Who Tells Our Stories? Mapping News Deserts is the first cross-border research initiative to systematically map news deserts in Serbia and North Macedonia. Led by NarativAI, the project combines official data, field reporting and local testimonies to identify communities where access to reliable local journalism is limited or disappearing.

Early findings reveal a clear gap between the formal existence of media and the availability of meaningful local reporting. In North Macedonia, NarativAI’s analysis found that 49 of 80 municipalities do not have a local media outlet of their own. In Serbia, the problem often takes a different form: registered media may exist, but some communities still rely heavily on social media, word of mouth and occasional coverage from neighbouring towns.