he “Institute for Communication Studies” from Skopje published policy brief about the public policy which assesses the situation within the media sector in Macedonia in line with the recommendations put forward by the Group of Senior Experts led by Mr. Reinhard Priebe (ex. EU Commission Direktor). The brief contains precise evidences whose conclusion is that Macedonia did not provide elementary conditions for fair and democratic elections in April, 2016.

One of the most important reasons for this is that the public sector in Macedonia is not free public sphere. The electorate cannot freely form an opinion, because almost a decade is exposed to antagonized and biased reporting that on a cumulative way cultivates the public opinion in favor of VMRO DPMNE.

In order to enable voter to make a free and informed decision, the policy brief recommends that it is necessary to make urgent media reforms and to ensure their implementation. After their implementation, as it is recommended in the brief, time must be provided for evaluation whether freedom of public opinion is provided and whether there are conditions for free and democratic elections.

More about the Policy brief: link