Participatory Model for Public Media in Macedonia: Reviving an Idea
Participatory Model for Public Media in Macedonia: Reviving an Idea

Author(s): Igor Micevski, Snezana Trpevska
Subject(s): Politics, Media studies, Civil Society, Communication studies, Public Finances
Published by: Analitika – Centar za društvena istraživanja, sva prava pridržana
Keywords: Macedonia; media; public service broadcasting; politics; finances; civil society;
Summary/Abstract: One of the main reasons for the failed transformation of the public broadcaster in Macedonia is the political parallelism of the entire media system: the strong and durable links between the political parties and the media. The omnipresent political pressure, also applied on the public broadcaster, has changed from modest, subtle and concealed (as was the case in the 1990s) to brutal, direct and unidirectional (as has been the case since 2008). The non-transparent, insufficient and irregular financing of the PSB; the strengthened direct clientelistic ties between editors, journalists and political actors; the open threats and intimidations amounting to censorship and self-censorship, have contributed to the overall “politicization” of the PSB’s titular mission - to broadcast in the name of the public interest. Despite this diagnostic, the policy brief claims that PSB in Macedonia could have transformative potential by reinventing itself along its four core values: citizenship, universality, quality and trust. We claim that a feasible direction for its development would be a ‘Participatory Public Service Model’ (PPSM) – a model which should be based on a solid and stable connection between PSB and civil society.

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