The main trends in the reporting of online media during the local elections held in October/November 2025 in North Macedonia, derived from the monitoring conducted by the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, indicate multi-layered conditions that reflect the complex nature of the Macedonian online media space, but also the need to improve the staffing and editorial capacities of online portals.
Some of the indicators suggest positive trends, especially in terms of transparency of ownership, the team, and sources of information, as well as in terms of the formal observance of provisions of the Code of Journalists, but the overall picture points to structural weaknesses, limited resources, and dependence on rapid content production, which is reflected in the quality of the information process.
The monitoring of online portals was another opportunity to confirm the fact that the digital media sector in the country is dominated by private media with small newsrooms, mainly founded by journalists (67.6% of those included), from whom a high level of adherence to professional standards is expected. However, the lack of resources appears, even in these portals, to have led to filling the media space with short news items, in which the “second side” of the story is often absent, alongside a widespread practice of publishing party press releases, republishing posts from social networks, and copying content.
On the other hand, the transparency of ownership has improved – 85.7% of the monitored media outlets have a complete imprint. This is a fairly positive indicator in terms of accountability and is in line with the criteria of the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia (CMEM) for reducing sensationalism, unsubstantiated articles, and plagiarism.
The attribution of information sources is generally in accordance with the standards of professional reporting, in 83.7% of the texts, the sources are properly attributed. However, in 14% of the sample, the problem of partial transparency remains, that is, texts continue to be published with formulations such as “according to our sources” or “as we learn,” which creates space for undocumented, politically motivated information that can influence readers opinions, especially during election periods, since inaccurate or insufficiently verified information has the potential to affect voters perceptions.
On the side of problematic trends in the reporting of online media is the continued practice of copying content from one another without indicating the source from which the content is taken, as well as copying party and other press releases without minimal journalistic intervention. In more than half of the articles subject to the monitoring, it was determined that they are copy-paste content: 22.5% of the texts are fully or partially copied, in 6.8% of the texts statements are taken without citing a source, and only 16.8% of the content is fully original, which suggests poor journalism that does not provide a complete or analytically in-depth picture for readers. This is a consequence of small editorial teams, the orientation toward rapid and high-volume content production, with minimal editorial supervision, which undermines trust in professional journalism and encourages the “inflation” of identical news across different online media, which subsequently flood social networks.
Another widespread negative practice is the increasingly frequent republishing of posts from social networks, without sufficient verification or scrutiny. As many as 25.7% of the articles covered by the monitoring partially or fully rely on posts from Facebook, Instagram, X, or TikTok as a primary source of information. Without verification, expansion with additional context, or inclusion of the other side of the story, such content represents a risk for the spread of disinformation and manipulation, especially prevalent during election periods when social networks are used as a main platform for propaganda.
Precisely because of these pronounced weaknesses in the online media sector, currently composed of hundreds of portals, the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia recommends that owners, editors, and institutions commit to strengthening the staffing and editorial capacities of online media, to ensure more credible reporting for the public, especially during sensitive periods such as election processes. Consistent adherence to the Code of Journalists and the Guidelines for Ethical Reporting of Online Media, respect for media self-regulation, training for journalists in fact-checking, in the specifics of election reporting, human rights, and corruption, as well as in the ethical use of new technologies as a supportive tool, especially in small newsrooms, are among the steps expected to lead to more responsible journalism.