. 9 In a number of cases, the author of a given article indirectly quotes the “experts”, while it remains unclear who these experts were and whether that general category includes the views of Vlado Popovski, who was mentioned by name as an expert (but is also a member of a political party).
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 10 NGO Info-center, July 2005
3.1. TELEVISION STATIONS
TV “A1”
Over the past period, TV “A1” found the Macedonian relations with the neighbours the
most attractive, and dedicated a total of 46 reports on this topic. The least coverage on “A1”
was given to the judicial reforms (eight reports).
This TV station covers the current affairs in professional, inventive and well-founded
reports, placed highly in the news programmes and in general announcements of the news of
the day.
The reporting is predominatly descriptive. There is a distinctive use of commentators’
reports in two forms: a) reports with incorporated moderate commentary elements, and b)
descriptive reports as a pure genre form, with strong comment in the editorial lead. The
exception is found in the reporting of some topics, especially in the economic news, which
present clear and strong opinions, suggestions and prognosis, for instance on the Macedonia-
Kosovo customs regime negotiations..
The visual illustration of the reports is descriptive in function and is consistent with the
contents of the report. The editorial leads usually emphasize the contents of the reports, or
provide an opinion on the events.
“А1“ usually uses clearly named sources, without evident preference to a certain side.
Occasionally, an exception is made in the reporting on the activities of Government entities
with prominent use of generally denoted sources of the type “the experts”, the positions of
whom are used to express strong criticism, or “diplomatic sources” which are used to comment
on events and developments related to foreign policies and the international position of
Macedonia. In such cases, the station uses the “A1 learns” phrase to place the unconfirmed
speculations.
The actors in the events are quoted directly in the majority of cases. The indirect speech
is used only with general sources. А1 maintains a neutral position towards the involved parties
and rarely comments on quoted statements. The opinions and judgments are directed towards
the institutions, the offices and the activities of individual entities, and there are no personal
disqualifications and attacks.
“А1“ mainly presents and interprets the facts. It reports events that carry political and
national divisions in a neutral and impartial manner. Occasionally, it demonstrates an indirect
and moderately positive attitude towards processes of wider social significance (EU
membership). This is accompanied by direct and strong critisism of, inappropriate activities, for
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 11 NGO Info-center, July 2005
instance, in the report period, the station criticized the President, the Prime Minister and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs for their frequent travels abroad).
TV “KANAL 5”
TV “Kanal 5” paid special attention to the relations of Macedonia with the neighbouring
countries and published a total of 48 reports, with the least coverage given to the Macedonia-
NATO relations (8 reports in total).
This media covers current affairs in a primarily informative manner, without
commenting on them. The general impression is that the most common genres are the news,
statements, reports and interviews. The articles are mostly descriptive, and only rarely
suggestive or prognosticating. The connection between the footage and the contents is usually
consistent, although there are cases when the footage is used to carry information not contained
in the text (this usually happens if the media reports on conflicting situations).
At times, the anchor gives a single statement in the introduction to the report which
carries a completely different message than the actual report. With this media, there is a visible
effort on the behalf of the reporters to consult as many sources as possible, from many sides of
the issue covered., These are primarily domestic official sources whose statements are
supported by others from international actors. The sources are usually well marked and
presented with picture, voice, or both. Sometimes “Kanal 5” bases its reports upon unclear
sources, usually associated in cases of sensationalist information.
“Kanal 5” airs statements and interviews with experts. The actors are quoted directly
and only rarely are their statements commented on or judged.
This television station most often presents facts in favour of Government’s policies,
usually accompanied by statements given by international representatives. Although, globally,
this media supports the Government, criticism and negative opinion on certain aspects of
Government’s regional policies is evident (for instance, the negotiations with Kosovo on the
visa regime).
“MTV 1”
MTV 1 paid greatest attention to decentralization and related issues, with a total of 46
aired reports, while the judicial reforms are the opposite extreme, with only 7 reports aired.
MTV 1 regularly, extensively and professionally covers all the topics subject to this
analysis. Prominence is given to reporting on events involving and related to the activities of
the state leadership.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 12 NGO Info-center, July 2005
The coverage is dominated by the pure genre forms, among which reports prevail. Also,
in terms of reporting on events, there is a tendency to present them as they happened (there are
rare exceptions).
In terms of the visual presentation, they usually correspond fully to the covered event,
although a certain inertia is evident in cases when a quick reaction is needed (inappropriate
footage, absence of footage or, improperly marked footage).
Several sources are quoted and presented, usually without additional comments or
interpretation. Although statements are taken from many relevant persons and entities, the
priority is given to Government representatives.
The statements by the protagonists of the reported events are customarily paraphrased in
the leads to the reports, immediately followed by the authentic quote. In this context, the
reporters tend not to give their own, positive or negative, opinion and judgment.
In its treatment of the facts, MTV 1 primarily takes care to present the facts, only in
extremely rare cases the reporters make an attempt at interpretation and opinion.
Although MTV 1 tends to promote the policies of the current government and optimism
regarding certain “burning” issues, the general absence of critical and unconstructive positions,
both towards the government and the opposition, leaves the general impression of a balanced
approach to both the protagonists and the facts.
MTV 2 (PROGRAMME IN ALBANIAN LANGUAGE)
MTV 2 – Albanian Language Editorial Office has dedicated 43 reports to the
decentralization, while the judiciary reforms were covered in only two reports. The statistics
demonstrate that the programmes of this TV station are dominated by issues dear to the
Albanians in Macedonia (decentralization, the Law on Use of Symbols of Ethnic Communities,
the relations with Kosovo, and the Hague). The other topics are covered only on superficial
level (NATO, EU, the name dispute with Greece, judicial reforms) or are totally neglected (like
the dispute between SPC and MPC).
The News in Albanian on MTV 2 is dominated by reports, especially upon events on the
domestic scene, followed by Kosovo and, naturally, Brussels (NATO and EU). News from
newswires are used excessively, and comments and commentary reports are absent from the
programmes.
Although many reports are “colourless” (routinely done) in terms of their content, the
anchors’ introductions correspond to the presented contents, i.e. they are characteristic for their
descriptive rather than interpretative nature.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 13 NGO Info-center, July 2005
MTV 2 – News in Albanian reports primarily on current affairs and uses various
officials as its sources (government representatives, members of parliament, foreign
diplomats...). Only a small number of anonymous sources are present in the coverage of this TV
channel. On the other hand, the use of written sources and official documents is also limited.
With rare exception, MTV 2 maintains a predominantly neutral position towards the
protagonists on the political scene and presents their views without demonstrating its own
opinion. The sources are dominated by the parties of the Government, especially the Albanian
DUI, but no direct favouring is evident (having in mind that it reports on concrete activities
relating to the functioning of government institutions) except in some reports where there is an
absence of positions held by the Albanian opposition parties (for instance, during the debate on
the Law on Use of Symbols of Ethnic Communities).
TV SITEL
TV SITEL, also dedicated great attention to the decentralization – 53 reports, while
relations between Macedonia and NATO received only limited space – 5 reports in total.
The genre structure, it is often difficult to determine from a given article. Quite often,
the journalists use the reports to give their opinions and suggestions, and prognosticate on the
outcome of processes. So, during the report period, the opinions, prognoses and suggestions are
often integrated into the introductions of the reports (although not with all journalists), with the
result that they do not always correspond to the contents of the respective article.
In the visual elements, there are examples of presentation of unmarked footage, or the
appropriate footage does not exist at all.
Although in the majority of cases the sources of information are presented clearly and
precisely, there are instances in which they are defined as “Sitel is the first to report...”, “Sitel
sources say...” etc. In its use of sources, it is evident that SITEL TV promotes the political
views of the Socialist Party of Macedonia, or specifically, Ljubisav Ivanov Dzingo. When the
Dragan Pavlovic anchors the central News it is primarily used for a propagandist interpretation
of VMRO-DPMNE policies, as a promotion tool of party officials and politicians, for
interviews with opposition politicians and lengthy reports from press-conferences. In those
instances, TV SITEL demonstrates a) a non-constructive criticism often directed against a
specific issue, b) emphasis on a catastrophic picture of Macedonia with the goal of suggesting
pessimistically the chances of the country (the social weaknesses are strongly emphasized with
the intention of stirring dissatisfaction with the current government), as well as c) apocalyptic
views of alleged conspiracies plotted against Macedonia.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 14 NGO Info-center, July 2005
The protagonists of the events’ statements are usually quoted literally, ad verbatim, but
after the reporter provides his introduction with paraphrases of the statements. Nonetheless, we
should note the tendency to edit out parts of statements and footage that could deny and negate
the predominantly critical position of the media towards the Governments activities on certain
subjects.
In terms of its treatment of the facts, the reporters would occasionally provide their
opinions on the events, and sometimes providing the opinion to the viewers before the facts are
presented.
TV TELMA
The decentralization processes were very much present on the programmes of TV
TELMA – 103 aired reports, while the Macedonia-NATO relations were covered by only 8
reports.
TV TELMA tries (and in most cases succeeds) to provide quality information on the
important events of general interest (the decentralization, with special emphasis on the Law on
Use of Symbols of Ethnic Communities; relations with neighbouring countries: Greece (the
name dispute), Kosovo, SCG (especially the dispute between SPC and MPC); as well as the
European and North-Atlantic integration processes).
The use of flags is not treated as the central issue related to decentralization, having in
mind that TELMA covers the other problems of decentralization, especially the transfer of
competence from central to local institutions. The reports on TV TELMA provide an
affirmative note to the European and Transatlantic integration processes, and are produced with
a professional routine.
TELMA covers the events extensively, and its coverage is dominated by reports as a
genre. However, with some topics, the station does not restrict itself to reports alone, the
journalists are also required to produce more complex stories, involving a variety of actors on a
single issue. Such stories often look ahead – they give prognosis and opinions on the possible
course of the events and of solutions to various situations.
The footage is usually authentic and corresponds to the presented story. There are
reports that use archive footage, which are never marked as such. Other omissions or tendencies
towards manipulation were not registered.
The journalists of TV TELMA usually include several sources in their reports, to
illustrate the differing positions of various entities, and often quote official documents. The
presentation is concise and without tendency to favour a single position.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 15 NGO Info-center, July 2005
TV TELMA restricts itself to presenting the views of various actors, impartially and
without an attempt to pass its own judgments.
The articles, due to the use of a variety of sources, offer a great amount of facts (both in
terms of quantity and quality). However, this media also sometimes presents views and
opinions instead of facts. Nonetheless, when presenting information, there is no evidence of a
tendency to manipulate the facts.
3.2. DAILY NEWSPAPERS
“VEST”
“Vest” is a daily newspaper that doesn’t report excessively on the topics covered by this
monitoring. When it does report, it is done through very brief reports that don’t always present
all aspects of an event. So, “Vest” dedicated 47 articles to the decentralization, while
Macedonias relations with NATO were covered by only 1 article.
In the majority of cases, the pure genre forms dominate, with the news being the most
common, although reports and comments have also been registered. The texts are primarily
descriptive, but there are articles in which the authors freely present their own opinions,
suggestions and predictions on the events and their protagonists. With almost all texts, the
authors can’t be identified.
In its efforts to “get interesting”, “Vest” provides inappropriate (usually bombastic)
headlines that don’t reflect the contents of the articles and illustrates them with large
photographs of the protagonists mentioned inside.
In its use of sources, “Vest” uses clearly both identified sources, and anonymous
sources. No inclination towards a political option is in evidence (all of them are usually
criticized equally). In the treatment of the protagonists on the political scene, it may be
concluded that all of them are criticized (both the government and the opposition), with the
exception of the current Mayor of Skopje. Although even he was not treated in a distinctly
positive manner. The politicians are usually quoted, but in the texts with critical positions, the
quotes can often get a new meaning. In such texts, there is often judgmental treatment of facts,
predominantly in negative manner.
Certain texts in “Vest”, especially the comments in the “I want to say...” featured
editorial, use questionable language and terminology, i.e. with sarcastic and ironic comments on
the current social and political affairs, events and protagonists.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 16 NGO Info-center, July 2005
“VECER”
“Vecer” covers the topics that are subject to this analysis with a great number of articles,
depending on the current affairs, but in-depth analysis of the events are extremely rare. This
paper dedicated the most extensive coverage to the decentralization – 124 articles, and the least
coverage was dedicated to the Macedonian relationships with NATO – 17 articles.
In terms of genre variety, the coverage is dominated by descriptive reports and news
wire articles. The current affairs are regularly covered by editorial comments, strongly
opinionated in character. There is an evidenceof headlines that bend the perception of the
contents of the otherwise correct reports, with suggestive and ambiguous attractive headlines,
judgmental headlines with opinions on reported events and topics, or headlines formulated as
questions, but with a clearly expressed opinion or conclusion.
“Vecer” pays great attention to its illustrations. The front-pages are visual magnets –
dominant, interesting photographs, sometimes lacking taste for a serious daily newspaper. The
majority of articles are illustrated with dominant associative photos that augment the presented
contents.
“Vecer” usually uses clearly identified sources that present various positions. Articles
predominantly based on speculations are rare, but prominent due to the importance of the
subjects they cover. They are charactised by unclear sources, such as “well informed people” or
“Vecer learns...” (for example, on the candidate status of EU membership, the trial of Ljube
Boskovski in the Hague).
The protagonists of the events are usually quoted either directly or indirectly, without
additional comments. An exception are the editorial comments that strongly, sarcastically and
even maliciously comment on the statements and activities of some political entities (for
instance, Boris Kondarko / “sovereignty of the Moon”). Through the quality, quantity and
visual “packaging” of the articles, there is evidence of a slightly positive position towards Ljube
Boskovski, and of a speculative and condemning attitude towards the others (Carla Del Ponte,
and the possible witnesses of the Hague prosecution office).
The reporting is usually neutral, with occasional moderate opinions expressed in the
headlines or the visual packaging (e.g.. The Law on Use of Symbols of Ethnic Communities).
The comments rarely, but noticeably, carry negative opinions of the events and development
before the relevant facts are presented. Such an inappropriate attitude towards the facts is
visible in the regular SMS poll, the results of which are received through inadequately
constructed nonsensical questions, where the basic relevant information on the poll is missing.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 17 NGO Info-center, July 2005
“VREME”
“Vreme” focused its attention on the topic of decentralization, on which it published 114
articles, while the least interest was paid to Macedonia-NATO with 9 articles.
From time to time, “Vreme” prepares in-depth analysis with elements of investigative
journalism (the name dispute with Greece, for instance), and produces articles on sub-topics
rarely treated by the other media, like the position of the Gorani in Kosovo.
The reporting is dominated by descriptive reports, sometimes with very subtle opinions.
There is an important presence of other genres judgmental in character – editorial comments,
featured columnists, comic strips, cartoons.
The headlines are usually descriptive, with rare exceptions of their not corresponding to
the content of the articles or bending the perception. “Vreme” illustrates only a portion of the
articles with photographs. The front-pages either carry several photographs with one photo
related to a current event that dominates the layout, or carry several photographs that could,
from occaisionally, create a sense of visual confusion.
The sources are usually identified, without preference for a single side in an issue.
Exceptions are the unclear categories, of “diplomatic sources” or “experts” that place
information which may, or may not be confirmed by official sources, or differ from the
information offered by the identified sources (e.g. On the Euro-questionnaire, the judicial
reforms).
The regular reports don’t give direct opinions on the involved actors. The criticism is, at
times, expressed indirectly through paraphrased statements of sources identified in general
terms. The editorial comments on the analyzed topics contain moderate and well-argued
opinions (which is not refer to all topics). Sharp, ironic opinions about the protagonists and the
events are presented in the “Pecko” comic strip and the cartoons by Kozar. The misbalance in
the relatively correct position of the paper is the comic strip “I said, you said” which provides
sarcastic comments on the events, without presentation of the facts, and bends the perception of
the proceedings and presents personal, and at times rather vulgar qualification of individual
political entities.
The facts are commonly presented and interpreted. The direct evaluation is left to the
involved parties, but also to unidentified sources that give the fact a speculative tone. The
positive or negative opinions in the editorial is usually based on facts listed in the comment
itself, or in special related articles. Some topics, like the Law on Use of Symbols of Ethnic
Communities, receive extensive treatment by Vreme in special supplements that present a wide
scope of less know facts.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 18 NGO Info-center, July 2005
“DNEVNIK”
“Dnevnik” gives preference to the topic of Macedonian relations with the EU, which got
66 articles, while the relations with NATO was covered in only 8 articles.
“Dnevnik” covers all topics that are the subject of analysis of this survey. The paper has
a special section – EVRORAMA, dedicated exclusively to the European integration processes.
The section is educational in character, with lots of propaganda elements. The most commonly
used genres in “Dnevnik” are: report (informative and commentary), news and feature columns.
One characteristic of “Dnevnik” is that it uses the headlines as a function of the use of
manipulative discourse of the article, while the contents of the article itself is informative and
neutral.
Occasionally, there are articles which refer to conflicting issues that fail to present all
the sides involved in a conflict.
Regarding the key issues of the report period, “Dnevnik” holds the position of the
opposition Macedonian parties. It carries articles that allege the lack of transparency and the
internal deals and agreements of the ruling coalition partners. There is a visible tendency with
“Dnevnik” to present Ljube Boskovski as a patriot and national hero (adequately, to promote
such perception by the readers). “Dnevnik” often quotes the protagonists and rarely comments
on their statements, but through the selected statements and the way they are organized, the
paper does promote the opposition views.
Generally, “Dnevnik” maintains its professional, impartial and neutral reporting,
refraining from commenting.
“UTRINSKI VESNIK”
“Utrinski Vesnik” gives preference to the topic of “Macedonia-EU” relations, which
was present in 89 articles. The least covered topic were the Macedonian relations with NATO,
covered in 12 articles. This daily covered all the topics that are subject to analysis under this
survey.
The most common genre in “Utrinski Vesnik” is the commentary/report, but almost
equal space is given to the other genres: news, reports and experts’ and politicians’ comments.
From time to time, the paper carries articles of judgmental, suggestive and prognosticating
character, especially on conflicting issues.
The official, governmental sources are often the main source of information, as well as
the international community representatives which often are carried to support Government’s
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 19 NGO Info-center, July 2005
actions and positions. Generally speaking, the newspaper leans to the left of the political
spectrum.
The paper is very negative in its attitude towards Ljube Boskovski. The reporters often
offer their views on the protagonists of the political scene, This is common in editorial
comments.
In the majority of cases, there is consistency between the headers, headlines and leads of
the articles, and the reporters merely present the facts. Globally, “Utrinski Vesnik” is strongly
opposed to emphasising apocalyptic scenarios, which are very common in the Macedonian
media. The paper primarily presents the situations in Macedonia in their relationship with the
policies of the region carried out by the neighbours and the international community. The
articles are extensive and the paper demonstrates a tendency to educate, to provide balanced
and moderate coverage, although sometimes demonstrating the ambition to be the “single
factual presentation of the truth”.
“FAKTI”
The “Fakti” daily prefers the decentralization to which it dedicated 75 articles, and was
less interested in the dispute between SPC and MPC, which was covered with only 4 articles.
“Fakti” provides solid coverage of the topics, but the quantity is not always
accompanied by quality. Over the analyzed period, there was a noticeable tendency to pay more
attention to those topics of direct concern to the target audience of the paper (primarily the
Albanians). Therefore, the dominant coverage was dedicated to the issues of decentralization,
especially to the Law on Use of Symbols of Ethnic Communities, as well as certain aspects of
Macedonian relations with Kosovo (introduction of customs duty for Macedonian exports to
Kosovo, the demarcation of the border...) and the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, at the
expense of the coverage of the relations with the EU, the other neighbours, the name dispute or
the MPC-SPC dispute.
The everyday reporting of the paper, is dominated by the reports genre, especially on
domestic problems, as well as the news. On the issues that the paper covered only through
agency and newswire reports, the analysis couldn’t determine whether the restricted reporting is
due to the lack of reporters (foreign affairs), or the lack of interest on a given subject. On topics
of concern to the Albanian community in Macedonia, the paper regularly carries editorial
comments, which make the point of offering (or finding) other, or better, solutions than those
offered by the Government.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 20 NGO Info-center, July 2005
The articles that fall in the category of informative genres rarely contain a commentators
intervention, but in certain cases there is a combination of the informative and commentatorial
approaches, which includes the tendency to lean towards one option. Also, there are cases in
which the messages carried by the headers, headlines and leads don’t correspond fully to the
contents of the articles.
“Fakti” usually uses identified sources (in the reports from the Parliament, the
Government ministries, statements by governmental and foreign officials...), but uses
anonymous sources, in some political relations. There is the feeling that the paper uses
anonymous sources to create a certain opinion with the readers.
If the sources were named, their statements are quoted or presented correctly, with a
visible effort to leave an impression that the paper is impartial. The comments, however, as well
as a number of informative articles, offer a very negative positions (on the Government, the
Albanian party in the Government – DUI, towards Ljube Boskovski and Johan Tarculovski...)
or the inclination towards other political actors which while not direct, can be sensed. In that
sense, we should note that the criticism presented (or the positions held) by the paper are very
similar to the positions that the opposition DPA holds on a variety of social, political issues,
processes and phenomena.
The paper presents the facts in its news and reports, but the editorial comments present
the paper’s opinion of those facts. Most comments are well argued, but not always. Some
authors evidently lack the professional experience to present and maintain a consistent and well
argued position, their emotions prevail, so that in the place of constructive criticism, we have
unfounded criticizism.
Media Monitoring in Republic of Macedonia 21 NGO Info-center, July 2005
APPENDIXES
TABLE ON THE INTENSITY OF PUBLICATION OF MATERIALS IN THE REPORT PERIOD (16 MAY - 10 JULY 2005), BY MEDIA OUTLET
Media
Topic А1 Vesti Vecer
Vreme
Dnevnik
Kanal
5
MTV 1
MTV 2 on Albanian language
Sitel
Telma
Utrinski Vesnik
Fakti
Total (by
topic)
1. The name dispute
10 7
52
40
33
21
10
4
12
10
29
14
242
2. Regional relations
46
15
68
101
58
48
38
35
28
36
64
57
594
3. The Hague Tribunal
20
15
37
39
32
16
18
12
26
21
28
25
289
4.Decentralization
39
47
124
114
33
21
46
43
53
103
60
75
758
5. Judicial reforms 8
4
22
13
46
25
7
2
8
8
39
2
184
6. Relations with EU
37
13
67
53
66
41
43
35
38
25
89
34
541
7. Relations with NATO
10 1
17
9
8
8
9
13
5
8
12
17
117
8. SPC-MPC dispute
22
17
46
54
42
34
26
17
16
24
38 4
340
Total (by media)
192
119
433
423
318
214
197
161
186
235
359
228
3065