JOURNALIST’S ALARM – JOURNALISM IS STILL DEVALUATED

Author: Mirjana Vasileva Journalist Hristo Ivanovski believes that, despite the modern trends, there are still media outlets that are close to the government and the opposition. “As long as the media is influenced by different centers of power, there will be no professional journalism. The media is constantly targeting journalists to write commissioned texts or just read it, even though they themselves often do not know what the background...

RESEARCH: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MEDIA CLIENTELISM?

Author: Mirjana Vasileva For the needs of this story we conducted a survey with 30 journalists from print and electronic media in the country, which was conducted between November 20 and December 20, 2019. According to the results of the survey, clientelist practices and corruption in the media existed during the previous and during the present government also. Most journalists responded affirmatively to the question of whether there were...

UNINFORMED MEDIA SPACE, CHANGED WAYS OF CONTROL AND IMPACT

Author: Mirjana Vasileva Twelve printed editions this year got lucky for covering state-run printing costs from last year. That year, the number of printed media received government subsidies was down by one, with a total of 11 print publications receiving state aid. However, that amount was about 700,000 euros. Although the government, along with representatives of some of the media community, justified the distributions as being maximally transparent and...

Nepotism: Authorities change, “the relatives” remain

Managers in public institutions often (mis) use the Article 21 of the Labor Relations Act, which allows for maneuvering on jobs decisions, anti-corruption officials have found. Autor: Ruzica Fotinovska The distant 2003. The decision to hire the wife of the then director of the Health Insurance Fund, Rubinco Zarevski, was annulled on the recommendation of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption. This is the epilogue to the first...

Municipalities have spent millions of Euros on representation, Strumica a record holder

  Authors: Angela Rajchevska and Bjanka Stankovikj Despite the public commitments to rational budget management, in reality most municipalities continue to spend carelessly when it comes to public money. The SCOOP research within the PEP project shows that 64 municipalities from the Republic of North Macedonia spent a total of 2,220,634 Euros for the last three years. On average, during this time period each municipality spent about 34,000 Euros,...

THE TEN RICHEST MAYORS “WEIGH” 30 MILLION EUROS

Authors: Angela Rajchevska and Bjanka Stankovic The ten richest mayors in the Republic of North Macedonia weigh about 30 million Euros. One of them is from VMRO-DPMNE, first on the list, while six gravitate or are members of the SDSM. Of the three mayors of the Alliance for Albanians party, all three are on the list of the top 10 richest mayors. First on the list is the mayor...

TWELVE “MOST PRIVILEGED” MPS: THE STATE PAYS THEM FOR BOTH RENT AND TRAVEL EXPENSES

Authors: Angela Rajchevska and Bjanka Stankovic Although belonging to opposing political camps, SDSM MP Aleksandar Kiracovski and VMRO-DPMNE MP Ilija Dimovski share a privilege given to them as MPs: they both use rent paid by the state and charge for travel expenses. Until recently Kiracovski held the post of Secretary General of the SDSM, but was dismissed after being publicly criticized for the employment of his close relatives, for...