Expressing the public interest: increasing the power of media and citizens in safeguarding public policies in Macedonia

The project aimed to strengthen the role of citizens, media and civil society organisations as active participants in public debate and as guardians of the public interest in the processes of creating and monitoring public policies.

The project “Expressing the public interest: increasing the power of media and citizens in safeguarding public policies in Macedonia” aimed to strengthen the role of non-governmental organisations, citizens and media in protecting the public interest and monitoring public policies.

The project created platforms for exchanging information, analyses, debates and policy proposals, so that the public would have more opportunities for informed participation in social processes.

The project published several analyses on topics related to the public interest, privacy, the public’s right to know and institutional communications. These include the analyses “Privacy, information and the public interest: the right to privacy versus the public’s right to know”, “In the public eye: the right to privacy of public figures in Macedonia” and “Public interest campaigns the Macedonian way: informing citizens or political propaganda”.

As part of the project, the platform Samo prashaj was created to raise questions of public interest and encourage greater transparency and accountability. In addition, academic blogs on Res Publica addressed topics related to public policy, media, communications and civic participation.

The project contributed to greater visibility of issues of public interest and to stronger public debate by connecting citizens, media, experts and civil society organisations.