Skopje, 10 May 2019 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services released today its Report on the Broadcasters’ Electoral Coverage in the period from 22 April until 3 May 2019. The Report presented the indicators of the manner of reporting of 21 media outlets, while the findings on the remaining 11 regional and local television stations that had been subject to the monitoring will be published in a separate report.
As during the entire electoral process, the reporting of the national media outlets during this time was focused on the elections of a President of the Republic, while the information on the local elections, in the areas where they appeared, were most often covered by one or two news items. The focus of the usually smaller number of information on the regional and local television stations remained on the local elections.
The media coverage of the second round of the campaign was characterized by the persistence to provide equal access to the media for the campaigning activities of both presidential candidates – Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova and Stevo Pendarovski – either individually or as representatives of the parties that had been supporting their candidacies. The reporting on the Early Local Elections, which was short, strove to observe the principle of equitability.
The tone of reporting on the campaigning activities of the presidential and mayoral candidates was generally neutral.
The public broadcaster MRT1, 24 Vest TV and the regional TVM based in Ohrid provided sign-language reporting on the electoral process for the persons with hearing impairments.
The Report on was prepared on the basis of data submitted by the broadcasters relating to the 2019 Presidential and Early Mayoral Elections.
The Report on the Broadcasters’ Electoral Coverage in the period from 22 April until 3 May 2019 is available at this link