Media in Macedonia

North Macedonia has an established but fragmented media system. AVMU regulates audiovisual media, keeps registers, issues broadcasting licences and certificates, monitors programmes, conducts public consultations and can impose warnings or initiate misdemeanour proceedings for repeated violations. The Ministry of Digital Transformation shapes media and digital policy and the legal framework. MRT, the public service broadcaster, operates MRT 1, MRT 2, MRT sat, MRT Sobraniski and Macedonian Radio services. Its 2026 planning includes Macedonian- and Albanian-language television, sport, documentaries, community content and children’s programming, as well as radio content in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish and other minority languages. In 2024, MRT reported approximately MKD 1,365.55 million in revenue and MKD 1,266.52 million in expenditure; legal funding mechanisms do not remove concerns about financial and editorial independence. Internet access is widespread: 90.8% of households had internet access in 2024, and 91.2% of people aged 15 to 74 used the internet. Television and social media were central daily information sources in AVMU’s survey conducted from 27 December 2025 to 25 January 2026. Online portals were a third major source, while radio and print had lower relevance. Trust in social-media news was low, and a significant share of respondents did not trust any media source. Television and radio providers need an AVMU licence, generally issued for nine years. The sector included 89 broadcasters: 34 television and 55 radio providers, including national, regional and local services, MRT services, commercial stations and non-profit radio. Licensing involves technical, premises, financial and staffing requirements, and the exact costs depend on the procedure and provider. AVMU also supervises advertising, sponsorship, product placement, programme duties and protection of minors. Print media remains available but has lower practical relevance than television and online news. AVMU maintains information about registered print publishers and supervises matters such as protection of minors, editorial responsibility, imprint information and publication or ownership details. Online publishers can be listed in the Register of Online Media Publishers and Internet Portals. The register records the publisher’s name and address, responsible person, URL, domain, ownership, editorial staff and economic information. The register dated 11 June 2026 contained 11 entries. Access to some privileged media locations may require a legal entity, a local seat, a national domain and at least two employees. No uniform state media fee is established; registration and operating costs depend on the service and provider. Cable, IPTV, digital terrestrial and satellite providers retransmit domestic and foreign programmes. They need the relevant AVMU certificate, must secure retransmission rights in advance and may distribute only registered packages. Rules cover minors, pornography, licensing territory and language. Where a programme is not in its original language, Macedonian or the language of at least 20% of citizens may be required for subtitles, excluding advertising and teleshopping. Subscription prices depend on the commercial package, internet provider and rights agreements. Video-on-demand services let users choose programmes from a catalogue at a time of their choice. Providers need an AVMU certificate; the register contained four entities on 3 February 2026. Providers face rules on rights, availability periods, protection of minors and European works, including at least 30% European works with appropriate visibility. Accessibility obligations rise progressively: a video-on-demand catalogue must include accessible content equal to 2% in the first year, followed by increases of two percentage points per year. Prices, catalogues and availability vary by platform and licensing territory, and no local one-to-one equivalent of Netflix or YouTube is established by the available research. AVMU does not regulate all social-media activity. Its rules can apply to video-sharing platforms and to influencers, vloggers, content creators and YouTubers who operate as video-on-demand providers. Registration is required when the creator has more than 10,000 followers or subscribers, receives economic benefit, published at least 24 audiovisual works in the previous 12 months, addresses the general public and has editorial responsibility. The rules include protection of minors, personal-data protection, advertising and product-placement requirements and professional principles. The research does not establish a uniform fee or application deadline, so compliance is an ongoing responsibility. Journalists do not generally need a professional licence under the sources reviewed. Access usually comes through work for a media organisation, editorial and imprint requirements, or accreditation by an event organiser. The state news agency MIA employs about 70 reporters and 30 correspondents and publishes approximately 300 to 350 articles per day in Macedonian, Albanian and English. The ZNM Code of Journalists and its Council of Honour provide self-regulation; anyone can submit an ethics complaint. Media work can involve political polarisation, ownership and political links, poor working conditions, threats, online harassment, strategic lawsuits against public participation and self-censorship. Freedom of expression and media freedom have constitutional protection. The Law on Media, the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and their amendments govern the sector. A person affected by untrue, wrongful, false or partial information may have a right of reply or correction. The Law on Free Access to Public Information allows oral, written or electronic requests without stating a reason. Requests are generally free apart from possible material costs, and complaints about access can go to the Agency for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information (ASPI). The Agency for Personal Data Protection (AZLP), AVMU, courts and the public prosecution service handle different rights and violations. Journalistic-source protection, privacy, copyright, hate speech and protection of minors can all affect publication. National television and video-on-demand services must make programmes progressively accessible through tools such as subtitles, sign language, audio description and text description. National television had to provide at least one accessible programme at least once a week in the first year. Providers submit an annual accessibility action plan by 31 December of the preceding year, and information or complaints can be sent to dostapnost@avmu.mk. During elections, MRT and state-level television services carrying paid political advertising need at least one accessible news edition each day and one accessible election-related format each week during the 16:00 to 24:00 period. People can participate through AVMU public meetings, public hearings, register consultations and draft-rulebook consultations at contact@avmu.mk. The Media Literacy Network, established in 2017, includes 37 organisations, including ministries, the Film Agency, AZLP, broadcasters and civil-society organisations, and accepts new members. Media literacy appears in primary education as a subject or integrated topic in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Serbian and Bosnian. The National Youth Strategy 2023–2027 includes media and digital literacy, disinformation and teacher training, with a stated teacher-training target of 200 and a donor budget of MKD 800,000; complete implementation was not verified. MRT also issues public calls for programme ideas and co-productions. The ZNM Council of Honour handles ethics complaints, ASPI handles complaints about access to public information, and AVMU provides complaint, reply-and-correction and accessibility procedures. A 2023 online-sphere code for elections and referendums is voluntary and ethical rather than equivalent to state sanctions.