mediumsko ogledalo maj-juli 2005english- proof readed · media monitoring in republic of macedonia...

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


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).


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


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.


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


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.


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.


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).


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


“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.


“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.


“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


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.


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.


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

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