SKOPJE, 30.01.2019 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia believes that public officials, especially ministers, should refrain from statements that can be perceived as threats or labeling of the media. This way of communication will not help in the process of professionalization of the media.
AJM: We condemn Osmani’s pressure on the media
Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani, speaking about the scandal in PIOM, threatened with lawsuits against all media that linked this scandal with DUI officials. We would like to remind that one of the main roles of the media is to investigate and express doubts about all the officials, regardless of which political party they come from, and the government representatives, or in this case, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European integrations should refrain from threats of lawsuits in the spirit of the freedom of the speech, for which he declaratively advocates.
All the possible misunderstandings should be addressed through transparency and openness, and not with threats.
AJM: Ministers should refrain from statements that are perceived as labeling
In context of the statement of the Minister Robert Popovski, where he suggested that structures from the previous government are still influencing the way that TV Alfa reports, we believe that comments that politically label media are not contributing to create a better media environment and European values.
The professionalization of the media, including those who have broken or violated the professional standards in the past years, is a long process that requires complete elimination of all political influences in the media in order to standardize the ethical and moral principles of journalism, for which, all social actors, including members of the government, should be more cautious.
We appeal to the media to strive to respect the professional and ethical standards. We remind that only the self-regulatory bodies and the public can assess the professionalism of the media and the way they work and report. We encourage all citizens, and among them officials and ministers, to enable to increase the professional standards in the media through these bodies, because the violation of these standards is not in anyone’s interest, and least in the interests of the trust in the media.