Project title: Local media as a channel for enhancing interethnic relations
Objectives and results of the action: This project was in line with EU recommendations for the needs of strengthening the professional standards in journalism in Macedonia. The TV items produced and presented during the project implementation (15 in total) have increased the level of professional reporting of the journalists from local media and promoted the “good spirit” of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA).
The benefits of the OFA for the local self-government development started to be felt more specifically after 2005, when there was a more decisive approach to the decentralization process. These benefits were part of the TV items as good examples of decision making processes. Moreover, in the process of preparing the TV items the journalists included various resources of information – academia, municipal representatives, civil society organizations, ombudsman etc.
Moreover, this project has promoted other benefits of the OFA, such as the right to use the national languages in front of national and local institutions and has promoted the rights of the other “smaller” ethnic communities such as Turk, Roma, Serbs etc to be equally represented in the institutions. The principles of antidiscrimination and human rights were widely promoted throughout project implementation in particular during the training activities for the journalists and preparation and production of the TV items.
This project have contributed towards the establishment of links of communication between the various stakeholders at local level – media, civil society, local self-governments in tackling the inter-ethnic relations and introduction of new activities beyond this project.
Location of the action: Gostivar, Kicevo and Struga
Period of implementation: 01.02 2012 –30.04.2013
Donors to the action: National Endowment for Democracy (NED)