On March 29, 2023, the kick-off conference of the Media4EU project took place in Skopje, North Macedonia. The conference, which saw the participation of 30 representatives of international bodies, national and local media and Civil Society Organisations, formally marks the beginning of the project and its activities.
“Media4EU – Civil Society Program for the participation of media in North Macedonia’s EU membership negotiation” is a 3-year long project dedicated to improving the standards of journalism and the media sphere of North Macedonia. The one-day conference began with a presentation of the project and its executives by Mr. Dimitar Nikolovski, Executive director of EUROTHINK – Center for European Strategies, leader of the project. It was followed by presentations on the importance of media and CSOs in the EU negotiation process of North Macedonia, featuring Mr. David Geer, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia, and Mr. Bojan Marchic, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, who highlighted the support that the government offered to the project and the importance of this type of projects in the battle against misinformation.
The conference continued with a presentation of the project activities and the grant scheme by the project consortium, composed by EUROTHINK, ALDA and BIRC – Balkan Institute for Regional Cooperation and it concluded with a Q&A session, where the participants had the opportunity to engage in constructive discussions.
Mr. Marco Boaria, Head of the Development Department of ALDA, briefly introduced the commitment of the Organisation towards the media topic, underlining the importance of the freedom of speech: “ALDA has consistently advocated for years for engagement in media and freedom of speech. A principle followed is that a plurality of voices and more opportunities for dialogue leads to better local governance and more opportunities for the grievances of citizens to be aired out.” – said Mr. Boaria.
Projekat Media4EU ima za cilj poboljšanje medijskih i novinarskih standarda Sjeverne Makedonije
Cilj projekta Media4EU je da novinarstvo i medijsku sferu Sjeverne Makedonije dovede do evropskih standarda, uključujući obuke, radionice i razmjene sa evropskim novinarima kako bi ojačali kapacitete novinarstva u Sjevernoj Makedoniji i doprinijeli podizanju atraktivnosti profesije za mlade. Projekat prepoznaje da su jači standardi za medije neophodni za proces pridruživanja zemlje EU i ima za cilj da bude dobar izvor informacija za novinare i birače, kao i da osigura mogućnost saradnje između medija, civilnog društva i državnih institucija. Sve u svemu, ova konferencija je promovisala projekat i njegove aktivnosti, te pružila odličnu priliku za razmjenu i umrežavanje u medijskom sektoru Sjeverne Makedonije.
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