Measuring harmful political narratives: HARM-TIVE

The ongoing research “Measuring political harmful narratives” (HARM-TIVE), carried out by the Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) in cooperation with researchers and experts in communications and media, journalists and media professionals, with the support of the British Embassy in Skopje, is longitudinal (2023 and 2024) and is conducted in several phases/steps.

Political actors create and use narratives to shape public opinion, ultimately influencing political behaviour and decision-making. In doing so, they also use the media to promote their narratives. The role of the media, in turn, is to inform the public properly (and not just pass on messages unquestioningly), and to ensure a plurality of opinions, views and reported facts, whose credibility should be checked before publication. In the era of digitalisation, when the online space has become fertile ground for disinformation, misinformation and/or malinformation, in an increasingly “polluted” communication ecology, it is important to examine the narratives of the main political actors in North Macedonia and how different media report on them, that is, how they spread through the media. It is particularly important to examine whether political actors use harmful narratives and how the media report on them.

The research aims to examine whether and how political actors in North Macedonia create, share and use harmful narratives, and what role the media play in reporting on these narratives, that is, whether they apply professional and ethical journalistic values and standards when doing so.