In North Macedonia, where professional independent media struggle with sustainability, programmes such as Western Balkans Media for Change play a significant role. Thanks to this support, these media outlets continue to operate, delivering reliable, high-quality news and covering a range of topics often overlooked by commercial and mainstream media.
The support and resources provided through the Western Balkans Media for Change programme have enabled Portalb.mk team to bring different stories to the forefront, turning our vision into reality by making injustices and challenges more visible, while advocating for social justice, equality, gender-sensitive reporting and youth-centred topics.
By focusing on underrepresented issues and voices often inadequately covered by media, Portalb.mk newsroom aims to contribute to a media landscape that reflects the real needs, problems and challenges of diverse communities. Recognising that it is not solely about reporting but also about compelling institutions and decision-makers to take action, Portalb.mk works diligently to inspire meaningful change.
The most rewarding aspect of this grant is that our team learned to use new tools and techniques that enriched our reporting, helping us enlarge our audience. We dove deeper into investigative journalism and introduced diverse topics in a constructive way, including those considered ‘taboo’ under patriarchal norms. These topics have sparked debates and led to significant engagement on social media and in daily conversations. Through mentorship and various workshops offered by the programme, we have improved our journalistic and multimedia skills, and also had the opportunity to take part in a workshop focused on the wellbeing of journalists. One of our proudest achievements is the Open Mic – a podcast series launched to cover topics directly affecting youth and women, highlighting success stories and talent and openly discussing the issues that matter most to them.
I would also like to highlight the Engaged Citizens Reporting (ECR) tool, which we have successfully integrated into our work. This new tool has greatly helped us connect with our existing audience and reach new audiences we could not engage before. People now feel comfortable reaching out because we have proven to be a media outlet that listens to their voices and helps spark change. The stories we produced have also improved our presence on social media, where we share them in innovative ways, engaging our audience daily. As a team, we believe the media should serve everyone, so we strive to be as open and accessible as possible. I believe that, with everything we have achieved – thanks to the support we’ve received – our readers’ trust has grown and our relationship with them is getting stronger, especially among youth and women. We now often receive suggestions from our audience about the people or topics they’d like us to feature.
Thanks to the opportunities offered through the Western Balkans Media for Change, we have also established meaningful collaborations both in the country and across the region, publishing not only in Albanian but also in other Western Balkan languages. Over the past ten months, more than 70 of our articles have been published on the Meta.mk portal alone.
Overall, after participating in this programme, our team feels more confident, connected, prepared and bold in producing trustworthy, high-quality journalism.
Elida Zylbeari, Editor-in-Chief, Portalb.mk