MANJINE I MEDIJI NA ZAPADNOM BALKANU - RRPP

The non-governmental sector is a very useful, but according to many media surveys and wider
sociological surveys from the Southeast European region, insufficiently used source of
information. Cooperation with the governmental sector is an obligation of public media
because social pluralism may be expressed to greater extent this way. The NGO sector with
its activities serves as a corrective (through criticism or support) of various social matrices.
A general recommendation is that media and national minority associations should cooperate
better. Associations should help media to identify the biggest minority problems and assist
them in finding interlocutors. This is an interactive process where associations at the same
time get an opportunity to present their activities to the public. We recommend continuing the
practice of educating activists from these associations in communication with media.
Media should also cooperate better with a variety of state bodies (National Minority
Councils…) because these institutions are supposed to establish communication between the
public authorities and the non-governmental sector in the exercise of rights of national
minorities. At the same time, greater media interest in these bodies would ensure a critical
attitude of the public toward their work, especially toward accountability of public authorities.
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