Skopje, 16 March 2025 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services expresses deepest regret for the tragedy that took place in a Kochani disco club.
As this is a tragedy of big proportions involving human victims, the Agency calls on the media to be particularly careful in their reporting in order to maintain respect for the dignity of the victims and not cause additional pain to their families. For these reasons, the information that they will publish must be accurate and verified, and if they cannot be confirmed or are only assumptions, this should be stated clearly.
Media must take care of the balance between the public’s right to be informed and the personal pain and grief with utmost responsibility, and avoid publishing explicit scenes/photographs/videos of the incident, i.e. should strictly respect professional and ethical standards. When publishing sensitive content, the same should be labelled with an appropriate visual and/or acoustic warning. At the same time, the media should adjust their overall programmes/announcements and air/publish content appropriate to such circumstances.