Macedonia Denies Restricting Media Freedom

The Ministry of Transport and Communications, which is preparing the new draft, has rebuffed allegations from A1 TV that the law will allow the government to arbitrarily discipline electronic media that it considers biased.

Macedonia's most popular TV station, A1, said on Sunday that it has a copy of the latest draft version of Macedonia's Broadcasting Law that is in preparation.

The TV cited parts of the alleged draft that demands news bulletins portray events “accurately” and “professionally”, without specifying what this means.

In response, government officials said on Monday that A1 had misinterpreted the draft and that the principles of "accuracy" and "professionalism" were already part of the existing law.
 
A1 has also complained about government plans to increase fines for media as part of the bill, arguing that this would give the Broadcasting Council, a regulatory body elected by the parliament, greater jurisdiction in punishing media.

The TV fears the changes may entitle the government and not the parliament to directly elect the Broadcasting Council members.

Roberto Belicanec, a media expert from the Skopje-based NGO Media Development Center, said that if the allegations made by A1 are true, “the new law would be a step backwards from the previous one in terms of providing media freedom”.

“The terms 'accurate' and 'professional' are too vague and may lead to provisional judgments and greater government intrusion into media editorial policy, especially if the government starts electing members of the broadcasting council,” he told Balkan Insight.

The Ministry defended the draft bill on Monday, explaining that “the preparation of the text of the law is completely transparent and all media in the country were contacted in December 2010 about the draft law and asked to participate”.

Ministry representatives said that after the bill is completed, they will send the draft law to the European Union institutions to ask for their opinion.

The Transport Ministry says the law, when passed will “improve pluralism in the media”.

The government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been under constant pressure lately over media freedom in Macedonia.

Two weeks ago, A1 TV, whose owner is in detention for alleged financial crime, started broadcasting live in front of the government building in protest at the freezing of their account.

The TV accuses Gruevski of ordering the court to block the account, allegations which Gruevski has denied.

The controversy over A1 led most opposition groups to begin a boycott of parliament.  

The EU and US high ranking officials expressed concerns over the latest developments in Macedonia. They highlighted the importance of renewed political dialogue and of preserving the freedom of the media.