F. Zeqiri


 

There are several types of media landscapes that exist in different parts of the world. The first type is the traditional media landscape which has been around for many years and still dominates the world of media industry in some countries. The second type is the rapid growth of digital media which consists of online news websites, social media platforms and streaming services followed by niche media landscape that focuses on targeted audiences and user-generated content.

Media landscape in North Macedonia represent a basic form of informational fundamental focused on public communication of various topics, domestic and international level via different types of media, social networks and platforms the same as in the neighbor country, Kosovo.

Media landscape consists mainly of news agencies, TV, radio stations and newspapers, news portals, telecommunications, Internet web sites etc., whose sustainability survives from different resources.

Although television is the dominant source of information, online media play an important role, especially among younger generations via Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms in comparison to older generations, whose channels of information vary into more traditional forms, such as newspapers and TV stations.

Following BBC article on media outlet, online media are increasingly taking over as a main source of news and investors are focusing more on news portals rather than broadcast media in both North Macedonia and Kosovo region, following with the statement that Facebook remains a leading social network in both countries.

Among media channels, domestic TV stations (61%) and social media (58%) are the most prevalent sources of information. Internet portals experienced a notable change compared to last year in North Macedonia.  Namely, last year, 37% of citizens used internet portals for information, while this year, that percentage increased to a remarkable 51%[1].

Kosovo’s internet penetration rate stood at 96.6% of the total population at the start of 2023.[2]

 

Tab.1 Mass Media in North Macedonia and Kosovo, regarding news agencies, TV channels, radio, telecommunications, newspapers, cable networks as of Wikipedia.

 

Tab.2. Some of the most important news portals in North Macedonia and Kosovo.

 

Balkan countries such as North Macedonia and Kosovo suffer fragile democracies and underdeveloped strategies regarding issues such as press freedom, cybersecurity and corrupted juridical procedures that directly reflect censorship, hate speech, ethnic-based divisions and disinformation, combined with low professional standards, that contribute to the overall decline of public trust in the media. Unfortunately, substantial investments by anti-democratic actors continued to strengthen the influence of disinformation, along with conspiracy theories and various forms of propaganda and political manipulation.

The overall environment remains favorable for citizens to get informed about latest news but government agencies are not very transparent and critical journalism is increasingly subject to attack. Due to strong political polarization, the media can come under pressure from the authorities, politicians and businessmen at both the national and local level.

There have been eminent cases in the history of media in North Macedonia when it comes to freedom of speech that have disrupted the development of journalism that prove the lack of professionalism in this country, such as the moment of shutdown of privately owned commercial TV station – A1, targeted by the authorities with the ostensible reason of financial debt, rather than as a threat to status quo and promoting European values against governmental figures’ political actions and intentions.

Same tales occur in Kosovo, in a rather indirect way of foreign influences through Serbian tabloids of Russian dominance in the Balkans, that also penetrate North Macedonia’s medium as well as the the long known conflict among Serbian occupational propaganda and Kosovo resistance, using media as a tool to enforce these conflicts with no resolution on tangible population evoking emotions of fear and a state of puzzlement.

Although media literacy is generally low in these countries, it’s easy to notice the presence of fake news, fabricated stories and distorted facts in this area that play a crucial role in polarization and confusion in the population.

Citizens believe that disinformation is primarily disseminated by political actors and journalists, followed by non-governmental organizations and businesses. Such tendency from a psychological viewpoint stems from poor and inefficient styles of leadership from those on critical moments of decision-making positions, authoritative approach and being unable to respond to social changes and the imperatives of this digital era we are living. Lots needs to be done to scrutinize the phenomenon from a deeper holistic nuisance and “flush out toxins” from the system as we are merely scratching the superficial level of a root issue that the whole globe faces nowadays? Is this a by-product of globalization? Or has it been present since the dawn of our times?

Solutions:
1. Strengthen media capacity
2. Encouraging cooperation
3. Creating national strategies
4. Law enforcement
5. Educational campaigns for media literacy
6. Ensuring transparency from professional media agents

 

References:

Wikipedia

Metamorphosis.mk

Meta.mk

Faktor.mk

BBC.com

[1] https://metamorphosis.org.mk/en/programi/media-for-democracy/

[2] https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-kosovo

 

Image by kconcha from Pixabay