OSCE Mission to Skopje, FOSIM mark International Right to Know Day

SKOPJE, 25 September 2008 - The OSCE Mission to Skopje and the local foundation of the Open Society Institute, FOSIM, are marking International Right to Know Day with a conference today aimed at encouraging journalists to make more use of their rights to free access to information.

The event, organized in co-operation with the Commission for Protection of Free Access to Information, kicks off domestic efforts to review existing access to information legislation for potential improvement. The conference brings together journalists to learn more about their rights to free access to information and to share their experiences.

"Real investigative journalism is not possible without free access to information. It is journalists who most often identify what issues are important for the public to know about and what type of information they need to know about," said Sally Broughton, head of the OSCE Mission's Media Department.

Neda Korunovska, head of the law programme at FOSIM, added: "We evaluate the transparency of government not by its declaration, but rather by the incorporated principles in the legislation it proposes. Therefore, we hope that suggestions to improve the existing legislation in this area will be one result of the discussions with journalists."