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Media Sustainability Index (MSI) - Europe and Eurasia

MSI Europe & Eurasia 2008

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Albania

Introduction

Overall Country Score: 2.21

The attempts of political powers to dominate the media have not faded; in fact, they have become more sophisticated. In addition, the influence of different economic lobbies, linked to oligarchs in the political circles, has become increasingly visible. In an environment rich in political pressure and poor in institutions that might promote separation of powers, freedom of the media in Albania remains under threat.

The numerous fiscal pressures that the government exerted on the media in 2006 produced negative results in 2007. Media who until recently viewed the government of Prime Minister Berisha quite unfavorably were forced to reverse their editorial policies. This development and others, such as government institutions refusing access to information and the slow approval by Parliament of a series of freedom of expression and digital broadcast licensing laws, have notably influenced the media situation in Albania.

Continuing political rivalry exacerbated the deteriorating media situation in Albania in 2007. Local government elections, which once again were regarded as not meeting international standards, resulted in the ruling Democratic Party losing Tirana and all the main cities in the country but preserving a slight advantage in rural areas. President Alfred Moisiu’s term drew to a close and Parliament took up the task of electing his successor. The opposition wanted this post, the highest of the state, to be held by a consensual candidate in light of Berisha’s control of all other state institutions. However, by cooperating with his former political enemy, Fatos Nano, Berisha was able to engineer the election of Bamir Topi from his party as president.

A few months after obtaining the presidency, Topi dismissed the chief prosecuting attorney, which his predecessor had opposed. This action has intensified the fear that the prosecuting authority will be misused by the government against members of the opposition and other critics in media and civil society.

Transparency International again ranked Albania as one of the most corrupt in the world. The hopes of many that Berisha would fight corruption have turned into disappointment. Small-scale corruption has become massive. Projects of the previous Socialist government, which were denounced as corrupt by the then-opposition, were continued by the opposition once in power. Corruption and incompetence precipitated an energy crisis that causes blackouts ranging from four hours a day in Tirana to 17 hours in remote areas. New cases of government corruption are denounced in the media on a continual basis.

This year’s MSI study returned a score of 2.21, slightly lower than last year’s 2.41. Four out of the five objectives suffered drops; only Objective 3 did not change. All objectives fell relatively close to the overall average, except for Objective 4, Business Management, that came in at 1.71. Albania’s overall average was last among Southeast Europe countries.

Objective 1: Freedom of Speech

Score: 2.47

The indicators that express the degree of legal and social protection of free speech manifest on average a slight decrease compared to last year. Many speakers on the panel stated that there is a lack of political will to implement the existing laws and also to improve legislation that supports freedom of expression and access to information. One of the panelists, lawyer Genti Ibrahimi, said that his expectations one year ago on the improvement of media legislation have faded, as long as a series of bills have not yet been approved by the ruling majority. This leads him to think that the hindrance is not just a technical one, but political will is absent altogether. “It is no coincidence that, similar to previous governments, the bills “On Press,” regulating digital broadcasting, and that would amend the Penal and Civil Codes regarding defamation continue to rot for some years now in the drawers of the Parliament,” said Ibrahimi.

Meanwhile, panelists said that even with regard to the implementation of existing laws, there is a series of problems that hinder freedom of expression and access to information. According to panel speaker Nasi Goga, sources of access to information for journalists not only have not increased this year, but they are at lower levels than before. Even for other panelists freedom of speech in Albania continues to be harmed in two ways: by obstructing it and by misusing it. “Public offices continue to be inaccessible, with stronger fortifications than in Burkina Faso,” said panelist Ilir Yzeiri, journalist and professor of journalism in the University of Elbasan. Sharing his own experience as a journalist of the investigative anti-corruption program called “Hapur,” financed by USAID, Yzeiri expressed his concern regarding the fact that journalists and cameras often find it extremely difficult or even impossible to enter the ministries. Meanwhile, other participants in the panel stated that unlike the promises made for a more transparent and open governing vis-à-vis the media and the public, it is clear that the government offices are increasingly shut to the journalists. A bitter feeling spread among the general public when the Council of Ministers refused to grant the General Prosecutor’s demand to possess, for investigation purposes of a corruption charge against one of its ministers, the minutes of a government meeting. If the government refuses to hand over documents to the institution of the prosecutor, what can be expected to happen to a journalist’s request? This was one of the concerns voiced in the panel. Meanwhile, other participants in the panel reaffirmed the already noted phenomenon in Albania of privileged treatment by public administration at all levels of those media that appear favorable and close to the government.

Again, the phenomenon of abuse of freedom of speech appeared not just in terms of arrogance against media, but also in the shape of indifference towards media. There was concern that there were many cases when media denounced corruptive affairs, but public institutions, whose job is to react, remained silent. The phenomenon relates naturally to the weakness that characterizes for a long time the Albanian society and its democracy, still in its infancy, the lack of independence of powers and first of all the lack of independent judicial power. It is precisely the enslavement and corruption of these powers that renders them dead to the media alerts. This remains a rather dangerous phenomenon, leading to a public compromising of the mission of freedom of speech, representing it as a vanity, useless to everyone.

To the panelists the licensing of the media continues to be shaped by a pronounced political clientelism, which expresses once again the greedy drive of politics and its powers to control and use media. Important in the debate on this problem was the discussion of lawyer Gent Ibrahimi, who is also member of the National Council of Radio and Television (KKRT), an institution whose task is to license media and oversee the implementation of law by them. According to Ibrahimi, the election of KKRT members continues to be a significantly political process and this institution can be efficient in the implementation of its own decisions as long as they are harmonious to the perceived interests of the government. “When there is harmony between the decisions of KKRT and the government interests, the police or the tax police also obey these decisions; when this harmony is inexistent, KKRT decisions are not implemented,” said Ibrahimi. These arguments became stronger after Musa Ulqini, member of the opposition and member of the parliamentary media commission, added some of his own. Ulqini evoked a KKRT decision to license a local station, TV Ora, which, according to him, was a decision made under powerful political pressure by the ruling party. “The licensing of TV Ora was a scandalous example of political pressure for establishing television station in its own favor, at a time when license was denied to more powerful operators,” said Ulqini.

The panelists’ view was that media as a business does not suffer any discrimination regarding fiscal policies and taxies that the government applies. “Having a media business, you do not encounter any discrimination or disadvantage as compared to other businesses” said Bashkim Hoxha, who is owner for many years of Teuta TV, one of the most successful local stations. However, Hoxha further clarified, there is a considerable number of media that do not pay the taxes as the law and the state requires. This has led to clashes of the government with specific media, added Hoxha, recalling a notorious conflict that emerged in 2006-2007 between the government and the media company Digitalb. At the time the government accused Digitalb company, whose media were rather critical to the government, of a tax evasion of approximately €13 million, accrued over several years. To the public opinion this was an overblown figure and the problem has remained unresolved to this day. Political opposition, segments of civil society, and some media accused the government that it was attempting to exert fiscal pressure to silence the criticizing media. Doubts increased in view of the fact that the charge on evasion was aimed only against Digitalb and the tax police carried out unduly extensive controls of several months only in the offices of this company, while other media and media companies, close to the government, did not had such an interference, even though they could have the same problems in paying taxes. To Gent Ibrahimi, the selective interventions of the government have been rather obvious and this phenomenon, coupled to the absence of a supportive policy vis-à-vis the media, have led to him assessing this indicator with a 3 instead of a 4. Other participants in the panel shared the same view, saying that it was not sufficient for media as a business not to be discriminated compared to other businesses, which are much more profitable than media business. A large number of television stations in cities other than Tirana are in extremely difficult financial position, due also to the anemic and weak situation of businesses in those areas, unable to sufficiently feed media with advertising revenue. Many of these media survive only thanks to the maximum reduction of costs (which is translating in very backward technology, reduced staff and programs, as well as low salaries for journalists) and to the poor subsidizing from businesses of media owners. The present situation is analogical to local newspapers, which disappeared in the transition years. Currently in Albania all newspapers and magazines are published only in the capital Tirana. Many people fear the repetition of this situation even with electronic media, especially televisions. The concentration of the media only in the capital would have negative consequences. This would increase the potential for media control and manipulation by the central government. It would also have a huge cost on the information of citizens. The capital-based media will never be able to convey in detail the range of problems and information that citizens in other cities need. For different reasons, media in Tirana are unable to overlook second-hand news, which could be very important news for the inhabitants of another city or a commune. Concern grows stronger when noticing the decreasing chances for survival of local media at a time when Albania is going through the process of the so-called decentralizing reform of the government, which aims to provide increasing competencies and financial means to the local governments. Who will inform citizens on the governing process of these increasingly powerful governments, if the local media does not become stronger or even ceases to exist?

Panelists also assessed an aspect of fiscal policy that forces private businesses (including media), to determine the minimum salary for employees. A consequence of this policy is that currently you cannot find a reporter (in the capital, but not in other cities) whose salary is lower than €300 per month. Meanwhile, the speakers did not assess as positive to the media the impact of the government’s policy to stop the publication of public money advertising in the media. Instead of fighting media dependence on the government, according to the speakers this measure further weakens the financial position of the media, increasing their chances to fall under the influence of other financial supporters, or, alternatively, government itself. To Ilir Yzeiri, the cut-off of public money advertising to media does not make sense and it is even harmful at a time when even after applying this policy we can see that the media have not changed, being still divided in media for and against the government respectively.

There have been no cases of murder of journalists in Albania. However, different forms of pressures against them have been present. Albania still belongs to the group of infant democracies, where the absence of strong institutions, which protect human rights, and the lack of strong organizations of professional solidarity (particularly among journalists), lead to criticizing positions vis-à-vis the government attracting a reaction of diverse pressures from the government. We should bear in mind that in the early years of post-communist transition the then-democratic government tried to “discipline” free speech by exerting even severe violence on journalists. At the time several journalists were imprisoned, while the newsroom of an independent newspaper was torched. This violence on journalists and the media had very heavy political consequences on the ruling majority at the time and on democrat President Sali Berisha, who inspired this hard line. It seems this was a lesson he learnt. Currently, back to power as prime minister, Berisha has tried to build up a facade that lends the impression of correct relations between government and power with journalists. However, beyond the facade, relations are not that rosy. Journalists and stations unfavorable to the government are not viewed favorably by many levels of power, while public offices are becoming increasingly reticent and non-cooperating vis-à-vis their requests for information. Meanwhile, there have also been cases when relatives of journalists that oppose the government have been fired only for this reason. In a poor country like Albania, unemployment of relatives is a powerful pressure tool of the government to lead journalists to change their attitude. The camouflaged pressure of the government on free speech is also aided by a significant environment of bigots and supporters of the government. Many people in Albania still think that the journalist that criticizes is not a symbol of free speech and the embodiment of human right to say what he or she thinks; it is not rarely that this journalist is perceived as an enemy of the party, enemy of the government and enemy of the people, similarly to communism.
 
With regard to the nature of public media, it was again stressed that Albanian Public Television (TVSH), continues to position itself as favorable to the government, although the politics’ sensitivity vis-à-vis the public broadcaster is not the same, due to the emergence of numerous private stations. Even though TVSH no longer has the monopoly of television industry like it used to, it still remains a media stronghold that no government gives up. Once again, with the change of power in 2005, a change of all management of TVSH followed. This phenomenon was judged by the panelists as an indicator of the capture of this public institution by the government, which, inevitably is revealed in the biased position it has and in its editorial policies. “Since the management of the public media continues to be appointed by politicians, this public media has no way of being independent, hence it cannot be public” said Genc Ymeraj, journalist and ex-director in TVSH, currently working in commercial television “News 24.” Musa Ulqini, Member of Parliament and member of the Parliamentary Media Commission shared the same opinion. According to Ulqini, politics has used unfair mechanisms to tune in the management team of TVSH to the tastes of the government. However, to Lutfi Dervishi, director of news in the public television, pressure of politics derives more from the small parties. “I receive most of the calls from small actors in politics, who try to occupy a few more seconds in the news editions”- said Dervishi. Meanwhile, to lawyer Genti Ibrahimi, it is an unjustifiable privilege for TVSH to avail of two national frequencies (one of which it does not put to use for years) while some rather developed commercial stations like “Vizion+” still only have a local license, which now is too narrow for their increasing capacities. MP Musa Ulqini interpreted this situation in a different manner. According to him, by leaving two national licenses to TVSH, the law does not intend to favor public television, but the public itself, so that the public broadcaster can establish a digital platform, where children of poor families, who cannot afford to subscribe to private platforms, can also watch movies. The fact that no government or parliament invests on the use of the second national frequency by the public television for public purposes is not a legal pitfall. Meanwhile, there is another problem regarding the public television. Until recently this station enjoyed the most extensive coverage in the country, but currently it is experiencing problems. “To me the public television does not have any public, as in my city it is not received at all said Shkëlqim Bylykbashi, owner of a television station in the south of the country.

The problem of libel and defamation remains yet unsolved. A statement of prime minister Berisha that his administration would not sue for libel any journalists is not a satisfactory solution of the problem to the panelists. This is not only for the fact that such a promise is temporary, as every prime minister is, but also it does not foster the harmonization of the work of journalists with the demands of the professional ethics. Presently in Albania there is a situation diametrically opposed to few years ago, when many journalists were taken to court for political reasons, disguised under the charge of libel and defamation. Nowadays the opposite is true. No reporter is taken to court, even though he or she truly insults or defames a politician. To many panelists, this kind of “freedom,” which does not respect human dignity and does not stem from the law, is not a freedom. Actions can become right only when justice is made through the law. However, this is where the obstacles start. Albanian law on defamation and libel is not up to the required standards. It is several years now that the work for amending the Civil Code and for decriminalizing libel and defamation by removing it from the Penal Code has started. However, these amendments are not passing in the Parliament yet. This is a phenomenon that to many panelists witnesses the lack of political will, and, hence, it has affected the drop of the indicator’s points. To the panelists it was difficult to evaluate positively the fact that no journalist has been taken to court when having in mind that this is not a consequence of the improvement of the ethical level of journalists, but it derives from the mercy of the government or politicians.

From the legal point of view, access to public information for journalists is arranged satisfactorily. In general all panelists shared this opinion. However, in practice things are different. Two trends emerge at this point. For one, the journalists often suffice themselves only with a press conference and rarely exploit their legal right to access more in-depth public information. “The lack of attendance of journalists in the day of the organization of the energy tender by the Electric Corporation was not positive at all, especially when thinking that it is exactly these reporters that accuse of abuses with energy tenders” said Bashkim Hoxha. The other trend is related to an increasingly strong tendency of the public administration to remain shut to the media, even in those few cases when reporters demand additional information for investigation. “While I was working for the investigative program “Hapur,” we have experienced difficulties in gathering information in many of the ministries and with many employees who begged us not to request any information, as they feared loss of their jobs”- said Ilir Yzeiri.

Objective 2: Professional Journalism

Score: 1.26

Even the indicator of the standards of professional journalism shows a decrease compared to one year ago. Panelists concluded that the emergence of an increasingly high number of quality journalists has not had the desired impact on the quality of journalists, magazines, or televisions. According to the speakers, the weak link in the media chain is no longer the journalist, but the editor, who has to demand of the journalists compliance with the basic principles of the profession on a daily basis. It is not a lack of knowledge the fact that it is very rare to find an article based at least on two sources said Andi Tela, editor-in-chief of daily Panorama. Tela said that most of the articles are based only on one source. “Many journalists write their news from their desk and only a few of them go on field to be in touch with the news” said Bashkim Hoxha. For some other panelists, the superficial and unbalanced nature of these articles stems also from the overload journalists face, sometimes amounting to two or three reports or articles per day. “Such an intensity of work forces journalists to be more superficial” said Iris Luarasi, professor in the journalism branch of the University of Tirana.

A Code of Ethics has existed for some time in Albania. Recently a Council of Ethics was also established, but in reality references to the ethical standards are extremely limited. There is not even one case when the Council of Ethics has addressed a problem regarding the violation of ethical standards from journalists and the panelists’ opinion was that this problem is still unsolved.

The more conflict in politics, the stronger the tendencies are to misuse newspapers and television stations as weapons against rival parties. Bitter political struggles also awaken internal struggles of media and journalists from rival political camps. The negative effects of these factors grew even stronger since media power in Albania remains loosely regulated and, as mentioned above, forums that are charged with imposing ethics codes are generally inactive. The result is reporting by some outlets that is completely devoid of balance and does not reflect ethical standards.

The overwhelming part of the speakers in the panel admitted that media and journalists are subjected to self-censorship for different reasons. This is a self-censorship that has certainly been present previously, but now it presents a few more particular traits. While years ago the cause of self-censorship was mainly politics, economy has increasingly become a factor nowadays. “It is more the business interests and the interests of media owners that impose self-censorship” said Aleksandër Çipa, journalist and President of the Union of Albanian Journalists. However, to the speakers, the pressure of politics as a source of self-censorship is still active. The panel brought two examples that illustrate the political-economic nature of self-censorship. One example is the mobile phone duopoly (a third company was licensed in March, 2008). The overwhelming majority of newspapers and broadcasters did not report on the protests by the civil society over, or themselves come out against, high fees because the mobile telephone companies are among the most powerful buyers of advertising in the country. This case was a pure example of self-censorship for economic reasons.

Another case reveals the political nature of self-censorship: the scandal related to the construction of the road Rrëshen-Kalimash. Many media tried to avoid this hot potato. The main cause for this was not the pressure from Bechtel, the investment firm. Rather, this was part of a severe political debate, which put government in the center of the corruption charges.

To some speakers self-censorship is related also to the above-mentioned causes, such as loss of job or a potential retaliation by politicians on the relatives of journalists. The lack of work contracts and social protection for most Albanian journalists also fosters self-censorship. Self-censorship is related directly to whether Albanian journalists will or will not cover key issues. To the panelists it was evident that media and journalists address many important problems to the public. However, it was emphasized that it often happens that self-censorship hinders the fulfillment of this mission. Using the terms ironically, one of the speakers said that “it is precisely due to self-censorship that in some cases media and journalists cover up, instead of discovering the key problems.”

Albania is the poorest country in the Balkans and Europe. The salaries of Albanian journalists in general remain low and are not an incentive that serves as a shield for temptation of corruption, although the journalists’ salaries are not among the lowest compared to the rest of the population. “The salaries of journalists are above the average level of salaries in the society” said Bashkim Hoxha. Many others share the same thought, including MP Musa Ulqini, who said that “compared to police, health personnel, or teachers, the salaries in the community of journalists are more satisfactory.” However, the speakers noted one cause for concern: salaries remain significantly lower in smaller cities. One of the panelists humorously formulated the “law” of the salary level, saying that “the salary of Albanian journalists diminishes in proportion to the distance from the capital.” Aleksandër Cipa, president of the Union of Albanian Journalists, said that “the level of salaries of local journalists is so scandalous that it cannot even reach the average level of salary as defined by government standards. It is 60 percent of the community of journalists in the country that receives these kind of salaries” added Cipa. Panelists also decried journalists receiving their salaries with several months of delay.

Although they admitted that the increase of the salary level is among the factors that prompt one to be loyal to the principles of the profession, panelists could not help but note that salary is not everything. “Even some journalists or editors-in-chief, who receive very high salaries, are not immune to different kinds of corruption” said Genci Ymeraj. Meanwhile, for Andi Tela, “you could pay a reporter even €10,000 per month and he or she will regardless sell himself or herself and accept to write commissioned articles, if this runs in his or her blood.” However, it was admitted in general that the lower the salary, the greater the willingness to use the profession for corruption purposes. The strong tendency of journalists to leave the profession as soon as they have a chance is also related to the relatively low salaries. There are a significant number of journalists who turn into spokespersons, or even members of parliament, as soon as there is a rotation of political power (which confirms their links to politics.)

All speakers shared the opinion that entertainment programs do not eclipse news and informative programs. In general the program framework of television stations is well-structured, preserving the right ratio of news, information, and entertainment. There are also stations that are devoted entirely to news, such as News 24, Nesër TV, Top News, and Ora TV. These channels also broadcast news using subtitles.

With regard to technical equipment and production valuess, it is easy to notice a huge difference between Tirana-based stations and local stations. In Tirana today it is possible to find the most advanced techniques of digital broadcasting, mainly thanks to the investment by Top Channel and DigitAlb. These two companies installed the first digital terrestrial and satellite platforms a few years ago. Later on Digitalb enhanced its services through television broadcasting in mobile telephony, as well as with the introduction in the digital platform of two high-definition programs. Other television stations, like Vizion + or Klan also use rather modern premises and technology. However, the situation appears to be completely different in the television stations of other cities. Even media in somewhat bigger cities and located in an area where business is more intensive, such as Durrësi, Lushnja,Fieri, Shkodra or Vlora, not only find it difficult to compete with the media in the capital when it comes to technology, but they also face problems of survival. Media in even more remote towns, in isolated and poor areas like Tropoja, Bulqiza, Kuksi or Dibra, are in situations of technical poverty. “Many local televisions have made no investment for years and their poor situation regarding premises and technology is not even monitored by the National Council of Radio and Television, which, after granting the license, is interested only in collecting the taxes” said Shkelqim Bylykbashi.

Regarding the diversity of programming, panelists noted that in both print and electronic media all kinds of programs are present: besides political news you will also find business, culture, and sports. Although the public continues to stay focused on political news, news and programs from other areas are becoming an increasingly irreplaceable feature in the media. One of the panelists said that “in spite of the priorities that politics still enjoys over economy, or sports and culture, we are at a stage when the lack of news on the economy, sports, or culture is perceived as a unforgivable shortcoming of the station or newspaper.”

Objective 3: Plurality of News Sources

Score: 2.32

This is the only MSI objective that does not reflect any decrease compared to a year ago. At the same time, it also has not increased. The panelists’ discussions noted that the range of problems related to the sources of information is the same. One of the most debated problems concerned several contradictory developments in the press industry. On one hand, there is an increase in the number of newspapers, and, on the other hand, there is a decrease in their total circulation. So, although today there are about 30 titles of daily newspapers, their total daily circulation does not exceed 70,000 copies. To panelist Ilir Yzeiri, journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Elbasan, one of the causes for this situation is also the fact that newspapers are produced only in the capital and are distributed only in the main cities, but do not reach the villages and the remote areas. “We have an Albania that is habitable only in the capital, where there are newspapers and Internet. On the other hand, there is another Albania, increasingly not fit to live, where newspapers do not travel and even if there is any Internet cafe, the prices are too high for the citizens” said Yzeiri.

Other panelists also expressed their concern on the situation of press, recalling the bitter fact that in the five years of transition after the fall of communism, the failure and death of local press was imminent. Currently, the national press also is showing alarming symptoms. The increasing competition with electronic media was counted as one of the factors that diminish the circulation of newspapers. However, to the panelists, the main cause is poverty of businesses and poverty of people. The economic situation, which is still far from thriving, does not allow businesses to place enough advertisements in the printed press, at the same time that poverty is having its toll among newspaper buyers. Currently, the largest newspapers in the country hardly exceed a daily circulation of 15,000 copies. The fact that the two largest newspapers have the lowest price compared to other dailies was attributed to the poverty of buyers. “Many people with a monthly income of about €200 per month tend to buy a newspaper that costs 20 cents rather than another that costs 50,” said Genc Ymeraj.

In fact, cover price remains one of the most debated issues among newspaper publishers. Even the slightest fluctuation in price is immediately reflected on the sold copies. Some publishers complain that a price below 20 cents is a price below the cost of newspapers. For this reason, they have demanded the drafting of a law that sets a floor price for newspapers, which would be in harmony with the cost of their production. However, this viewpoint is opposed by other publishers, who stress that such a measure not only counters freedom of the market, but will lead to fewer buyers, rendering the financial situation of the press even more difficult.

While to some panelists it is an alarming fact that in a country of about three million inhabitants only about 70,000 newspapers are sold per day, to other panelists it is precisely the development of electronic media that compensates the weakness of the press regarding the information of people. Member of parliament Musa Ulqini appeared to be the most optimistic one regarding the plurality of sources of information, saying “I believe that in Albania, with its three million inhabitants, where one third of the population lives in the capital, and half of the population lives near the capital, where we have about 120 television and radio stations, the diversity of information sources is at its maximum”.

Apart from technical and financial causes, there is no law in Albania to hinder access of citizens to local and international media. However, in spite of the expansion of the Internet, Albania remains the most backward country in the region and in Europe regarding Internet speed. This is rather worrying to Gent Ibrahimi. According to him this might threaten freedom of information, because while information in newspapers and televisions can be controlled in many ways by politics and business, “Internet grants people a range of information that is difficult to control.”

With regard to public media, which in Albania is represented by Albanian Public Radio and Television, the panelists said that in spite of an enrichment of programming at this station in the last year, government influence on its editorial policy is still visible. The panelists discussed why every time governments change they continue to insist on controlling TVSH, at a time when commercial media are currently the main opinion makers. To Bashkim Hoxha, this phenomenon is related to the change of management in TVSH every time the government changes, as well as to the fact that “public television continues to be considered as government media and not public media.” However, to Musa Ulqini there is another cause, related to elections, which makes every government put TVSH under its control, and it is the fact that “public television is the only one whose signal is able to cover the northeastern part of Albania. In this area, due to the mountainous terrain and the low development of business, private media are not encouraged to invest.”

There are no longer private news agencies in Albania. Attempts made in earlier years failed for different reasons. However, the public news agency, ATSH, does not seem to be any more successful. The panel noted that newspapers and stations rely increasingly less on news produced by this news agency. Apparently, the low quality of news produced by this agency is a factor here, so Albanian media prefer to investigate and produce their own news. “Establishing a private or public news agency means that the news you produce is so good that other media want to buy it; this does not happen here,” said Lutfi Dervishi. In fact, a strange relation seems to be in place between ATSH and private media. Instead of the news agency feeding news to the media, it seems that private media are the ones that feed news to the agency. Meanwhile, almost all newspapers and stations use as sources of information the news provided by internationally renowned agencies, such as Reuters or the Associated Press.

Regarding the transparency of media ownership, it can be said that while it is clear who the owners are, there is no clarity and transparency regarding the sources of financing. The fact that a year ago, the prime minister publicly charged some private media of being “daggers of the mafia” left a bitter feeling among public opinion. This rather grave charge remains unsupported to this day.

The panelists evaluated the indicator related to a broad spectrum of interests being relfected, including sources of information in minority languages. From the legal viewpoint there are no hindrances to developing private media for minorities. “The law allows for one or more individuals to open a local television in the Greek language or those for other minorities,” said Musa Ulqini. If this does not happen, it is only due to financial weakness of minorities. Meanwhile, the panel stressed that the public broadcaster has respected all conventions regarding sources of information for minorities. Currently the public radio and television broadcast programs in Greek and Macedonian where these minorities are present.

Objective 4: Business Management

Score: 1.71

Even this objective presents a drastic deterioration compared to a year ago. Almost all panelists shared the opinion that media and press distribution companies do not yet operate as efficient and professional businesses. With the exception of a few big televisions, such as Top Channel, TV Klan, or Vizion +, all other media cannot survive with advertising revenue or sales if they are not subsidized by private businesses or other interests that control them.

The panel discussion addressed in greater detail the press problem. There are currently about 22 daily newspapers in the country, but the number of sold copies is very low. With the exception of a handful of newspapers that sell up to 15,000 copies per day, there are many newspapers that do not sell even 1,000. It is precisely the subsidies from the owners that keep them on the market. “Many newspapers are like a patient in the intensive care unit and would die immediately if you unplug all the ‘equipment’ and ‘injections,’” said Genci Ymeraj.

The existence of many newspapers and the still-small advertising market (which is even smaller for newspapers, since most of the advertising pie is absorbed by television), leads to newspapers having significantly lower revenue compared to the cost of their production. Price of advertisements is also very low. “If the price of an advertisement in a country like the Czech Republic can be €8,000, in Albania you can publish an ad in a newspaper even with €200,” said Lutfi Dervishi.

The only successfully managed part of the press industry seems to be the printing houses. The same cannot be said about the press distribution companies, which, similar to newspapers, suffer the consequences of small advertising revenue. Supported by the owners of some newspapers, these companies distribute the press only in the cities and do not reach rural areas, where a sizable part of the population still lives. Nobody has ever calculated whether the expansion of the market to include the villages would bring enough revenue as to justify such a move. The problem remains caught in a vicious circle: newspapers do not go to the villages because there is no money to do so and newspapers lack money because they do not go to the villages.

With regard to the electronic media, national television stations and some Tirana-based television stations absorb the bulk of advertisement by big companies in the country, like the mobile telephone providers or Coca-Cola. They do this through advertising agencies. The advertisements of local businesses usually end up with local stations. Even though advertising remains the main source of revenue for all media, given that the fees charged are rather low this revenue is insufficient to make stations profitable, particularly local ones.

With regard to the government subsidies to the media, legally they do not exist. However, to many participants in the panel the subsidizing of media by the government exists in practice through the publication of tender notifications, offers, or other services by public entities. “Many of the notifications on tenders or privatizations are made by public entities based on political preferences,” said Bashkim Hoxha. According to Andi Tela, “the pages of newspapers close to the government are filled with notifications of public institutions, while they are absent in other newspapers.”

Meanwhile, there are still no genuine media market studies that could serve as the basis for strategic plans. In recent years some private television stations or media companies have occasionally carried out media market studies. However, since these studies were commissioned by a media outlet, the results have been opposed by other rival media. This happened two years ago with a study started by Vizion+.

According to Iris Luarasi, the main problem is that these studies allow for the potential of subjectivity. Luarasi indicated that it would be completely different if the study were carried out with joint financing of several media or by a prestigious institution specializing in these studies. However, similar institutions do not exist yet in Albania, while the chances for competing media to cooperate on financing such a study are rather slim.

As a result, many newspapers with a very small circulation or televisions with rather limited audiences sell themselves as important media. This misleads the advertising business and presents an obstacle to media’s decision making regarding publications and programming. However, in general, many media owners are not interested in knowing the real dimensions of the media they own. “Asking a newspaper owner what is the circulation of his newspaper might sound as an impolite request and is equally unwelcome as asking a not-so-young woman about her age,” one of the panelists stated wryly.

Objective 5: Supporting Institutions

Score: 2.30

This objective presents a slight decrease compared to a year ago. In fact, the drop might have been more significant, but the panelists stated that they were prompted to increase their assessment only in view of the activity that the Union of Albanian Journalists (UGSH) was carrying out. This union was established three years ago with the support of USAID. “Until now all organizations or media associations have only remained in letter. Only the Union appears as an active organization, which travels outside Tirana, organizes meetings with journalists and is registering them, and carries out press conferences on media problems. Finally, after 17 years we are noticing an embryo of organization of journalists, which indicates that it is likely to grow,” said Lutfi Dervishi. In addition, UGSH, for the first time, has helped develop and implement a strategy to enable the signing of labor contracts for journalists. The first step of this strategy was the signing of an agreement between the Union of Journalists and the Ministry of Labor. The Union has since helped journalists from several important stations, like Top Channel, to obtain contracts.

As it has been in past years, the associations of publishers and media owners have been active in protecting the interests of owners. They have lobbied the Parliament and government regarding media legislation, such as with the law on digital broadcasting. However, their activity remains very limited and they do not have the strength to impose their opinions to the government in a more generalized manner to address the broad range of problems facing media in Albania.

Civil society and NGOs support media and freedom of expression. The Albanian Helsinki Committee is a particularly active NGO, having reacted swiftly and successfully every time there have been cases of violation of journalists rights or freedom of speech. Many other NGOs have been involved by offering expertise to help improve media legislation.

There are numerous possibilities for training journalists in Albania. Currently there are three journalism faculties in three cities. There is also the Albanian Media Institute in Tirana, which carries out numerous trainings. However, the panelists noted that the willingness of journalists to be part of these trainings has decreased. According to one of the panelists, this is because the culture of lifelong training is not part of the mindset of media publishers or owners yet. In some of the more advanced media significant resources are invested on technology, but very little is spent on journalism training.

Panelists in general highly rated the role of printing houses and distributors, noting that they are commercial, apolitical, and not restricting the printed media in any way.

Panel Participants

  • Fatos Baxhaku, freelance analyst and journalist, Tirana
  • Andi Tela, editor in chief, Panorama newspaper, Tirana
  • Luftim Vani, station owner, Mati TV, Mati
  • Lutfi Dervishi, freelance journalist, Tirana
  • Iris Luarasi, owner, Radio ime; professor of journalism, University of Tirana, Tirana
  • Musa Ulqini, member, Parliamentary Commission on Mass Media, Tirana
  • Gent Ibrahimi, lawyer, Tirana
  • Bashkim Hoxha, owner, Teuta TV, Durres
  • Genc Ymeraj, editor, News 24 TV station, Tirana
  • Shkelqim Bylykbashi, owner, TV 4 station, Lushnja
  • Thanas Goga, marketing analyst, Tirana
  • Ilir Yzeiri, professor and freelance journalist, Tirana

Moderator and Author: Andrea Stefani, senior media advisor, IREX/Albania, Tirana

Sokol Lilo, assistant, IREX/Albania, Tirana