Skopje, 26 October 2022 (MIA) — In a public letter to Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and Deputy PM of Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi, the SMIA Union of Media Information Agencies has responded to the pressures on the Media Information Agency to cut its salary budget. The proposed cuts would shrink journalists’ already low paychecks as well as disrupt MIA newsroom operations and its distribution of information to the public, unionists write. The letter says the government, despite its advocating for free media and well-informed citizens — and after already having cut MIA’s budget by 20 percent recently — was putting pressure on MIA to cut its salary budget even more. Yet the news agency had been singled out as a positive example in the European Commission’s report for its collective agreement, the letter says, adding: “We hope that this is not the reason for the government to reach for the modest, i.e., lower than low, salaries and benefits received by journalists in the state agency.” The unionists highlight that MIA is the main source of information for every other media outlet in the country as well as embassies, international organizations and other news agencies throughout Europe – which makes the agency different from any other state institution that could have its budget cut without the same consequences. In addition, MIA covers the news 24 hours a day, on holidays and Saturdays and Sundays, so cutting overtime pay would violate workers' rights, the letter points out. Also, newsroom operations have continued uninterrupted amid the pandemic and the energy crisis despite staff not having adequate working conditions: “MIA continues to carry out its duties professionally even though it currently works in makeshift conditions in the hall of a building intended for the Faculty of Drama and Theater Arts. “Even in such conditions, we are making efforts to save energy amid the current crisis. In the hall (the theater’s waiting room), there are 10 LED bulbs, of which only 3 or 4 are turned on at night. The only computers used are those needed by the journalists on duty, so we have been saving electricity as much as possible. “The government's recommendations for rotating staff have also been respected: Some of our employees work from home. “Non-productive costs have been cut to the maximum. Everyone brings paper towels from home. The water is not drinkable because occasionally rust flows from it, so we only use it to flush the toilets," the letter says. Unionists also recall that at the start of the pandemic, MIA reporters were often the only ones covering events and broadcasting live from press conferences held by government officials and health care workers. “Our journalists, even when sick with Covid, did not stop writing news from home, so as not to create panic due to the crisis,” the letter says. “We even increased our production,” unionists add, stressing that despite all this, the news agency’s budget had not been spared from budget cuts “while other media received financial assistance from the government as part of its anti-crisis measures.” “As journalists, every day we have information on the crisis and its effects. We are aware that some measures are needed to deal with it. “But on the other hand, we also have information on non-productive expenses in state institutions, which can be cut without reducing the institution's efficiency,” the unionists note. mr/