Journalistic organizations agreed on criteria for the online media

The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) and the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia (CMEM), have agreed on minimum criteria that will help to protect and promote the professional journalism in online media.

AJM, SSNM and CMEM consider that the online media should respect the principles of the journalistic profession, such as:

– Transparent ownership,

– publishing impressum, contact and address of the media,

– accepting and respecting the Code of Journalists and

– registration of a legal entity in Macedonia.

The three organizations ask the government and public institutions to respect these criteria when issuing accreditation to journalists from online media.

We call advertisers on social responsibility and refrain from posting ads in online media that do not meet these criteria.

If the Government and advertisers do not respect these criteria, they will directly contribute to strengthening the misinformation in the media and their use for propaganda purposes. This can be used as an alibi in order to bring restrictive legislation to online media that can limit freedom of expression on the Internet.