Media pluralism and content diversity
The Ethical Code of the Albanian Media Institute72, created in 1996 and revised in 2006, states that journalists “have the right to obtain information, to publish, and to criticise. Information should be truthful, balanced and verified”. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), journalism in Albania is in a “problematic state”73. A joint research project between Reporters Without Borders and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania revealed that Albanian media is mostly controlled by a few major owners with strong political affiliations, which control more than half of the audience share and nearly 90% of the market share and the top four owners in Albania’s Television market reach an audience of between 48.93% to 58,60%74. Across all media sectors the top eight owners reach an audience of 72,1% to 80.1%.
The International Press Institute has highlighted challenges including physical attacks and smear campaigns against the press that are critical of the government. The Freedom House 2021 country report gives 2/4 points – “Are there free and independent media?” – The Freedom House rating for Independent Media rating declined from 3.75 to 3.50 out of 7, reflecting the legal and verbal harassment of independent journalists by politicians and power brokers, along with intimidation and prosecution of journalists for allegedly spreading panic.
In 2018 the Government set to amend the laws 97/2013 and later 9918/2020 in what was known as “the anti-defamation package”. The Albanian government continued to push for the amendments despite criticisms from civil society, the OSCE and the Venice Commission Opinion Nr. 980/2020 of 19 June 2020. The new provisions aim to grant the Albanian Media Authority the power to adopt restrictive measures, including the forced removal of content.
Difficulties have also arisen during the Covid pandemic, with measures of allowing only 2 people in a studio at one time. A Reporters Without Borders75 (RSF) report stated that “At the start of the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Edi Rama urged the public to “protect themselves against the media” and refused to help when the pandemic exacerbated the media’s financial problems to the point that newspapers stopped producing print editions for about six weeks”. This period, in addition to overall decline in print media sales, has driven media salaries down, discouraging independent reporting.
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