Challenges in strengthening capacities of public broadcaster’s smaller community newsrooms addressed at OSCE-organized roundtable in Skopje
SKOPJE, 27 November 2017 – Challenges to strengthening the capacity of the Public Broadcaster’s smaller community newsrooms and the way forward were the focus of an OSCE-organized roundtable discussion that took place in Skopje today.
During the event, attended by public officials and representatives of media, United Kingdom media expert Jonathan Stoneman presented a baseline analysis commissioned by the Mission on the situation in smaller community newsrooms as well as recommendations on the way forward.
“The right of the smaller communities to media in their own language is part of their basic right to freedom of expression, and we at the OSCE Mission want to help improve their access to it,” said the Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje Jeffrey Goldstein.
"The proposed creation of a new public broadcaster channel which will air programme in the languages of the smaller non-majority communities is a challenge. However, its creation will help to provide better and objective information for all citizens, in their own language," said Minister of Information Society and Administration Damjan Mancevski, adding that the media associations and organizations should be the leading force in media reforms.
“An inter-cultural exchange and communication among the newsrooms of the public broadcaster, including those of the smaller non-majority communities, is necessary,” said Minister without portfolio in charge of communications, accountability and transparency Robert Popovski. He said that promoting the cultural and linguistic riches of all communities is key to an inclusive society. “The government has the will to start resolving key problems in the field of media, including within the public broadcaster.”
“The vision for the public broadcaster’s newsrooms in community languages is to make full use of new techniques of broadcasting, reporting and storytelling,” said Stoneman. “Making the best use of social media channels to transmit content on demand and engage the audience is key. This can be achieved with minimum financial investment, at least for the first stage.”