Public TV favors government, says newspaper

TIRANA, March 18 – A local newspaper reported that the public television station favored Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Korrieri newspaper wrote that Berisha was at the center of 132 out of 160 TV documentary specials in the state television TVSH last year.
In second place for most spots, Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli and third Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha.
The newspaper stated the information came from of a report by the National Council of Radio and Television, the monitoring board that normally reports to the parliament every year.
Speaking at the commission hearing opposition lawmaker Alfred Dalipi not only accused the heads of the public broadcaster for lack of balance in the TV coverage but also claimed that TVSH also has produced programs for the premier’s family members.
Responding to the opposition’s accusation TVSH Head of the Board of Directors Agron Tufa admitted there was a lack of balanced coverage in news and programming, but claimed that the broadcaster was under immense political pressure.
TVSH has previously been criticized by the opposition for broadcasting news that was not real and lacked political balance.
Albania, a country of 4.25 million people, has more than 20 national daily newspapers, three dozens TV broadcasters and hundreds of local publications and magazines.
Albania enjoys less press freedom than any other Balkan state, according to the 2008 Reporters Without Borders Freedom of Press index where it ranked 79 out of 179 countries in the 2008 report.
The report notes that key outlets support one political faction or another, while journalists commonly apply self-censorship to support the political and economic interest of their employers.