Media in Macedonia: not for the public?

se times
22/09/2011

Journalists in Macedonia are facing tough times ahead due to the shuttering of A1TV last year, and the implications that has had.
By Goran Trajkov for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 22/09/11
The Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM) is a non-profit organisation that promotes excellence in media and public communication. Its main purpose is to provide training for journalists.

Since its establishment in 2001, MIM has organised over 100 training sessions, workshops, seminars and conferences -- hosting more than 1,000 domestic and foreign media professionals, and has sent many Macedonian journalists to similar training sessions and conferences outside the country....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/09/22/feature-02

Macedonian Media Law Changes Worry Watchdogs

balkan insight
20 JUL 2011 / 10:25

Macedonian journalists' associations and the European Commission react with concern to amendments to the broadcasting law, adopted on Monday.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic Skopje
Macedonia's ruling party pushed through amendments to the country's media laws on Monday, cutting the size of the Broadcasting Council from 15 to 9 members....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-passes-controversial-broadcasting-law

Press vehicles torched in Montenegro

xinhua news

English.news.cn 2011-07-15 05:20:22

BELGRADE, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Two press vehicles owned by the Podgorica daily Vijesti were set ablaze and completely destroyed in the early hours on Thursday morning, the Montenegrin newspaper said.

The torching occurred just across the street from Montenegro's National Security Agency. Residents in the neighborhood reported being awakened by two loud shots....more...

read more: xinhua news

 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/15/c_13985925.htm

Cars of Montenegro's Vijesti Set on Fire

balkan insight
15 JUL 2011 / 12:12

In the latest attack on the independent Montenegrin daily newspaper, two of its vehicles were set on fire in Podgorica on Thursday.

Bojana Barlovac

Vijesti said unknown persons had poured gas on vehicles owned by the newspaper and then set them on fire.

The cars, bearing the Vijesti logo, had been parked across from the headquarters of the Montenegrin intelligence agency....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/vehicles-of-montenegrin-daily-vijesti-set-on-fire

SEEMO Says Macedonia Stifles Press Freedom

balkan insight
13 JUL 2011 / 12:54

Independent media voices in Macedonia are being silenced, warns the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation, SEEMO.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic Skopje

In a statement released on Tuesday, SEEMO charges the centre-right government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with deliberately targeting critically oriented media....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/seemo-worried-about-macedonian-press-freedom

Macedonia press freedom threat

guardian
Posted by

Roy Greenslade Wednesday 13 July 2011 11.50 BST
guardian.co.uk
Three daily newspapers in Macedonia - Shpic, Vreme and Koha e Re - have been forced to close down after falling into debt.

But the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) believes they are victims of a government policy to reduce media outlets critical of prime minister Nikola Gruevski....more....
read more: guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/jul/13/press-freedom-macedonia

Pro-Gruevski Media Hail Closure of Macedonian Rivals

balkan insight
08 JUL 2011 / 16:31

Two pro-government media outlets have publicly urged the authorities not to forgive the outstanding tax debts of pro-opposition rivals owned by detained tycoon Velija Ramkovski.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic Skopje

Macedonia's privately run Sitel TV and a daily newspaper, Vecer, have urged the authorities not to forgive the 10 million euro tax debt of detained media mogul Velija Ramkovski....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonian-media-turn-against-each-other

Macedonia Pulls Plug on Opposition Media

balkan insight
07 JUL 2011 / 13:01

Closure of critically oriented outlets leaves Nikola Gruevski's government without its biggest media critics.

Sase Dimovski

Macedonian media that hold critical views of the centre-right government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski are fast closing, or are under serious threat of closure.

In what some are calling a “Black Friday for Macedonian journalism”, three pro-opposition newspapers Shpic, Vreme, and Koha e Re, owned by detained media tycoon Velija Ramkovski, have all closed at once, ostensibly as a result of their failure to repay back taxes now demanded by the authorities. ...more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-pulls-plug-on-opposition-media

OSCE: Macedonia Opposition Press "Practically Eliminated"

balkan insight
05 JUL 2011 / 14:30

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, has warned that lastweek’s closure of three pro-opposition newspapers for alleged unpaid taxes has virtually eliminated criticism of government from the press.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic Skopje
The OSCE suspects that media which has been critical of the government has been specifically targeted by the authorities, and urged them to ensure media pluralism and transparent investigations. ...more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/osce-concerned-about-pluralism-in-macedonia

Sackings and Media Closures Alarm Macedonian Journalists

balkan insight
04 JUL 2011 / 14:14

Hundreds of Macedonian journalists protested in Skopje on Monday after several media organisations which are critical of the government closed over the weekend and others announced possible closure and layoffs.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic Skopje

The protest march, organised by the Journalist's Union, was held at five minutes to noon, indicating that free media was seriously under threat in Macedonia....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/lay-offs-spark-duscontent-among-macedonian-journalists

NGOs Welcome Montenegro's Decriminalisation of Libel

balkan insight
27 JUN 2011 / 07:33

Decision, taken in line with European advice, should improve freedom of expression and reduce workload on judiciary.

Podgorica Pobjeda, Dan
After months of debate, Montenegro's parliament has deleted libel as a criminal act. The government had previously noted that decriminalisation of libel was one of the European Union's recommendations as a means to improve media freedom. ...more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ngo-applauded-parliament-decision-to-decriminalise-libel

Kosovo: NGOs Condemn Attack on Journalist

balkan insight
08 Jun 2011 / 15:35

Civil society groups have condemned an attack against a journalist in Mitrovica north, and Kosovo police say they have identified the suspect and are investigating.

Petrit Collaku

Pristina

Zeljko Tvrdisic, 33, editor of Radio Kontakt in Mitrovica north, reported the case to police around 4pm on Tuesday.
Tvrdisic told Balkan Insight that he was attacked because of his reports on the removal of illegal kiosks in town. According to Tvrdisic, the suspect owned several illegal kiosks in Mitrovica, an ethnically divided town in the north of Kosovo....more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-civil-societies-condemn-the-attack-on-journalist

Lawsuits, politics test media freedom in Turkey

se times
25/05/2011

Journalists of all political stripes face policies that restrict reporting. Meanwhile, the profession remains highly polarized.
By Ozgur Ogret for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 25/05/11
The nine year rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the ongoing Ergenekon and Balyoz (Sledgehammer) trials have divided the country into two camps -- one arguing Turkey is undergoing a democratic transformation and the other maintaining the country is sliding towards dictatorship. ....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/25/feature-02

Situation of Media in Montenegro 'Very Difficult'

balkan insight
25 May 2011 / 14:10

The international media organisation Reporters Without Borders has described the situation of the media in Montenegro as "very difficult".
Beta

The organisation's director for the EU and the Balkans, Olivier Basille, said that the economic and legal environment in Montenegro does not give media outlets the chance to fulfill their role of independent observers. ...more...

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/situation-of-media-in-montenegro-very-difficult

read more: balkan insight

Internet controls meet opposition in Turkey

se times
17/05/2011

Does a planned filtering system amount to censorship? Protestors say yes.
By Ozgur Ogret for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 17/05/11
Concerned about the the planned introduction of internet filtering systems in Turkey, several thousand people took to the streets in 25 cities Sunday (May 15th) to protest the system.

read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/17/feature-02

South Serbia Journalist 'Attacked'

balkan insight
16 May 2011 / 12:22

Nexhat Behljulji, owner of Radio Television Spectra in the southern Serbian town of Bujanovac, was reportedly physically attacked on Friday night at a local restaurant.
Nikola Lazic

Bujanovac
The media outlet, which broadcasts in the Albanian language and is one of the most popular stations in the south, says the attack came after a comment was published two days earlier, entitled "No end to the scandals in Bujanovac municipal leadership. "...more...

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/south-serbia-journalist-attacked

read more: balkan insight

Legal changes, better protection for journalists urged

b92.net
Society

Friday 13.05.2011
11:16
Source: SEEMO

VIENNA -- The South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) reacted to the recent veridict in the case against the attackers on B92 cameraman Boško Branković.
The Vienna-based organization, an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), said in a statement it was disappointed with the court's decision to sentence to only ten months house arrest a person who broke Branković's his leg, injuring his shoulder and destroying his camera. ...more...
read more: b92.net
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=13&nav_id=74313

Bloggers: press in Turkey under attack?

se times
13/05/2011

The arrest of journalists, including two high-profile reporters, exacerbates worries over press freedom.
By Alina Lehtinen for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 13/05/11
Friends and supporters of free press in Turkey marked UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd, but had little to celebrate.
The extent to which Turkey has a free media has long been a sensitive subject. It became even more so after the government detained another group of journalists in March -- among them award-winning reporters Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener. ...more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/blogreview/2011/05/13/blog-02

Freedom House: Kosovo media "partially free"

se times
09/05/2011

An international watchdog sounds the alarm over the government's violation of press freedom.
By Muharrem Nitaj for the Southeast European Times in Pristina – 09/05/11
According to a recently released "Freedom of the Press 2011" survey published by the US-based watchdog Freedom House, Kosovo ranks 104th out of 196 countries in press freedom, qualifying it as only "partially free". ...more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/09/feature-03

Experts 'Speak Up' on Media Freedom in Brussels

balkan insight
06 May 2011 / 14:52

The European Commission has gathered over 600 media experts from all over Europe to discuss media freedom in the Western Balkans and Turkey at an international conference entitled "Speak Up!"
Bojana Barlovac

Belgrade ...more...

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/media-experts-speak-up-on-media-freedom-in-brussels

read more: balkan insight