We are “bombarded” with misinformation, fake news or half-truths every day. Fake news are literally coming from every segment and are spread by so many. This turns on the alarm for immediate action, through media literacy that will be incorporated in the teaching process from an early age.

“A crane is coming from Bulgaria to dislocate the monument of Alexander the Great from the Skopje square” – lie, “Thousands of migrants will come to Macedonia and dozens of camps will be built” – lie, “Vardar handball players did not accept the award from the Government because of the adjective North” – lie… these are just some of the fake news that have dominated recently. The topic of today’s episode of SCAN is how and in which way fake news affect citizens and how to recognize fake news.

Special advisor in the Government, Marjan Zabrcanec, says that during the time of Nikola Gruevski’s rule, he and other activists had been a target of attacks and fake news and misinformation. He adds that fake news can cause turmoil and conflicts. Zabrcanec stresses that media literacy will become part of the education process.

Minister Robert Popovski outlined that the youth most often inform themselves through the internet portals and are a target of fake news and misinformation. He emphasized that during Gruevski’s regime, the portals and social networks were only information providers of what was happening in the country.

Media expert Petrit Saracini says that professional media face serious threat from unprofessional media. He adds that portals that have only one employee can produce hundreds of contents on a daily basis and spread false news and misinformation.

Citizens report fake news every day on CIVIL’s media platform at the website https://clp.mk.

Dehran Muratov
Camera: Atanas Petrovski
Editing: Vladimir Percuklievski

Translation: Natasa Cvetkovska