Ethics Breaches Most Common in North Macedonia’s Private Online Media

In North Macedonia, where media independence is often undermined by political and corporate interests, the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia (CMEM) conducted a study of 40 online outlets to assess transparency and ethical standards. Despite being members of a self-regulatory registry, many private media, especially those owned by businesspeople or journalists, frequently violated core journalistic principles, including source attribution, plagiarism, and sensationalism. Not-for-profit outlets, by contrast, showed higher ethical compliance. The report highlights the urgent need for stronger media accountability in a fragile democratic context.

CMEM reviewed 40 member media outlets from its Promedia.mk registry between February and May 2025, analysing nearly 2,000 articles to assess how different ownership models - corporate, journalist-owned, non-profit, or public - affect journalistic integrity and adherence to ethical standards.

This monitoring process was carried out through CMEM’s methodology, involving a randomised weekly selection of online media, identification of ownership types, systematic content analysis, and coding of editorial outputs against ethical standards. 

Transparency, Membership and Sources

The vast majority of analysed outlets (39 outlets) were privately owned. Within the private ownership category, CMEM made an important distinction between business/corporate ownership and ownership by individual journalists - an especially relevant differentiation given the specific context of North Macedonia. 

Although all analysed media are members of CMEM, full compliance with transparency expectations is uneven. While 28 outlets featured an Impressum (i.e. ownership) section, with complete or near-complete information, 7 had Impressum sections that omitted key transparency details. Another four lacked this section entirely or provided no significant ownership or editorial information. 

Protection of sources

According to Article 4 of the Code of Journalists of Macedonia, journalists must be transparent about their sources unless protection is justifiably needed. In the local media ecosystem, however, anonymity is often misused to circulate unverified or manipulated content for political or corporate benefit.

Out of 1,680 privately-owned media texts analysed, 221 (13%) used anonymous or unattributed sources unjustifiably. This trend underscores the manipulation of information through ambiguous sourcing, suggesting clientelist tendencies in the local media.

Notably, not-for-profit media displayed better adherence to ethical sourcing, suggesting a higher level of professionalism and reduced susceptibility to influence.

Reporting Approach

During the trimester, 191 articles (9.7%) were identified as partially or wholly sensationalist. Of these, 170 came from privately owned online media. Again, ownership structure appears influential: 76.6% of content from not-for-profit media was substantiated and non-sensationalist, while only 29% of content of the corporate-owned outlets met this standard. This disparity raises urgent questions about editorial priorities and the pressures influencing private outlets.

Presumption of Innocence

The presumption of innocence in legal reporting remains a fragile ethical boundary, according to the CMEM’s monitoring of online media content. Out of 573 analysed articles on legal/criminal issues, 54 (9.4%) violated this principle (article 8 of the Code of Journalists of Macedonia), 51 of which originated from privately-owned outlets. The breaches often coincide with political interference or influence trading.

Protection of Human Dignity

Article 10 of the Code emphasises the journalist’s duty to protect human rights, avoid hate speech, and reject discrimination. While only 9 media articles (0.5%) explicitly spread hate or discriminatory content, eight of these came from corporate-owned outlets. More alarming is the presence of 42 articles (2.1%) containing implicit forms of discrimination or prejudice, 88% of which were published by private outlets.

Encouragingly, 68 articles across various media advocated actively against hate speech and discrimination:

1. 21 from corporate-owned media

2. 25 from journalist-owned media

3. 20 from not-for-profit outlets

4. 2 from public media

Plagiarism and Spamming

Plagiarism — defined under Article 12 — is widespread and deeply problematic across the media spectrum in North Macedonia. A total of 722 out of 1,966 articles (36.7%) were found to be plagiarised or partially copied. The vast majority (94.3%) originated from private online media:

1. 260 out of 823 articles from corporate-owned outlets (32%) were also published elsewhere.

2. Journalist-owned outlets were worse offenders: 421 of 857 articles (49%) were plagiarised.

3. Not-for-profit outlets performed best, with 76% (162 out of 214) of their content being original.

This “copy-paste” culture degrades the integrity of journalism, reduces content diversity, and reflects a systemic failure to uphold professional norms.

This first trimestral report underscores CMEM’s vital role in reinforcing self-regulation and monitoring adherence to journalistic ethics in North Macedonia. The analysis reveals patterns where media ownership plays a significant role in ethical lapses, especially concerning transparency, source attribution, plagiarism, and sensationalism. Private media, especially those owned by business actors or journalists, are far more likely to violate key ethical principles. In contrast, not-for-profit outlets consistently demonstrate higher levels of compliance and professionalism. The findings from this report provide a solid foundation for future self-regulatory measures.