The next meeting I had was with the Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM). I interviewed the someone high up on the ladder and someone who focused more on the NGO side. All comments here when stated by “they” refer to something either one of them or both of them said.
They are a NGO/foundation that has existed for 10 years (2001) and are supported by the 90 most relevant media outlets around the country. They provide capacities that serve all media and journalistic outlets in MK. They provide education for media professionals (where no other organizations provide this service). They also analyze the content of the media, especially during the elections. Often they will complete topical evaluations such as on community laws, online media, etc. They offer conferences both seminal and topical.
They want to create a public discourse about the media in MK. The media scene is facing problems with freedom of the press and freedom of association. They want to create an association of journalists and a union of journalists, but they face many legal problems in this course of action. They are currently organizing an event with the most relevant individuals who will be gathered to improve the media situation.
MIM works closely with the civil society sector in MK and contributes in areas where the media has impact. They help build the capacity in the civil society sector by educating the media contacts of relevant organizations so that they can have a bigger impact when they reach out to the media. MIM also wants to increase the position of civil society in MK, and to do so are working on a 5 year program. They want to help strengthen the civil society with 4 partners (Institute for Sustainable partnership, EU non Profit Law, and Center for Intercultural Dialog). As part of the project there will be re-granting opportunities to local NGOs that are smaller to give them more concrete action in the field.
There are 20-25 NGOs with greater capacities as leader NGOs, they do strategic work in developing policy papers, helping with development of the nations laws, helping improve NGOs. there are laws on volunteerism, donations, and sponsorship. These are not great, but they are good for the first time they actually had a set of laws about volunteering. MIM specifically has helped the Roma NGOs. They specifically try to strengthen their capacities by giving the basic public relations training, how to effectively use the internet, and develop communication plans and strategy. They would help within these new projects but then continue after the projects were completed.
There is cooperation between the state and NGOs who have worked with transparency and accountability to media. The new law is on State Accountability and Free Access to Public Information. Specifically, MIM gives
When they train government officials, they made sure to clarify to me that they do not train them for “spin” but how to be responsible when talking to the press and the public in order to give them the most information. They currently have a pool of 20 trainers for any topic.
MIM has also created a diploma program on media, their School of Journalism and Public Relations, where you can get a BA degree. About 90% of their graduates are working in the media field, one is even a editor-in-chief. They are currently trying to establish a post graduate program with help from UNESCO, but it is still in the works.
They make productions and documentaries for public outreach programs. They produce weekly interviews on Radio Free Europe, highlighting the interesting news of the week. And they are able to get the highest or most relevant person due to the interest of the program. They also preforming public outreach programs (usually as part of the re-grants they receive). The most recent re-granting program they have is with NGOs and media providers. Most NGOs choose to publicize their organization but they are supposed to be result oriented joint with a media outlet. That way, if no one else will publicize their documentary or findings, at least that one media organization will. This produced about 150 documentaries, as well as stories, inserts and videos. Then they created a Civil Society Video Fest, they have only had one year so far, but they received no other funding to continue the program and thus they had to shut down the program. Some non-profits helped with the film fest,
When asked if it was easy or difficult to meet with government officials, they responded that it was a bit easier because they have managed to keep an image of a neutral and fair organization. They are also seen as being professional based on science not politics. Many others want to work with them so it is easier to work with the government. Most times state institutions come to them for help. However, they “don’t really want to work with the state” because it isn’t their main focus.
They have had bad relations in the past, such as lobby issuing a paper on changing laws on broadcasting overnight because they weren’t happy with the content and speed. The government took no help or information, and since they have a majority. In September, they came and asked to sit and talk on how to overcome the problems. They had a meeting to form an action plan with priorities to overcome their problems. Currently, they are working together to finalize the report on media in MK. There is a lot of opposition to bring them together to one table (they often refuse to talk to each other).
MK society is polarized politically with different parties who are supposed to make reforms. These reforms are not happening- instead they are focusing on the “bizarre dispute” with Greece over their name. After the most recent EU progress report,the government struck back. They (the government) claimed that reality is different on the ground than what the EU sees. The government prefers to rely more on the US rather than the EU- the government (and possibly the people’s) trust is gone in the EU. The government feels that the EU is not contributing to solving the problem, but rather increasing the pressure on MK to solve the problems.
The NGO sector is affected by political parties, such as the Soros Foundation funding and other funding options. MIM is funded by USAID and the Danish School of Journalism. Yet they also make some money from the school they run. The NGO sector is affected by the NGOGO, which appear usually right before the elections. Many of the NGOGOs have no experience being an NGO or participating in the civil society constructively.
Most NGOs are not grassroots organizations, but can come together in times of trouble. The public perception of NGOs (which is nourished by the government) is that they are mainly money laundering machines, or spies of international organizations. Most people in MK have a lower lever of education, so they are “easier to manipulate” and draw into the conspiracy theory. In addition, the channels of communication are controlled by the government and the media, there is often just a way to use the media as a way to promote the government.
There is, MIM claims, an nonconstructive environment for change. It is difficult to get people to even start to talk, they seem stuck behind the lines. They hope to change this in the future and at least get people to talk with each other. If they see that debate is normal the people will be more likely to talk with each other. Since there are no debates for any elections, and essentially no constructive communication MK politics and life lacks a critical discourse.
Most often laws and the media are used solely as propaganda tools by the government. Such as the recent case of the A1 television station. They were charged with tax evasion, and while no one claims that they did not evade on their taxes, so did everyone else, but only the opposition station was shut down. Most members of parliament own TV stations, allowing the stations to act as a mouthpiece of the government. There are now 3 main national broadcasters.
MIM hopes to change this by training NGOs understand the transparency laws and hope that will help to combat the perceptions as they talk with journalists. MIM likes to train NGOs to know who writes about their subjects in the news, so that they can directly reach out to their contacts in the media to get their stories out rather than a general newscaster.
They are a NGO/foundation that has existed for 10 years (2001) and are supported by the 90 most relevant media outlets around the country. They provide capacities that serve all media and journalistic outlets in MK. They provide education for media professionals (where no other organizations provide this service). They also analyze the content of the media, especially during the elections. Often they will complete topical evaluations such as on community laws, online media, etc. They offer conferences both seminal and topical.
They want to create a public discourse about the media in MK. The media scene is facing problems with freedom of the press and freedom of association. They want to create an association of journalists and a union of journalists, but they face many legal problems in this course of action. They are currently organizing an event with the most relevant individuals who will be gathered to improve the media situation.
MIM works closely with the civil society sector in MK and contributes in areas where the media has impact. They help build the capacity in the civil society sector by educating the media contacts of relevant organizations so that they can have a bigger impact when they reach out to the media. MIM also wants to increase the position of civil society in MK, and to do so are working on a 5 year program. They want to help strengthen the civil society with 4 partners (Institute for Sustainable partnership, EU non Profit Law, and Center for Intercultural Dialog). As part of the project there will be re-granting opportunities to local NGOs that are smaller to give them more concrete action in the field.
There are 20-25 NGOs with greater capacities as leader NGOs, they do strategic work in developing policy papers, helping with development of the nations laws, helping improve NGOs. there are laws on volunteerism, donations, and sponsorship. These are not great, but they are good for the first time they actually had a set of laws about volunteering. MIM specifically has helped the Roma NGOs. They specifically try to strengthen their capacities by giving the basic public relations training, how to effectively use the internet, and develop communication plans and strategy. They would help within these new projects but then continue after the projects were completed.
There is cooperation between the state and NGOs who have worked with transparency and accountability to media. The new law is on State Accountability and Free Access to Public Information. Specifically, MIM gives
- training to the responsible people in government agencies to give them information on how to give the public information.
- handbooks to the government so they can be more independent, well trained, and able to understand the law and what their (government agencies) responsibility is.
- handbooks for journalists and how they can get the info allowed to them by the law.
When they train government officials, they made sure to clarify to me that they do not train them for “spin” but how to be responsible when talking to the press and the public in order to give them the most information. They currently have a pool of 20 trainers for any topic.
MIM has also created a diploma program on media, their School of Journalism and Public Relations, where you can get a BA degree. About 90% of their graduates are working in the media field, one is even a editor-in-chief. They are currently trying to establish a post graduate program with help from UNESCO, but it is still in the works.
They make productions and documentaries for public outreach programs. They produce weekly interviews on Radio Free Europe, highlighting the interesting news of the week. And they are able to get the highest or most relevant person due to the interest of the program. They also preforming public outreach programs (usually as part of the re-grants they receive). The most recent re-granting program they have is with NGOs and media providers. Most NGOs choose to publicize their organization but they are supposed to be result oriented joint with a media outlet. That way, if no one else will publicize their documentary or findings, at least that one media organization will. This produced about 150 documentaries, as well as stories, inserts and videos. Then they created a Civil Society Video Fest, they have only had one year so far, but they received no other funding to continue the program and thus they had to shut down the program. Some non-profits helped with the film fest,
When asked if it was easy or difficult to meet with government officials, they responded that it was a bit easier because they have managed to keep an image of a neutral and fair organization. They are also seen as being professional based on science not politics. Many others want to work with them so it is easier to work with the government. Most times state institutions come to them for help. However, they “don’t really want to work with the state” because it isn’t their main focus.
They have had bad relations in the past, such as lobby issuing a paper on changing laws on broadcasting overnight because they weren’t happy with the content and speed. The government took no help or information, and since they have a majority. In September, they came and asked to sit and talk on how to overcome the problems. They had a meeting to form an action plan with priorities to overcome their problems. Currently, they are working together to finalize the report on media in MK. There is a lot of opposition to bring them together to one table (they often refuse to talk to each other).
MK society is polarized politically with different parties who are supposed to make reforms. These reforms are not happening- instead they are focusing on the “bizarre dispute” with Greece over their name. After the most recent EU progress report,the government struck back. They (the government) claimed that reality is different on the ground than what the EU sees. The government prefers to rely more on the US rather than the EU- the government (and possibly the people’s) trust is gone in the EU. The government feels that the EU is not contributing to solving the problem, but rather increasing the pressure on MK to solve the problems.
The NGO sector is affected by political parties, such as the Soros Foundation funding and other funding options. MIM is funded by USAID and the Danish School of Journalism. Yet they also make some money from the school they run. The NGO sector is affected by the NGOGO, which appear usually right before the elections. Many of the NGOGOs have no experience being an NGO or participating in the civil society constructively.
Most NGOs are not grassroots organizations, but can come together in times of trouble. The public perception of NGOs (which is nourished by the government) is that they are mainly money laundering machines, or spies of international organizations. Most people in MK have a lower lever of education, so they are “easier to manipulate” and draw into the conspiracy theory. In addition, the channels of communication are controlled by the government and the media, there is often just a way to use the media as a way to promote the government.
There is, MIM claims, an nonconstructive environment for change. It is difficult to get people to even start to talk, they seem stuck behind the lines. They hope to change this in the future and at least get people to talk with each other. If they see that debate is normal the people will be more likely to talk with each other. Since there are no debates for any elections, and essentially no constructive communication MK politics and life lacks a critical discourse.
Most often laws and the media are used solely as propaganda tools by the government. Such as the recent case of the A1 television station. They were charged with tax evasion, and while no one claims that they did not evade on their taxes, so did everyone else, but only the opposition station was shut down. Most members of parliament own TV stations, allowing the stations to act as a mouthpiece of the government. There are now 3 main national broadcasters.
MIM hopes to change this by training NGOs understand the transparency laws and hope that will help to combat the perceptions as they talk with journalists. MIM likes to train NGOs to know who writes about their subjects in the news, so that they can directly reach out to their contacts in the media to get their stories out rather than a general newscaster.
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