Albania is not lacking in men and women that have a passion and a potential to be great journalists. It is the system that has failed them. One must also look into the roots of the problem with the steady decline of professionalism and quality in Albanian media.
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
A few days ago, the German ambassador sent a statement to the media to clarify why he was spotted near an opposition protest on Dec. 8. One Albanian newspaper had interpreted his showing up briefly after the end of the official rally as support for the opposition, calling him the “the protester of honor.”
“It is complete nonsense,” said the ambassador in a statement sent to media outlets.
Ambassador Hoffman, who is known in Tirana for his approachable low-key style with the media, said he just happened to be nearby and went to see with his own eyes what was happening as protesters were attacking a replica bunker under construction as a tourist attraction near the Ministry of Interior. (Please see our related coverage in regards to the significance of the attack on the bunker.)
His statement condemned local media interpretations that he had gone to the place to support the opposition. In fact, he expressed shock at what he had seen.
Ambassador Hoffmann, like anyone who deals with the Albanian media on a regular basis, has gotten used to the misinterpretation of what is said and done and other inaccuracies, but obviously in this case a red line had been crossed.
This incident sheds light at how unprofessional, biased and/or untruthful Albanian media can be.
But one must also look further into the roots of the problem with the steady decline of professionalism and quality in Albanian media, where plagiarism and half truths run rampant and unchallenged.
Let’s be clear: Albania is not lacking in men and women that have a passion and a potential to be great journalists. It is the system that has failed them.
As OSCE Ambassador Florian Raunig put in a recent public forum on the media, at “a first glance, Albania’s media landscape provides the picture of a very vivid scene with a high number of visual, digital and print media for a relatively low number of consumers. Therefore, in terms of numbers, we might be tempted to think that there is a well-balanced media plurality where media consumers enjoy a wide range of choice. However, looking closer, we realize that what is offered by this high number of media outlets is in fact a quite limited scope of content, often sensational and of limited reliability.”
Experts in this area in Albania never use the phrase “media market.” That’s because the market forces cannot explain the high number of outlets. Many media outlets exists primarily to serve their owners and the patron politicians not the consumers and the public.
If given proper incentives, resources and respect, Albanian journalists have proven they can perform at par with their peers from other countries. But the current system makes it hard for that to happen due to the employment situation and social position of journalists in this country.
Reflecting the observations of many experts on Albania’s media landscape, Raunig also added that “there seems to be a widespread practice in Albania of weakening the professional independence of journalists by keeping them dependent on their employers in violation of legal provisions. This mainly takes the form of illicit employment or delays in the payment of salaries and remunerations. While this irregular situation might sometimes be due to financial constraints faced for example by economically unviable media, it might also be done on purpose to maximize control over the journalist. This leads to a situation in which many journalists remain unprotected, not only vis-à -vis their employers, but also against outside pressure and influence.”
That too has a negative impact on overall professional standards and editorial independence.
