Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

While reiterating that its core concerns about media freedom in Macedonia remain, Macedonia’s main journalists union said the passage of some amendments to the government’s proposed media laws gave cause for hope.

“This is a step forward towards better laws, to which ZNM and foreign experts had many objections. This government’s response gives hope for further improvement to the laws’ content,” the ZNM said on Thursday.

MPs of the ruling coalition this week accepted several ZNM-proposed amendments to the Laws on Media and Audio Visual Services.

After parliament suddenly adopted the media laws on the eve of the New Year, many critics were caught by surprise and accused the government of foul play.

One key amendment wholly exempts internet media outlets from the new regulations while another reduces the obligations on the print media.

A third amendment allows the ZNM to appoint one representative to the new Media Agency, a regulatory body that the ZNM has said it fears will be state-controlled and in a position to curb media freedom.

A further amendment stipulates that any future ban on the publication of media content will have to match the practices and standards laid down by the European Court of Human Rights.

However, the ZNM said it still believed the new media laws were unnecessary, “when Macedonia is rapidly falling in world ranking charts that measure freedom of speech”.

The ZNM insists that any form of regulation of the printed media addressed by the new legislation remains essentially unacceptable.

Journalists says the media should strive towards greater self-regulation instead of accepting government-imposed regulation.

The ZNM also criticises the use of what it calls continuing “disproportionate” fines issued against media outlets and journalists.

In one case singled out by the ZNM, Macedonia’s oldest political weekly, Fokus, last week said it might have to close after a court imposed a heavy fine of 9,000 euros for libelling Macedonia’s secret police chief, Saso Mijalkov.

The ZNM also says the new laws still leave room for the government to “buy the affection of the media”, partly by the selective allocation of lucrative government advertising.

“Besides this, we do not believe that the provisions about the Media Agency guarantee its independence and its transparent work,” the ZNM said.

The union says it will monitor implementation of the disputed legislation, and if need be, contest it before the Constitutional Court.

The arguments about the legislation take place against a background of widespread closures of media outlets that were critical of the government.

The closures are one reason why many media watchdogs have downgraded Macedonia’s rating on the issue of freedom of speech.

The World Media Freedom Index 2013, published in January by Reporters Without Borders, ranked Macedonia in 116th place out of 179 countries.

This represented a sharp drop of 22 places from the previous year and a drop of 82 places compared to 2009. Four years ago, the country was ranked in 34th place in the same index.