Journalist associations, unions, and political parties have submitted, or will submit eventually, their own proposals for changes to the Law on Media. This issue of the Przino Agreement remained unsolved, and the negotiations of the work groups in the Parliament's Club of Members with mediator Peter Vanhoutte were unsuccessful.
So far, a proposal has been submitted by the Association of Journalists, as well as the Macedonian Media Association, followed by DUI's announcements to deliver theirs.
Macedonian Media Association (MMA), of which members are the five national televisions Alfa, Telma, Kanal 5, Sitel, and Alsat-M, has delivered a proposal to the Parliament regarding the changes to the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. The Association requested a snap Parliament session where their proposals, which mostly address lowering the fines, will be put to vote.
"Our draft-changes to the current Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services have been delivered to the Parliament Speaker, Trajko Veljanovski. We requested a snap Parliament session, and we expect to have the draft be put to vote as soon as possible, and literally all our notes, all articles we believe need to be changed, in the interest of the media business community in Macedonia, to be accepted and implemented," said Ivan Mirchevski, President of MMA.
MMA's proposal has also been supported by the Macedonian Association of Journalists (MAN).
"At the same time, we believe that the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM) and Naser Selmani are continuing to support the party agenda of SDSM through Peter Vanhoutte, and are proposing a censorship Law on Media," Tuesday's press-release by MAN read.
Goran Sugarevski of SDSM, on the other hand, said he supported the Law proposed by ZNM, although they had previously submitted this proposal which mostly addressed the radio broadcasting tax.
"We support the proposal of ZNM, which is also supported by the international community. This proposal enables complete departization of the Council of the Agency of Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. We demand this proposal to be adopted in a short notice before the Parliament is dismissed," Sugarevski said.
A total of 5 journalist and media organization delivered Peter Vanhoutte's proposal for to the Parliament urgent changes to the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services.
The proposal of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM), Macedonian Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM), and the Institute for Communication Studies (IKC), is a great base to introduce the media reforms in Macedonia, said Naser Selmani, President of ZNM.
"The initiative is submitted to all MPs in order to resume the debate on media reforms after the failed talks between the signatories of the Przino Agreement," said Naser Selmani.
This proposal allows MRTV to be financed by both radio broadcasting tax, as well as the Budget.
But according to many, exactly this Law, supported by Peter Vanhoutte, will endanger the right of journalist to report freely. The Law proposes the Council of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services to accept members of the non-government sector who are linked to Soros.