Albanian media marks the first immigrant-oriented media in Greece

By Christos Loutradis

The media in Greece are facing the consequences of the deep financial and social crisis that has hit the country since last year. The invasion of internet along with the decrease of the public advertising that was the main financial donor of the Greek media for decades, are the main reasons for the massive unemployment that has hit journalism during 2010 and continues to dominate the profession until the first months of 2011.
However, 2010 proved that crisis can be transformed into a tool of success and innovation if the marketers function as leaders. Typical proof of a success in a period of crisis is the increasing influence and presence of the Albanian media in Greece. The Albanian media in Greece are becoming the new trend that tend to shape and alter the identity and target group of the media.
The Albanians in Greece may choose between two newspapers: “Albania Press” and “Tribuna” that are published every Friday. “Albania Press” follows the journalistic model of a typical tabloid-based newspaper, with a section with News from Albania and Greece, sports and lifestyle.
However, the most popular part of the newspaper is “AlbaDonna”, a woman-only magazine that is published the first Friday of every month and has been established as the new fashion and lifestyle trend for the Albanian women that reside in Greece. The presence of well-known celebrities from Albania via interviews in the pages of the magazine is a proof of the popularity that the magazine enjoys.
According to Thanos Domos, managing director of Albania Press, “the newspaper enjoys a circulation of 25,000 only in Athens, at a period when the Greek newspapers strive to survive”. In addition, Thomos stresses the “importance of the Albanian community as a powerful marketing community that wants to make serious and worth-making decisions of what to buy or not”. It is worth mentioning that in the newspaper the significant majority of the most well-established companies in Greece are advertised solely in Albanian.
The main revenue of “Albanian Press” is based in Albanian-oriented advertisements. Furthermore, the presence of “Albanian Press” in Facebook and the ongoing debate regarding issues that are interest for the Albanians in Greece is a proof of a formulation of a community.
Special interest is given to the issues that the Albanian community faces in Greece such as the bureaucratic obstacles and some cases of racism that rarely occur mainly in Athens.
“Tribuna” is mainly an immigrant-oriented newspaper that focuses to the problems and the news of the Albanian Community in Greece and does not wide its scope via adding news sections of more general interest such as for example life style or women-only magazine. However, it enjoys a reputable circulation of 5,000 readers every week mainly from the middle-age spectrum of the Albanians in Athens.
However, one of the newest additions in the Albanian Media in Greece is the opening of various Albanian news portals that cover the Albanian news as well as the Greek news. The main Albanian sites are Albanews.gr and NewsitAL that are updated 24 hours a day during the whole week covering all the possible interests of the Albanian community in Greece. Furthermore, the web sites are owned by respected and well known journalists such as Nikos Evagelatos and Kostas Chardavelas who have a long career in the television and in the radio. The presence of the web sites during the demonstrations in Tirana was crucial, as it was the only link of the Albanians with the events in their home country. During these days the Albanian-language websites were the main source of information not only for the Albanians but for the Greek journalists as well who wanted a direct and instant link of information from Albania.
According to official site rankings, the two web sites enjoy 2,000 hits every day.
The vast majority of the employees are mainly Albanians. In “Albania Press”, in particular the Albanian national identity is obligatory for someone to be employed in the newspaper.
A different but powerful portal is albanians.gr who tries to represent the needs, the interests and the news stories that are produced or are of a great interest for the Albanian community. The main difference from the other Albanian media is the orientation along with the non-commercial target of the portal. However, albanian.gr is the only Albanian web site that organizes parties and events targeted for the Albanian youth that have born or live in Greece for many years.
In sum, the Albanian media is a new trend in Greece in period when the Greek media strive to survive the Albanian newspapers, portals and lifestyle web sites are formulating a new e-Albanian identity in Greece marking the first immigrant-oriented media in Greece.