Dragan Sekulovski, Executive Director of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, acknowledged citizen journalists and the role of citizen journalism in the development of the democratic society.
„Within the framework of freedom of expression, activism is a very important component. Here I personally distinguish several types of journalists and media workers. Following the trends from America, here in Europe, in the past several years that phenomenon, or journalists acting also as civic activists, is becoming more frequent. That means that the profession itself is gaining a bit of a wider circle, where even ordinary citizens who do not actively deal with journalism have an opportunity, have a share, and some of them do this actively, disseminate information to the public and thus inform the public on topics or on subjects that are of public interest.
In that direction, I believe that the activists, or citizens engaged in citizen journalism, are an exceptionally important component in the development of democracy, especially in countries such as Macedonia, with, unfortunately, a lower level of democratic development, because this way they have greater freedom. Hence, they do not depend on the editorial policy and they themselves can create their own view, their own thought and can publically say it“, said Sekulovski for CIVIL Media.
This post is also available in: Macedonian
