This report provides an analysis of articles concerning the parliamentary elections in North Macedonia, published by thirty pre-selected online news portals (hereinafter referred to as ONPs) between April 15 and May 10, 2024. Among these portals, twenty-two publish content in the Macedonian language, while eight in Albanian. The monitoring included ONPs identified in the list of the State Election Commission (SEC), which features websites that offer paid political advertising during the election campaign for parliamentary candidates.[1] Additionally, an analysis of the presence of banner advertisements on the selected ONPs during the same period was conducted, incorporating two additional news aggregators into the monitoring process.[2]
[1] Registry of Broadcasting, Print and Electronic Media (Internet Portals) for the Parliamentary Elections, https://www.sec.mk/registar-na-radiodifuzeri-pechateni-mediumi-i-elektronski-mediumi-internet-portali/
[2] The aggregators included are Time.mk and Grid.mk
The results of the research indicated that the local ONPs significantly increased the number of reports on party activities during the election campaign when compared to regular reporting on political topics. The ONPs that published the highest volume of reports on the elections generally showed bias and expressed support for certain candidates, suggesting that their extensive coverage aimed to bolster the campaigns of these election participants.
