TIRANA, Nov. 21 – Albania’s journalists face tough working conditions and professional standards are often problematic, experts speaking at Tirana forum last Friday said.
The Media Development Forum, organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania, provided a platform for professional dialogue on where Albania stands on key issues such as the reform of the public broadcaster, digitalization,
The head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Florian Raunig, said that, at the moment, in Albania, there is a serious imbalance between well-developed commercial TV stations and a marginalised national public service broadcaster.
Raunig said the OSCE Presence fully supports the members of the RTSH Steering Board in taking an independent decision as soon as possible to elect the top management of the national public broadcaster.
“New management is a precondition for transforming the RTSH into a truly sustainable, independent, accountable and quality-based public broadcaster,” he said. Talking about the employment situation and social position of journalists, Raunig said that many journalists remain unprotected not only vis-à -vis their employers, but also against outside pressure and influence.
“This has a negative impact on overall professional standards and editorial independence. More importantly, it bears the risk of self-censorship,” he said. “Improving the media situation in Albania requires clear, broad political commitment as well as the full commitment and participation of journalists themselves and media-related civil society. That is why professional dialogue – such as that foreseen at today’s Forum – is needed,” he added.
The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, Ambassador Romana Vlahutin, said that freedom of speech is a key indicator of a free society and a functioning democracy.
“You are incredibly important — your knowledge, your independence, your integrity. It is not an easy struggle, but it is worth every effort,” she said.
Vlahutin added that the rights and the well-being of journalists should be a central part of our discussion about free media.
“There is no free media without journalists that are free. Free from any sort of political or financial power, free from self-censorship and courageous in telling the truth, which often goes against interest groups and powerful people,” Ambassador Vlahutin said.
Minister of Innovation and Public Administration Milena Harito said that there is still much to be done to develop the Albanian media. According to her, the cooperation of all players involved in this sector was needed to achieve this goal.
The chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Media, Genc Pollo, said that the public service broadcaster must be strengthened also to counterbalance private TV channels.
The forum was held in close cooperation with the Albanian Media Institute, the Journalism Department of the University of Tirana, the Union of Albanian Journalists, the Audio-visual Media Authority, the national public broadcaster (RTSH), the European Broadcast Union and the Council of Europe.
