The research was conducted by analysing and cross-checking publicly available data on print, radio, television and online media in North Macedonia and Serbia, complemented by field reporting and local sources.

For North Macedonia, the main sources were the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (AVMU), including the Register of Print Media and annual media market analyses, which were used to track active and closed print outlets, radio and television stations, and their local, regional or national coverage. The research also used the Register of Professional Online Media, Onlinemedia.mk, as an additional source for online media.

For Serbia, the research relied on the Media Register of the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), as well as data from the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) on radio and television service providers and their coverage areas. Additional publicly available sources, including Prava mera medija, were also consulted.

The Serbian part of the research has greater limitations because information on local media is fragmented across different registers and sources, is not always regularly updated or directly comparable, and the formal registration of a media outlet does not necessarily mean that it is active or produces regular local journalism. The map should therefore be understood as a research-based picture built from the best available data, rather than as a complete and fixed register of all media outlets.

The public is also invited to contribute to the mapping process by reporting places where local news coverage is limited, insufficient or entirely absent.