AJM today met with representatives of the OSCE Mission to Skopje

Today, AJM met with representatives of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. At the meeting, AJM shared the details of the new trend of disparagement of journalism and journalists, by certain online portals with untrue, disparaging, and defamatory content. The specific purpose of these discredits is baselessly directed at the journalists from the weekly FOCUS.

AJM pointed out that such insults and discredits toward the journalists of the weekly FOKUS are an attack on the freedom of information and the freedom of the media will be reported to all domestic and international organizations that defend the freedom of expression. According to the colleagues from Focus, these threats and personal slanders have intensified in the last period after the series of texts by colleagues from business and political figures in North Macedonia.

In addition to condemning this way of communication, we want to remind the public that if we want to have a functioning democracy, a high level of freedom of speech and expression is needed, and such a thing cannot be achieved if journalists and media workers work under constant pressure and blackmail, because in that way it will only contribute to creating an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship.