Media Freedom and Professional Criteria through an Analysis of Daily News Broadcasts on the National Televisions in the Republic of North Macedonia

Freedom of speech and expression as one of the fundamental human rights in conditions of a lower degree of democratization of a society increasingly create a state of media dysfunction, informative and analytical reduction and a phenomenon of cognitive atrophy of media messages, especially in the formation of public opinion about significant social issues of political, economic and cultural background. Freedom and responsibility, being two sides of a process in the functioning of the media conditioned by the application of professional standards and criteria, reflects the media culture that influences the formation of public opinion among the audience. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors of the development of professional standards and criteria as a significant communication phenomenon that determines the democratic capacity of the contemporary communication reality and the pluralism of citizens’ interests. The paper methodologically focuses on the analysis of the central daily news broadcasts which are justified for several reasons. The first reason manifests their representation of a concentrated form of realizing the informative function of the media. The second reasons manifests their high rating compared to other programs and is broadcast in prime time, in the periods when television has the most viewers. Attitudes and opinions, among other things, will be probed through interviews with journalists and expert public in the media sphere.