PERCEPTION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF MEDIA WORKERS IN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF N.MACEDONIA

Abstract

The right to freedom of expression is one of the fundamental right guaranteed by
several international documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, International Covenants and other legal
acts. On the national level, in Republic of N. Macedonia, constitutional article 16 guarantees
freedom of speech, public information, free access to information, reception and transmission
of information as well as free establishment of public information institutions. In order to
obtain concrete results regarding the implementation of these rights, the paper analyzes
the media workers’ perception of freedom of expression, the degree of censorship and
self-censorship of media workers, with the final aim to understand the reasons that affect
restriction of that right. The research, conducted through a survey, was guided by the basic
question “What is the perception of media workers about the degree of freedom of expression
in the Republic of Macedonia?” and included media workers employed in the media in the
northern and southern regions of the Republic of N. Macedonia.