poiuytrewq0987
08-05-2011, 12:47 PM
But A1 remained the most powerful TV station. One poll showed that 75 per cent of the viewing population received their information only from us. Such levels of confidence were unknown in other media. Gruevski, with his now known deficit of democratic spirit, was not capable of dealing with this.
While A1 and the individuals working for it were attacked and discredited, the government built up its rivals by becoming their greatest advertisers. It did not skimp on spending millions of euros on favoured local media that were under the complete control of the Prime Minister’s office.
The criteria by which it advertised in these favoured media houses had nothing to do with the principles of the market economy.
The lack of those principles was a good argument - or excuse - for the way that business was conducted - not only in our TV company - in most of the companies founded since Macedonia gained independence.
Without trying to defend this business culture I should say that in my last conversation with the owner of A1 TV, who is now in prison, I asked him to discuss some of our social rights as employees. He ended the conversation saying he had bigger problems - to do with the difficulties he was encountering with the prevalent political influence in the advertising market.
Finally, having failed to keep us down, the authorities resorted to brutal tactics. The entire management of the company was taken into custody on the grounds of tax evasion.
No quarter was given to the attempts of A1 employees to maintain the company as a profitable business on the market. The events that followed during the last days of the station’s life were tragic, even if they were now expected. Overnight, 220 employees became jobless. From last Saturday, the frequency on which A1 broadcast its programmes went blank and black. Gruevski had won.
The closure of A1 means that the public is now deprived of any forum for debate, challenging Gruevski’s party’s version of the truth, or even providing opinions critical of the current political establishment.
On September 8 Macedonia celebrates 20 years of independence, and I will drink a shot of rakija in memory of the lost hope, enthusiasm, effort and love invested by a whole generation of journalists in Macedonia. It is indicative that most of them are no longer in the country.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/aaa-tv-s-death-symbolises-a-country-s-lost-hopes
While A1 and the individuals working for it were attacked and discredited, the government built up its rivals by becoming their greatest advertisers. It did not skimp on spending millions of euros on favoured local media that were under the complete control of the Prime Minister’s office.
The criteria by which it advertised in these favoured media houses had nothing to do with the principles of the market economy.
The lack of those principles was a good argument - or excuse - for the way that business was conducted - not only in our TV company - in most of the companies founded since Macedonia gained independence.
Without trying to defend this business culture I should say that in my last conversation with the owner of A1 TV, who is now in prison, I asked him to discuss some of our social rights as employees. He ended the conversation saying he had bigger problems - to do with the difficulties he was encountering with the prevalent political influence in the advertising market.
Finally, having failed to keep us down, the authorities resorted to brutal tactics. The entire management of the company was taken into custody on the grounds of tax evasion.
No quarter was given to the attempts of A1 employees to maintain the company as a profitable business on the market. The events that followed during the last days of the station’s life were tragic, even if they were now expected. Overnight, 220 employees became jobless. From last Saturday, the frequency on which A1 broadcast its programmes went blank and black. Gruevski had won.
The closure of A1 means that the public is now deprived of any forum for debate, challenging Gruevski’s party’s version of the truth, or even providing opinions critical of the current political establishment.
On September 8 Macedonia celebrates 20 years of independence, and I will drink a shot of rakija in memory of the lost hope, enthusiasm, effort and love invested by a whole generation of journalists in Macedonia. It is indicative that most of them are no longer in the country.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/aaa-tv-s-death-symbolises-a-country-s-lost-hopes