Workshop Held on Enhancing Media Reporting on Gender-Based Violence

Skopje, 5 December 2024 – A workshop on “Enhancing Media Reporting on Gender-Based Violence” was held yesterday, organized by the Council of Europe’s Programme Office in Skopje and the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. The workshop was intended for media workers from the local radio and television stations and was attended by other professionals in the field as well.

“Gender stereotypes are a complex social phenomenon that hinder gender equality, reinforce harmful discourses in the media and in society as a whole, and are also a cause for gender-based violence. Media outlets and media professionals play a particularly important role and responsibility in raising awareness of the gender issues and in promoting gender equality,” AVMU Director Zoran Trajchevski, PhD, emphasized at the beginning of the event.

Aleksandra Bogdanovska of the Council of Europe highlighted the importance of the project for “Protection of the Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia (PRO-FREX)” under which this workshop was carried out, and which enables the beneficiary institutions and civil society organizations in the country to advance in fulfilling their reform agendas in the area of ​​freedom of expression and freedom of the media, in accordance with the European standards.

Ana Nushkova-Avramovska, legal advisor at the National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, spoke about the relevant national legislation and the system for protecting victims of gender-based violence, while media expert Marina Tuneva, PhD, presented to the attendees the Handbook for Gender-Sensitive Reporting in the Media, which aims to assist media in their efforts to report professionally in a gender-sensitive manner, and thus to draw attention to the problem of gender-based violence.

Dragana Drndarevska, member of the Commission for Preventing and Protection against Discrimination, spoke about the intersectoral approach to addressing gender-based violence, then about the importance of journalistic reporting and the manner of framing topics related to domestic and gender-based violence, gender equality and the LGBTI community, as well as about the need to take into account the intersectionality of discrimination, i.e. the situations in which a person is being discriminated against on multiple grounds.

The Agency’s Guide for monitoring the implementation of the  reporting standards in cases of gender-based violence in the media was presented by its author, Prof. Dr. Katharine Sarikakis of the University of Vienna. The document is designed to provide clear standards and criteria aimed at assessing given content when reporting on gender-based violence, which can also serve as a roadmap for the media to resolve dilemmas in their reporting.

While moderating the event, Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova, M.A., of the AVMU reminded that media play an important role in shaping society’s viewpoints and values ​​and offer enormous potential as instruments for social change.

The presentations of this Workshop are available at the following links:

 Presentation of the national legislation and the system for protecting the victims of gender-based violence 

Anna NUSHKOVA-AVRAMOSKA, Legal Advisor at the National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

 Handbook for Gender-Sensitive Reporting in the Media 

Marina Tuneva, PH.D., Council of Europe Consultant

Presentation of the Inter-Sectoral Approach to Tackling Gender-Based Violence 

Dragana DRNDAREVSKA, Member of the Commission for Preventing and Protection against Discrimination

 Presentation of the Guide for Monitoring the Implementation of Media Reporting Standards in Cases of Gender-Based Violence 

Katharine SARIKAKIS, Professor at the University of Vienna

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AVMS Holds Third Public Meeting for 2024

Skopje, 27 September 2024 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services held its third public meeting for this year, at which Agency Director Zoran Trajchevski presented an overview of the activities carried out in accordance with the Annual Work Programme for the past three months. Those present had the opportunity to hear about the activities related to the supervisions conducted over radio broadcasters, operators of public electronic communication networks, print media publishers, the public warning measures imposed, the completed studies and the activities in the field of international cooperation.
Also presented at the meeting were the findings of the 2023 Market Analysis of the Audio and Audiovisual Media Services industry. The Analysis contains data on broadcasters’ economic operations, i.e. data on their total revenues, total expenditures, the financial results of their operations and the average number of employees. The Public Broadcasting Service and the commercial broadcasters together eared revenues in the amount of 2,458.57 million denars, of which 1,000.44 are revenues of the Macedonian Radio and Television; 1,272.63 – of the television stations, and 185.50 of the radio stations. The total funds that the Public Broadcasting Service and the commercial broadcasters spend together amounted to MKD 2,708.21 million. Only the commercial radio stations made profit, in the amount of 10.15 million denars. The Macedonian Radio and Television operated with a loss of 131.77 million denars, whole the commercial television stations marked a loss of 139.55 million denars.

During the rest of the meeting, there were discussions about the gender analysis of the ownership structure of the television and radio stations in the period from 2020 to 2023, as well as the gender structure of broadcasters’ employees in the period from 2019 to 2022. The findings showed that men were more numerous than women in all the years analyzed, especially at the management/director positions, the technical and production staff, as opposed to the journalist sector, where female journalists were traditionally more numerous than male journalists. The data show a certain presence of the so-called “glass ceiling”, which indicates that there are informal limits which make it difficult for women to rise to higher positions and, consequently to take part in the decision-making processes.

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AVMU’s First Public Meeting Focuses on Gender-based Violence on the National Television Channels

Skopje, 28 March 2024 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services held its first Public Meeting for this year today, at which the director Dr. Zoran Trajchevski presented an overview of the activities carried out in accordance with the Annual Work Programme in the past three months.

Those present had the opportunity to hear about the activities related to the supervisions conducted over the radio broadcasters, operators of public electronic communication networks, print media publishers, imposed public warning measures and activities in the field of international cooperation. More information at the link.

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The Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Jovanka Trenchevska, and the Director of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, Dr. Zoran Trajchevski, today held a joint press conference dedicated to issues of gender, gender-based violence and media reporting.

“The power of the media and their ability to professionally report to the public, raise awareness and shape the opinion of the entire public is enormous. That’s why it is of particular importance to share accurate information on their part, and our task as institutions is to provide the same”, said Trenchevska in her address.

She also pointed to the efforts of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy regarding the promotion of gender equality in the country.

“After the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, the Law on Prevention and Protection from Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was adopted, thereby contributing to a significant improvement of institutional and comprehensive assistance and support for victims of gender-based violence. The goal is prevention and effective protection of victims from any form of gender-based violence with respect for basic human freedoms and rights,” said the Minister.

AVMU Director, Dr. Zoran Trajchevski presented the new specialized website on gender and media. The page will be a resource center for the media, a place where they can find resources, information, links on various aspects of gender issues, including gender-based violence, but also a place where citizens can find useful links and information – including institutions and the organizations from which they can seek help in case they are subjected to gender-based violence.

He also pointed out that the site is administered by the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and it is available in Macedonian, Albanian and English, and is adapted for people with visual impairments.

On the website, all institutions and civil organizations can share the materials and activities they work on in the field of gender issues, which will contribute to being a quality resource center for all journalists, researchers working on this issue, as well as for the general public.

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Gender in the Entertainment TV Programme Placed at the Focus of AAAVMU’s First Public Meeting

Skopje, 28 March 2023 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services held the first public meeting for this year today, at which Director Zoran Trajchevski presented an overview of the activities carried out in line with the Annual Work Programme in the past three months. The attendees had an opportunity to hear about the activities related to the supervisions conducted over the radio broadcasters, operators of public electronic communication networks, print media publishers, public warning measures imposed, conducted research, and activities in the field of international cooperation. More information at the link.

 

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Gender in the sports TV program in the focus of the first public meeting of AVMU

Skopje, March 28, 2022 – The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services today held the first public meeting for this year, where the Director of the Agency, Dr. Zoran Trajchevski, made an overview of the activities carried out in accordance with the Annual Work Program in the past three months.

Those present had the opportunity to hear about the activities related to the conducted supervision of radio broadcasters, operators of public electronic communication networks, publishers of printed media, pronounced public warning measures, conducted research, activities in the field of international cooperation.

At the meeting, the findings of the Analysis “Gender in the media 2021: Gender issues and the way women and men are represented in the sports program of national terrestrial televisions” were presented, which for the first time provides quantitative and qualitative insight into how much and how they report national television for female athletes and women’s sports, versus male athletes and sports. More information at the link

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Held a workshop on gender-based violence and professional standards for journalistic reporting

Skopje – 09.06.2022. – In the organization of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, and in cooperation with the Margini Coalition and the National Network against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, a workshop on “Gender-based violence and professional standards for journalistic reporting” was held today in the premises of the Agency.

In his welcome address, the director of the Agency, Dr. Zoran Trajchevski, referred to the Convention of the Council of Europe on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. Today’s workshop is realized as an obligation of the regulator according to the Action Plan for its implementation. More information at the link.

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Misogyny and sexism on the programs of three radio stations

In November 2017, the Agency determined that the broadcast spots of a joint campaign in its own production by City Radio, Club FM and Metropolis Radio Network, which, as they say, are intended for “all pre-emancipated women”, constitute discrimination against based on gender, spreading misogyny and sexism, which is a flagrant violation of the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, which is why he submitted a complaint to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination of the Republic of Moldova. More information at the link.

In connection with the complaint submitted by the Agency, the Commission for Protection against Discrimination of the Republic of Moldova submitted to the Agency in February 2018 a Letter – an opinion establishing gender-based harassment by City Radio, which causes a violation of the dignity of women, with the campaign spots for the re-emancipated women aired on October 30, 2017.
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Promoted TV and radio spots against sexism in the media and research on gender in television programs in 2017

In order to draw the attention of the media to the recognition of the importance of informing about gender issues, as well as to encourage the overcoming of gender stereotypes, on March 1, 2018, the Agency presented the results of the survey on gender in television programs in 2017 and promoted TV and radio spots against sexism in the media. More information about the event at the following link

 

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