MEDIA IN MULTINATIONAL MACEDONIA

AIM, Skoplje, September 30, 1996

The role of media in multinational societies is a subject widely discussed at seminars and workshops which are lately held almost every weekend in Macedonia. And while journalists debate on their role and ways of breaking free from the schemes of the everyday politics imposed by the local political surrounding, the political establishment has long ago "redistributed" its power and it is precisely known which information "district" belongs to whom.

The ruling SDSM (Social-Democratic Party of Macedonia) has successfully taken under its wing the two monopolistic information houses - MRTV (Macedonian Radio and Television) and "Nova Makedonija" (New Macedonia) - by relieving of duty all the disobedient and "unsuitable" directors and editors. They do not even hide their intention to leave nothing to chance at the local elections, at least as far as information is concerned. While media in the Macedonian language are under the full control of the SDSM, those in the Albanian are controlled by their ruling partner

• the PDP, currently the most influential party of the Albanians of Macedonia.

If the impartial informing of the public represents one of the basic characteristics of democratic societies, then when it comes to the media and professional journalism in Macedonia they are at the same stage as the democracy - the embryonic. And that information in multinational countries such as Macedonia is of paramount importance is confirmed by the past and present events in the Balkan region where journalists stood side by side with those who gave a national stamp even to the truth. But, hardly anyone in Macedonia worries about that.

The strangest thing is that it seems that representatives of the fourth estate are not concerned over the fact that the local information space has long ago been divided not only along the "political" but also the "national" lines. It seems that the local journalists are incapable of breaking free from the control of the political and national potentates mostly because it suits them to lie in the "bed of journalism" and dream of a "political and national cover". That is why they cannot free themselves from the until-yesterday "socio-political" workers who are there to carry out a precisely defined role, rather than defend the profession.

In Macedonia it is mostly known who "has the right" to tell the truth and who to reduce it to a role of a "servant" which is in the service of the political games of the day. "Nova Makedonija" and the Macedonian Radio and Television are two dominant information houses which have a monopoly in this field. There are three dailies (the "Nova Makedonija" and the "Vecer" (Evening) in the Macedonian language and "Flaka e vlazerimit" in the Albanian) within the Newspaper and Publishing House (NIP) "Nova Makedonija", one political weekly magazine ("Plus") and a number of other weeklies which cover different fields.

Small circulation of almost all publications of this house is not a result of just a limited language space, but also of the fact that the readers are fed up with the controlled information. That the publications of this house are a mouthpiece of power-holders is best confirmed by the latest events in the daily Nova Makedonija" when the Director relieved of duty all the "disobedient" editors. These replacements occurred after the reconstruction of the Macedonian cabinet, which meant that the "reconstruction" of disobedient journalists was also required, particularly of those who were lately critical of the authorities. All this was possible because under the present conditions the local journalists are torn between the desire to professionally carry out their duty and the impossibility to do that in papers which are under the absolute control of the authorities.

The daily "Dnevnik", which started coming out a few months ago, is still searching its readership. And the readers are searching for the truth whether the "Dnevnik" is really what it claims to be - independent - or as some local circles present it - a daily which should "act a part" of an opposition paper.

When it comes to the press, only the weekly "Fokus" can boast of its independent editorial policy and objective informing. This is also evidenced by a large circulation measured by local standards: over 10 thousand sold copies.

Nikola Mladenov, editor-in-chief of "Fokus" (who is also the owner of this weekly), as an experienced journalist took advantage of the space left behind the local controlled media and treats subjects which the "regime" press does not dare write about so as not to annoy those who keep it alive by financing it despite its small circulation. "Fokus" also showed that the "uncontrolled" truth is acceptable for all irrespective of their national affiliation. It is claimed that "Fokus" is more widely read among the Albanians than their "own" "Flaka e vlazerimit", also financed and controlled by the authorities. Quantitatively speaking, compared to printed journalism, electronic media have made a real boom in Macedonia.

Over 100 private radio stations and about 50 TV stations are the result of the first years of pluralism in Macedonia. Their impressive number could not in the least "irritate" the state media dinosaur called the Macedonian Radio and Television (MRTV). As the national information house the MRTV programme includes shows in the languages of nations and nationalities living in Macedonia. In comparison to "Nova Makedonija" this house made both quantitative and qualitative moves forward despite a visible influence of the local political potentates.

How harmful party affiliations of the leading people in the media can be was best seen during recent events in this house when Melpomeni Korneti, the MRTV Director, was relieved of duty just for belonging to a party which is no longer in power - the Liberal Party. A "suitable" Slobodan Trajkovski is now at the head of this house. Out of numerous private radio station, the following stand out with their quality: "Kanal-77" in Stip, radio "Libertas" and radio "Toska" in Skoplje, radio "Super" in Ohrid, radios "Bleta" and "Fama" in Tetovo and some other.

In contrast to radio stations the quantity of which produces better quality, private TV stations occupying the information space could be counted on the fingers of one hand. These are TV "Tera" in Bitolj, TV "Era" and TV "Sitel" in Skoplje and TV "Art" in Tetovo. Once praised and generously financed by the "Soros Foundation", TV "A1" has long ago become a mouthpiece of the party in power - the Social-Democrats.

Such a situation in the Macedonian media makes it impossible to hear the voice of the opposition parties. This directly influences the one-sided information of the public. When national "division" of the information space is added to this, then the claim of some analysts that the local journalist are expected only to "faithfully" serve their camp, either the political or national, can be considered quite true. In the national sense, the loudest are the "truths" of two most numerous national collectives - the Macedonians and the Albanians.

Thus when it comes to inter-ethnic relations, there are at least two truths on one and the same event; a Macedonian and an Albanian one. This applies even to the media which are under the same roof, such as "Nova Makedonija" and the MRTV.

But, this "brotherly" division does not rule out the claim that the local media are under the control of the authorities, because while those media in the Macedonian language are controlled by the ruling Social-Democratic Party, the Albanian ones are left in the hands of its coalition partner - Party of Democratic Prosperity. This corroborates the long proven principle that it is not hard for those who have the power to agree on dividing the control over the media. It also confirms the fact that an increasing number of journalists in Macedonia play a role of "social-political workers" who, same as they did yesterday, faithfully "serve the people and the party", and less their profession.

By: Ibrahim MEHMETI