After a few days ago, on August 11, a letter was submitted to the management and shareholders of TRD TV Alfa, with a warning that the cameramen will stop going on the ground from August 16, and that the information content would be reduced to ten minutes, today that warning was realized. Today TV Alfa shows a black screen with the following information:

DEAR VIEWERS OF TV ALFA,

DUE TO THE SITUATION OF OUR AND YOUR TV STATION ALFA, WE ARE FORCED TO REDUCE THE NEWS TO TEN MINUTES, WITHOUT VIDEO AND AUDIO MATERIAL, AND THE SAME REFERS ALSO TO OTHER INFORMATION PROGRAMS, AND SUCH FORMAT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE SITUATION HAS BEEN OVERCOME.

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING

The reason for this, as was said in the warning letter, signed by the “Employees in TV Alfa”, is the delay of two salaries, health insurance and fees for three months, which “causes revolt among the employees”. At the meeting, which had been attended by most of the employees, a decision had been made for “taking the first steps to protect their elementary rights”, as is said in the letter.

We tried to contact those responsible from TV Alfa, in order to receive information about the newly-created situation, but nobody answers the telephone number posted on their Facebook page.

Otherwise, TV Alfa was among the employers who received state assistance, but did not pay their workers, for which CIVIL MEDIA published information on February 8, 2021.

In addition, it is also known that the company-owner of TV Alfa was accused if tax evasion, as Prizma published at the end of march this year. Previously, much was written also about “Oliveri” and the multi-million scheme, according to which in 2018 black propaganda aimed against the Macedonian European integration that is still lasting was financed.

On the programs of TV Alfa, there often is content with fake news, as well as slander and insults against organizations for human rights and freedoms, but also against journalists. Numerous attacks against CIVIL and representatives of this organization have also been noted. At one time, Gruevski was especially generous towards TVS Alfa, as well as towards Sitel and Kanal 5. National television in the country have received more than 26 million euros in the period from 2010 to 2017 from the former government of VMRO-DPMNE, with 95 percent of this amount ending up on the accounts of Sitel, Kanal 5 and TV Alfa.

Despite this, CIVIL is in solidarity with the demands for respecting the worker’s rights of media workers in TV Alfa.

D. Mishev

Translation: N. Cvetkovska