Macedonia Sees Progress in Professional Journalism
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| MIM students convene in a TV newsroom. |
The Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM) is a non-profit organization that promotes excellence in media and public communication through policy initiatives, research, training, publication, and production. Created and co-funded by the Danish School of Journalism and USAID in 2001, MIM is one of the partners in the USAID-funded Civil Society Strengthening Project (CSSP). The mission of CSSP is to increase citizen participation in political and social decision-making through broadening and deepening the impact of civil society.
MIM trains journalists and media professionals in Macedonia to boost professional standards and ethics in the media. To date, MIM has organized over 100 trainings, workshops, seminars and conferences, hosting more than 1,000 domestic and foreign media professionals.
In 2006, MIM created the Roma Mainstream Program, which provided 36 young Roma journalists with the opportunity to follow a comprehensive nine-month training program. Today, the majority of these students have full-time jobs as journalists in Macedonia. Another innovative initiative was the creation of the School of Journalism and Public Relations (SJPR), which was founded in October 2008 to better meet the domestic need for high profile professionals in the demanding fields of journalism and public relations. “The start of SJPR is one of the best things that happened in Macedonian journalism. Its role will not only be to produce high quality journalism professionals, but even more importantly to help the profession to stand firmly on its feet…The free press is a true religion of these modern times and its role has an enormous significance in the progress of democracy in Macedonia,” stated Ljupcho Popovski, editor-in-chief of daily Utrinski Vesnik.
CSSP will maintain its partnership with MIM until the project ends in June 2010. After which,
MIM will continue to play a vital role in strengthening the journalism profession and promoting media independence.
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