RELATIONS BETWEEN MEDIA 2).)!3(1)04!2% AND POLITICS IN...

Marrëdhëniet mes medias dhe politikës në Shqipëri

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RELATIONS BETWEEN MEDIA AND POLITICS IN ALBANIA

Rrapo Zguri

Zyra e TiranësRruga “Abdi Toptani”, Torre Drin, kati 3P.O. Box 1418Tirana, Albania

Telefon: 00355 (0) 4 225098600355 (0) 4 2273306

Homepage: http://www.fes.org.al

RINIA SHQIPTARE 2011Mes besimit për të ardhmen dhe dyshimit për të tashmen!

Alba Çela

Tidita Fshazi

Arbjan Mazniku

Geron Kamberi

Jonida Smaja – koordinatore e FES

Albanian Media InstituteInstituti Shqiptar i Medias

Relations between media and politics in Albania

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Tiranë, 2017

Rrapo Zguri

Albanian Media InstituteInstituti Shqiptar i Medias


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Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung OfficeTirana Rr.AbdiToptani TorreDrin,Katii3-të KutiaPostare1418 Tiranë,ALBANIA

Author:RrapoZguri

Editor:AgimDoksani

Monitoring:EmirjonSenja

Cover:BujarKaroshi

The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publishing are of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent those of Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

FriedrichEbertFoundation’spublicationscannotbeusedforcommercialpurposeswithoutapriorwrittenapproval.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The evolution of the Albanian media system during the transition years ........................................................................ 6

2. Independence of the media and journalists: guarantees a and risk factors .............................................................................18

2.1. BasicguaranteesformediaindependenceinAlbania .........18 2.2.Formalcontrolofmediabypolitics ......................................21 2.3.Mediaownershipandfinancing ............................................24 2.4.Organizationofthemediaandthejournalistscommunity ........29 2.5.Editorialandprofessionalautonomy,working standardsandjournalists’protection .....................................32

3. Current trends in the relations between media and politics in Albania .................................................................34

3.1.Thewinnertakesitall? ..........................................................35 3.2.Newdimensionsinthere-politicizationand instrumentalizationofthemedia ...........................................37 3.3.Politicschallengesthemediationoftraditionalmedia .........41 3.4.Increasingpoliticizationandopinionizationofmedia andthesociety ........................................................................44

4. Executive summary ......................................................................49

5. Bibliography ..................................................................................57


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Aftermorethanaquartercenturysincethefallofcommunism,Albania remains a fragile democracy and the path toward

liberal democracy has appeared sometimes near and other timeslikearemotelightattheendofthetunneland,atcertainmoments,ithasbeenperceivedevenas“missionimpossible.”Thecountry’spoliticalandsocialelites,alongtheirmaturingprocess,havegonethroughatrajectoryfullofupsanddowns,forwardsandbackwards.ThebuildingofthenewdemocraticinstitutionshasbeenaffectednotrarelybythesyndromeoftheRozafaCastle,withwallsgoingupduringtheday,butsuddenlyfallingduringthenight,tostartalloveragain.

Themediatoohasmovedalongthistrajectoryofthedestruction-construction of democracy and its institutions. Like in all othercountries,theAlbaniancasehasseenaverificationofthetheoryoftheauthorsoftheFour Theories of the Press, accordingtowhichthemediahasalwaystakenontheformandcolorationofthesocialandpolitical structureswithinwhich itoperates.Especially, it reflectsthe system of social controlwhereby the relations of individuals andinstitutionsareadjusted(Siebert,F.S&Peterson,T.&Wilbur,S.1956).

This research aims to shed light upon the relations between themedia and politics in Albania, starting from the historical andsocialcontextoftheserelationstocontinuewithcurrentprevailingtrends that shape the typologyof these relations. Inorder toalsoachieveconclusionswithregardtothereportingofpoliticsinthe


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media,we have also undertaken a quantitativemonitoring. For atwo-monthperiod(February-March2017)wemonitoredtwodailynewspapers,namelyPanoramaandShqiptarja.com,twotelevisionstations (TopChannelandKlanTV),aswellas twoonlinenewsmedia(Balkanweb.comandAlbeu.com).

1. The evolution of the Albanian media system during the transition years

The period following the fall of communism in the countries ofEastern and Southeastern Europe has been labeled by politicalscienceandsociologyresearchersatransition period. Thetermwasthenadoptedbypoliticiansandthegeneralpublic,thusbecominganormalpartofthecontemporarylexiconofallEastern-Europeanlanguagesandbeyond,includingAlbanian.Thelabelingofthepost-communist period as the “transition period” is mostly dedicatedto the paradigm provided by the representatives of the theoryof transitology, which is considered one of the most dominanttheoreticalapproachesinexplainingthepost-communisttransition.

Transitology (otherwise called “transitionology”) explains theprocess of moving from one political regime to another, mainlyfrom authoritarian regimes to democratic ones, starting from the‘70swith the fall of bureaucratic authoritarianism and dictatorialforms in Latin America, Southern Europe and North Americato thedevelopments related to the fallof thecommunistcamp inEasternEurope.Oneofthemostprominentauthorsofthisschool,DankwartRustow,describesthemodeloftransitiontoademocracyasaprocessgoingthroughfourphases:

Thefirst phase is that ofnational unity, seen as a preliminarycondition to be fulfilled before moving on to the other phases.Duringthisphase,thevastmajorityofcitizensinademocracy-to-


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bemusthavenodoubtormentalreservationsastowhichpoliticalcommunitytheybelongto.

IntheAlbaniancontext,suchunityandsuchchoicewasreflectedin themotto“Let’smakeAlbania like therestofEurope,”whichunifiedthemajorityofAlbaniansin1992.

Thesecond phase is the phase of the prolonged and inconclusive political struggle thatpreparesthetakingofthedecision.Suchastruggleislikelytobeginastheresultoftheemergenceofanewelitethatarousesadepressedandpreviouslyleaderlesssocialgroupintoconcertedaction.Yet theparticularsocialcompositionof thecontending forces, both leaders and followers, and the specificnatureoftheissueswillvarywidelyfromonecountrytothenextandinthesamecountryfromperiodtoperiod.

Thethird phase is the decision phase.Whentheconflictingpartiesrealize that they are at a point of stalemate in their inconclusivepoliticalstruggletheydecidetocompromiseandadoptdemocraticformsofrule.ForRustow,thereisalwaysaconsciousdecisiononthepartofelitestoadoptdemocraticrules.

The fourth phase is the habituation phase, during which,democracyrulesgraduallybecomeahabit.(Rustow,1970,p.337-363)

In essence, transitology provides a teleologist explanation of theprocess of transition to democracy, during which the society, inits historical progression,moves toward a predetermined“telos” (telos –fromGreek:end,conclusion,goal),namelytowardliberaldemocracy.

However, according to some critics, the trajectory of post-communist transition may not be linear and there may be also


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periodsofregressorstagnation.Otherquestionsandpuzzlesmayariseinthiscontext:thetransitiontodemocracyisaclose-endedoranopen-endedprocess?Couldthewordtransition,whichindicatesprogress, be also used for those countries going through starkpoliticalandeconomiccrises?Couldcountries thatareno longerunder authoritarian regimes but do not manage to adopt liberaldemocracybeconsideredintransition?Isthereariskofreturntoauthoritarianism insteadofdemocracy, consideringalso the signsof some authoritarian embryos appearing in some of the formercommunistcountries?

Albania too finds itself in this outline of the political-socialtransition toward democracy and in the hesitations or exceptionsabout it. After achieving national unity in the beginning of the1990s, crownedwith the establishmentof political pluralism, thecountryembarkeduponthepathofcreatingtheinstitutionsoftheruleoflawanddemocracy.However,thismissionwasinthehandsof a political elite that, having inherited no tradition in buildingliberal democracy, remained influenced, even unconsciously, bythetotalitarianpracticeofbuildingthestateandtheexcludingandconflictingspiritofthesingle-partysystem.Thus,duringtheyears1994-1996,thebehaviorofthepoliticalmajorityofthetime(whichrepresentedtheanti-communistmajority)begantodisplaysignsofauthoritarianism,whichculminatedeveninphysicalviolenceandimprisonment towardpoliticiansof theoppositionandoppositionjournalists.Thismadethetransitionfromdictatorshiptodemocracyto go through the intermediate phase that researcherRemziLaniterms“thephaseofnewauthoritarianism”(Lani,2011,p.42).

TheAlbanian political transition is characterized by a prolongedpoliticalbattleandahighdegreeofpoliticalconflict,thusdelayingmany preparatory processes for the country’s membership inwestern and EU institutions, which practically were milestones


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onthepathtowardliberaldemocracy.“Itbecameclear,unliketheinitialassumptions,thatdemocraticinstitutionsandthefreemarketeconomywerenoteasilyexportableandtransplantableasamodelinnewdemocraciessuchasAlbania.”(Lani,2011,p.42)

It was only after 2005, or more than 15 years after the fall ofcommunism,when“theconflictingpartiesrealizethattheyareatapointofstalemateintheirinconclusivepoliticalstruggleanddecidetocompromiseandadoptdemocraticformsofrule”.Atpresent,itmaybesaidthatAlbaniahaspassedthedecision-makingphaseandhastakenthefirststepstowardadoptingtheliberaldemocraticmodel.However,aswasseen,thishasnotbeenaprocessthathasfolloweda linear line; on the contrary, it has often been accompanied byphasesofregress,re-emergenceofauthoritarianism,andmomentsofprofoundeconomicandinstitutionalcrises,theembryosofwhichwemaysayarestillpresentintheAlbaniansociety.

Thetransitionofthemediatowardfreeandindependentmediahasalsobeenpartof thisgeneralpolitical-social transition.What arethephasesthroughwhichthistransitionofAlbanianmediapassed?WhatarethefeaturesandspecificsoftheAlbanianmediasystemofthetransitionperiod?

Karol Jakubowicz and Miklós Sükösd, in their article “Twelveconcepts regarding the evolution of the media system anddemocratizationinpost-communistsocieties”emphasizethat“whatdistinguishes the historical dynamic of post-communist regimesfromotherkindsofregimesisthelargeimpactofpoliticaldemandin theearlyperiodsand then theemergenceandstrengtheningofthesocialdemandandmarketdemandintheensuingperiodsofthetransition.(Jakubowicz&Sükösd,2008,p.14)

It may be said that such a historical dynamic has also beenexperienced during the transition of the Albanian media. Thus,


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in their beginnings, the pluralisticmedia emerged and developedmostlyundertheencouragementofpoliticaldemandandonlyinthelaterphasestheybegintodevelopalsoasaresultofsocialdemandandmarketdemand.

After the establishmentof political pluralism in the country, alsofollowingatraditionencounteredinmanyEuropeancountries,thefirstpluralisticmediaoutletswerecreatedinAlbania,publishedbypoliticalparties,andthusspurredbypoliticaldemand.Onemonthafter the foundationof theDemocraticParty,whichwas thefirstanti-communistpoliticaloppositionparty,onJanuary5,1991,thenewspaperofthisparty,RilindjaDemokratike,beganpublication.Afterwards, during the years 1991-1994, newspapers of otherpolitical forceswerepublished, suchasRepublika (newspaperofthe Republican Party),Alternativa SD (newspaper of the Social-DemocraticParty),etc.

FortheauthorBesnikBaka,“ifwelookatitfromabroadperspective,itwaspoliticsthatproducedfreemediainpost-communistAlbania.As a result, the emerging model of free press in Albania wasthe model of journalism remaining entirely within the politicalframework.”Duringthattime,“theconceptoffreedomofthepresswasmainlyconfinedtofreedomofpoliticaldebate”(Baka,2011).

Duringthisperiod,themediaisengagedmainlyinthetransformationofthepolitical-socialsystem,thecreationandconsolidationoftheinstitutionoffreespeechaswellasintheprocessoftheintroductionanddemocracy-buildingofthefoundationsof.Thisisfavoredbytheurgentneedforadetachmentfromcommunismandforestablishingthenewinstitutions.

“In theyears1991/1992, theconceptofdemocracywasminimal,seeking the change of the system, and political developments oralternativeswerestigmatizedintoblackandwhite,integrationwas


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accompaniedbylackofknowledge,naïveexpectations,utopiaandpopulistrhetoric,”researcherAfrimKrasniqiemphasizes(Krasniqi,2013).

During the first years of the transition, theAlbanianmedia triedtoemancipateitselfbutdidnotmanagetotransformitselffromaparty institution into an independent one. (Godole, 2014, p. 68).Furthermore,thelackofatraditionofthemarketeconomyinthecountrymakesthemarketdemandonlyhaveaminimalroleinthedevelopmentofmedia.

After1994,besidespoliticalparties,journalistsalsobegintoappearasactorsinthefieldofmediaownership,besidespoliticalparties.Thejournalists’communityatthetimewasnewandwithoutmuchwestern-styleexperienceinthemedia.Nevertheless,itmanagedtorealizethat in theconditionsofpluralismandfreedomofspeech,journalismcouldnotandshouldnotremainadomain ofpoliticalparties, but should first and foremost turn into a domain of theprofessionalsof thefield.Thisperiodmarksalso thefirst seriousefforts to create, at last, media detached from political parties,thusmarkingtheemergenceofthepressthatistheresultofsocialdemand,whichatthistimewaslinkedwiththeindispensabilityofthecreationofindependentmedia.Atthistime,onenoticesaboom of independent media outlets, owned by journalists, such as thenewspapersKohaJonë,Albania,PopulliPo,DitaInformacionandGazetaShqiptare(publishedbyanItalianjournalistandbringingawesternprintmodel)aswellasthenewspaper“Rilindja”ofPrishtinathatwasprintedinTirana(Godole,2014).

One of the main features of this period was the harsh clash ofthepowerwiththepress.Seenfromabroadstandpoint, thismaybe considered a positive aspect; unlike today, the pressmanagedtobuildakindof integrity,with itsvoiceheardand its influence


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respected(Baka,2011).Duringthisperiod,theindependentmediaandpoliticsremainedastwopowersinunshakenpositions,withoutcloseties;1ontheonehandwasthecriticalmedia,anopponentofthegovernment,andontheothertheauthoritarianpower,unmovedbymediacriticism.

PublisherofKohaJonë,NikollëLesi,describestherapportofthemediawithpoweratthetimeasfollows:“Wewereliketwoarmiesfacingone another;wehadapenand the typewriter to take freewordtothepeople,andthestatehadthepoliceandtheintelligenceservice(SHIK)toobstructthat.Orbettersay,todiscourage,frightenandsubdueus.”

Amongtheindependentmediaoutletsofthetime,Lesi’sKohaJonënewspaper played an important role during this period.Speakingabout the role of this newspaper during these critical moments,publisher Nikollë Lesi writes: “If the newspaper RD (RilindjaDemokratike) killed fear coming from the communist system,thenewspaperKohaJonëpushedawayfear tospeak inanewly-established democracy, dominated by the psychology that ‘youcan’tcriticizethedemocraticwinner!”2

ThissecondphaseofthetransitionoftheAlbanianmediaalsosawtheinstancesoftheharshestauthoritarianconductofpowertowardthemediaandjournalists.Thus,editorinchiefAleksandërFrangajanddeputyeditorMartinLekaofnewspaperKohaJonëwerearrestedandimprisoned;severalotherjournalistswerebeaten,maltreatedorthreatened.The culminationof authoritarian conductwas seen inthe burning downof the editorial offices of the newspaperKohaJonëonMarch2,1997,byinternalstatesegments.1. Bushati.Andi, analyst–directorof “ZonëeNdaluar”,Vizion+: Interviews,October19,2010,citedin:Baka,20112. http://shqiptarja.com/media/2710/frangaj-leka-lesi-si-arrestoi-berisha-dy-gazetaret-ne--94-74518.html


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Asageneralcharacterization,until1998,themediadevelopedmoreasaninstitutionofthepoliticalandliteraryworldthananinstitutionof themarket.After1998,with thecreationandconsolidationofcapital and capitalists inAlbania, themarket logic also began tocome into play. Powerful businessmen from the construction orotherareasbegantoenter intothemediaownershipfield.Duringthisperiod,themediaiscreatedinresponsetothemarketdemand,oftensurpassingorneglectingevenitspublicfunctionandcomingattheserviceoftheirowners’economicandpoliticalinterests.Thisis also the reasonwhy different researchers (such asLani, 2011;Baka,2011,etc.)viewthisthirdperiodastheperiodofclientelisticmedia. Investment in television stations and newspapers was anewtendencyforbusinessmen,forthepurposeofcreatinga“kindof shield” forprotectionandstrengtheningof their interests, thusleading the media market to see great development, mostly innumberthaninquality.3

According to researcherMarkMarku, powerful private interestsled to a “reconfiguration of themedia landscape. This happenedinaperiodicalmannerwith the subsequent entry into themarketofconstructionbusinessmenKoçoKokëdhima,IrfanHysenbelliu,Genc Dulaku as well as coffee businessman Dritan Hoxha whocreated immediately new media outlets that became the mostimportant in the country.Thus, due to powerful investments, thenewspapersownedbythefirst two(KokëdhimaandHysenbelliu)alsohavethehighestcirculationin themarket,whileDulakuandHoxhaowntwoofthemostimportantprivateAlbaniantelevisionstations.”(Marku,2012)

Inaneffort todistinguishandlabel themainphasesinwhichthetransitionoftheAlbanianmediahaspassed,variousauthorsprovide

3. Bushati.Andi, analyst –directorof “Zonë eNdaluar”,Vizion+: Interview,October19,2010,citedbyBaka,2010


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different approaches. Thus, from the standpoint of ownershipdevelopmentinthemedia,BlendiKajsiuandSamiNezadistinguishthree phases of this transition: 1. First phase (1990-1994), whenmediaownersaregenerallythepoliticalparties;2.Secondphase,(1994-1998) when media outlets whose owners are journalistsemerge, and 3. Third phase (post-1998 to date) when powerfulbusinessmenbegintofoundtheirprivatemediaoutletsinthepress,televisionandradio(Neza,2010;Kajsiu,2012).

ThemediaandpoliticalcommunicationresearcherJonilaGodole,from the standpoint of institutional development, considers thefirstphase(1990-1994)aphaseofLiberalizationofthemedia,thesecondphase(1994-1998)aphaseofInstitutionalizationorofthebattleforfreespeech,andthethirdphase(post-1998todate)asthephaseoftheConsolidationoftheAlbanianmediasystem(Godole,2014).

AuthorBesnikBakamakesanotherdistinctionwith regard to theprofile of the media outlets and their rapport with politics. Heconsidersthefirsttwophases(1990-1998)asthephaseofpoliticalmedia and the third phase (post-1998 to date) as the phase ofclientelisticmediaoutlets(Baka,2011).

Theauthorofthisresearchalsomakesadistinctionintothreephasesin terms of the dominating demand, distinguishing a first phase(1990-1994)inwhichthepoliticaldemandinthedevelopmentofthemediaprevails,asecondphase(1994-1998)inwhichthesocialdemandappearsalongsidethepoliticaldemand,andathirdphase(post-1998todate)wherebythemarketdemandprevails,butoftenalternatedwiththepoliticalandsocialdemand.

The tablebelowprovides theseclassificationsgroupedbyphasesandotherindicators.


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Table 1: Phases of the transition of the Albanian media

Phases Prevailing ownership

Prevailing demand

Institutional Development

Prevailing profile

1990-1994

Politicalparties

Politicaldemand

Medialiberalizationphase

Politicalmediaphase

1994-1998 Journalists Politicaland

socialdemandInstitutionalization

phase

1998–todate

Privatebusiness

Marketdemand,

alternatedwithpoliticalandsocialdemand

Consolidationphase

Clientelistic mediaphase

Followingthislongandwindingtransition,atpresenttheAlbanianmedia system appears relatively consolidated and, in manydirections, displays similarity alsowithmedia systems in part ofthe western countries. Hallin andMancini, in their known workComparing Media Systems - Three models of media and politics,distinguishthreemodelsofmediasystemsinthewesterncountries:

1.TheLiberalModel,whichprevailsinBritain,IrelandandNorthAmerica

2. The Democratic CorporateModel, which prevails in northerncontinentalEurope

3.ThePolarizedPluralisticModel thatprevails inMediterraneancountries of Southern Europe, including Greece, Italy, PortugalandSpain.These four countries, after overthrowing authoritariansystems in 1974-1975 (Italy earlier, after the fall of fascism)embarkedonthepathoftransitiontoliberaldemocracy(Hallin&Mancini,2004,p.11).


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Atfirstsight,ofthesethreemodels,theAlbanianmediasystemseemstoappearclosetothePolarizedPluralisticModel,alsobecauseofthesimilarexperiencesinthegeneralsocial-politicaltransformationof the transition and the cultural and geographic proximity withthesecountries.Themajorityof typological characteristicsof thePolarizedPluralisticModelappeartobethesameorsimilartothetypologicalcharacteristicsoftheAlbanianmediasystem.Belowisalistofthosecharacteristics,aspresentedbyHallinandMancini,andthataccordingtotheauthorofthisstudyandotherauthors,areatthesametimecharacteristicsoftheAlbanianmodel:

- themediaareverypoliticized,polarized,andpoliticalparallelismisveryhigh.

- newspaperstendtorepresentdistinguishablepoliticaltendencies,reflectedalsoindifferentpoliticalstancestheirreaders.

- thepoliticalmajorityeffectivelycontrolsthepublicbroadcasters.

- both journalists andmediaownersoftenhavepolitical ties oraffiliationsanditisalmostcustomaryforjournaliststobecomepoliticiansandvice-versa.

- journalists’professionalorganizationsandunionsaregenerallyweak.

- formaleducationinjournalismdevelopedrelativelylate.

- formalaccountabilitysystemsarealmostinexistentincountriesoftheMediterranean.Noneofthemhasanational-levelMediaCouncil.

- poor consensus regarding journalistic standards and limiteddevelopment of professional self-regulation reflect the factthatjournalism,toalargeextent,hasnotbeenanautonomous


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institution,buthasbeenguidedbyexternalforces,mainlyfromthepoliticalandbusinessworld.

- oneofthedistinguishingcharacteristicsistheuseofmediabydifferentactorsasatooltointerferewiththepoliticalworld.

- themost significant form of instrumentalization has been theuseofmediabycommercialowners toexert influenceon thepoliticalworld.

- newspapershavenotmadeaprofitandweresubsidizedbytheirownersmainlytoincreasetheirpoliticalinfluence.

- in general, the level of journalistic autonomy is low inMediterraneancountries.

- the journalism style tends to put considerable emphasis oncommentary(Hallin,&Mancini,2004).

Naturally,theHallinandMancinimodelcannotbeapplieden block intheAlbaniancase,justasitmaynotbeapplieden blocktootherex-communistcountries.AsidefromthetypologicalcharacteristicsoftheMediterraneanModelthatcorrespondtotheAlbanianmodel,therearealsootherfeaturesthatrepresentandexpressthespecificsofeachcountryand,thus,maynotbeapplicabletoAlbania.

Thus,unlikeItaly,Greece,PortugalandSpain,Albaniahasamorerecenthistoryoftheprofessionalpress.InAlbania,unliketheseotherSouthern Europe countries, the state has not played a significantroleinthedevelopmentofthemediaduringthetransitionperiod.AlsodebatableisthefactthatwhilesomeMediterraneancountries’mediaclassifiedbyHallinandManciniaselite-oriented,thesamemaynotbesaidexplicitlyforAlbanianmedia.

Meanwhile, there are also differenceswith regard to the level of


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media freedom and freedom of speech, seen also in the rankingof countries by prestigious international organizations such asFreedomHouseorReporterswithoutBorders.At the same time,therearedifferencesalsointhequalityofjournalisticreportingandinprofessionalstandards.

2. Independence of the media and journalists: guarantees and risk factors

The relationship between politics and media lies at the core ofdemocracy. Despite their divergent missions, the relationshipbetween them remains symbiotic, characterizedby a highdegreeof inter-dependence. However, as Barner emphasizes, despitetheirinterdependence,thedemarcationlinebetweenthemmustbemaintained.Weneedasensiblebalancebetweenmediaandpoliticsfor the sake of democratic society. This holds true not only fortransitioncountriesbutalsoforallfreedemocraticpolities.(Barner,2011).

Inordertopreservethisbalance,thelegalframeworkguaranteeingtheindependenceofmediafrompoliticshasanimportantrole.

2.1.Basic guarantees for media independence in Albania

TheleadingdocumentofAlbanianlegislation,theConstitutionoftheRepublicofAlbania,article22,guaranteesfreedomofspeechandfreedomofthepress,radioandtelevision,consideringthempartof fundamental human rights and freedom.TheConstitution alsoguaranteesthefreedomandrighttoinformationabouttheactivityofstateinstitutionsandaboutpersonsexercisingpublicfunctions.In an explicit manner, the Constitution prohibits the exercise ofpriorcensorshiptowardmasscommunicationmeans.


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Besides theconstitutional legalframework,Albaniahasapprovedandenactedduring the transitionyearsaspecial legal frameworkonmedia, information andmass communication.At present, thefollowing laws are in force: Law on audiovisual media (2013),the Law on access to information (2014), the Law on electroniccommunications(2008,withsomeamendmentsin2012),theLawontheprotectionofpersonaldata(2008,withamendmentsin2012and2014),andtheLawonthepress(1997).PartsoflegalregulationrelatedtothemediaarealsofoundintheElectoralCode,CriminalCodeandCivilCodeaswellasinotherlegalactsorby-laws.

Followingaproblematicperiod,in2007AlbaniasignedwiththeEUandCoEtheActionPlanforlegalreforminthemedia,thusmarkingaturningpointinimprovingthislegalframework.After2007,thelawonaudiovisualmedia,provisionsondefamation,aswellastheaccesstoinformationlegalframeworkwererevisedandimproved.Amendments to theLawonAudiovisualmediawereapprovedinthespringof2013,whiledefamationprovisionswereamendedin2012. Thanks to international actors and domestic organizations,libel was decriminalized and provisions in the Civil Code wereimproved(Londo,2014,p.59).

In spite of thesedevelopments, the legal frameworkonmedia inAlbaniawassurroundedbyaseriesofproblemsandasharpdebatebetweenthemediacommunityandpolitics,aswellasbetweenthepolitical sides themselves, which time after time tried to exploitlegislationinordertoexertgreatercontrolonthemedia.Someofthemosttangibleproblemsregardinglegalframeworkforthemediahavebeenasfollows:

First, legislation did not precede developments in the media but was always delayed vis-à-vis them, thus creating anarchy and lack ofregulationforlongperiodsoftime.Thus,thefirstlawonthemedia,


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the Press Law, was approved in 1993 while the first oppositionnewspaperhad emerged since1991andwas followedby severalothers.Also,thefirsttelevisionstationbeganbroadcastingin1995butlegalregulationforaudiovisualmediatookplacein1998andtheregulatoryauthorityforthisfieldwasonlyestablishedin2000.Duringthisfive-yeargap,thenumberofunlicensedandunregulatedbroadcast media in the country reached about 100 stations. Thelegal framework was also quite late regarding the digitalizationprocess. The first digital platform Digitalb began broadcasts in2004,whenneithertheregulatorsnorthelawmakershaddiscussedor issued any regulations regarding digital broadcasts. Digitalbvery soonwas followedbyanotherdigitalplatform, this timeonsatellite,SAT+(Londo,2014,p.57).Meanwhile,theLawonDigitalTransmissionswasonlyapprovedin2007.Amongothers,segmentsofpoliticsandpoweralsotookadvantageoftheselegaldelaysandgapstoputpressureorexertcontrolonthemedia.

Second, legislation was often a mechanical transplant ofreadylawstakenfromthelegalframeworkofwesterncountries,withoutbeingadjustedatalltotheAlbaniancontext.TypicalinthiscasewastheLawonthePress,approvedin1993,whichhadbeenmodeledafteraGermanlaw,withoutanyadjustmenttothelocalcontextoranyconsultationwiththemediacommunity(Londo,2014,p.59).

Third, there is still a strong tendency onthepartofmediaoperatorsto circumvent and not enforce the law in the media field in Albania. Forinstance,inadelicateyetveryprofitablemarketsuchasdigitalbroadcasts, legislation,namely theLawonDigitalTransmissionsof2007,wasnotimplementedatallforyearsinarow.Suchcasesare numerous. “The establishment of a legislative framework forthemediaisonething,buttheapplicationandimplementationaresomethingcompletelydifferent.Lawsarenumerous,butthelawfortheenforcementoflawsislacking”–saysRemziLani,Directorof


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theAlbanianMediaInstitute(Lani,2011).

Fourth, in spite of the legal obligation to guarantee mediaindependence,political forces have used and still use legal channels to exert control over them. A more detailed overview on thistendencyispresentedbelow.

2.2. Formal control of media by politics

Thedegreeofcontrolofthemediabypoliticalstructuresdeterminestoalargeextentthedegreeofitsindependence.Themorecontrolledbypoliticsitis,thelessindependentthemediais,andvice-versa.Facedwith the resistance of the journalists’ community to influence themedia,politicshasoftenusedits“weapons”toenablesuchinfluence.Oneofthese“weapons”isthelaw,whichisdraftedandapprovedbythehighestrepresentativesofpoliticsinthelegislativepower.

Intheframeworkofrelationsbetweenthemediaandpolitics,bothin the early transitionphases andduring recent years, therehavebeen frequent efforts of political formations to ensure in a waycontroloverthemediathroughlaw.Intheearly‘90s,thiscontrolwasmoredirectandmorebrutaland,withtime,itappearedmoresophisticatedandmoremoderate.

ThefirststrongclashofthemediacommunitywithpoliticsinthisregardwasseenaftertheapprovalofthePressLawbythemajorityofthetimein1993,onlytwoyearsafterthefallofcommunisminthecountry.Itwaspreciselythislawthatisthoughttohavecreatedthelegalspaceforinstitutionalpressureonthemediabypoliticalgroupsinpower,whetherontheleftorright,whichcontrolledthejudiciary.4Thelawwasopposedbythemediacommunity,especially

4. Fuga.Artan,Media,PoliticsandtheSociety:EscapingtheRozafaComplex,Dudaj2008,citedbyBaka,2011


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for some articles that envisaged administrative obligations orcriminalpunishment for journalistsor their editors in thecaseof“unlawfulacts,”withoutclearlyestablishingwhatthese“unlawfulacts” entailed.After long refusal, the media abandoned the law,untilin1997,23ofthelaw’s24articleswereinvalidatedandonlythefirst paragraphof article1waspreserved, “Thepress is free.Freedomofthepressisprotectedbylaw.”Practically,after1997,thepressiswithoutalawonitsregulationandnormalfunctioning.

Oneofthelongestbattles,continuingtodate,istheonetocontrolthepublic broadcaster (RTSH).Thepublic radio-television is ledinitsactivitybytheSteeringCounciloftheRTSH,whichconsistsof 11members, including the chairperson.According to law, themembers should be proposed by civil society organizations,journalists’organizationsoracademia.Yet,attheendoftheprocess,the decision is taken by representatives of politics in parliament.The law clearly establishes that the parliament should select fivememberssupportedbythemajorityandfivememberssupportedbytheopposition,5thustransformingtheprocessintoanactofdecision-makingofpoliticalstructures.Theeleventhmember,whichisthechairperson, iselectedbythemajorityofvotes in theparliament,whichmeans that thepoliticalmajority automatically secures themajority also in theRTSHSteeringCouncil (RTSHSC), in otherwords,securescontrolofdecisionmakingofthepublicbroadcaster.

Although civil society organizations have insisted that RTSHSCmembersbereallyselectedbycivilsociety, theresulthasalwaysbeenconstantinwhatPetterGross,referringtoasimilarsituationinRomania,labelsaslackofpoliticalwilltomodifythelawinsuchawaythatwouldensurerealindependenceinthefunctioningofthepublicradioandtelevision(Gross,2008,p.126).

5. Lawno.97/2013onAudiovisualMediaintheRepublicofAlbania


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ThishaspracticallybroughtasituationinwhichthereisaveryhighcontrolofRTSH’seditorialpolicybythemajorityandgovernmentin office. Speaking about the situation of public media in theBalkans and inAlbania during the transition years, Remzi Lanisays: “Television channels so-called public remain ‘red carpet’televisions, in other words, filled with government protocol andinformation.These public channels lookmore like a PropagandaMinistrythanasnormalmediaoutlets.”

InordertoenableRTSHcontrolbyallmeans,politicalmajoritieshave changed often the laws on media, as was the case of theamendments in the Law onAudiovisual media in March 2016.Given that theRTSHDirector proposed by themajoritywas notable tobeelectedbyaqualifiedmajority, thesolutionwasfoundbychangingthelawtosanctionthat,ifthereisafailuretoelecttheDirectorinthreeroundsthroughaqualifiedmajority,electioninthefourthandfifthroundwouldbebyasimplemajority.Sucha“trick”madeitpossibletofinallyelectthemajoritycandidateforGeneralDirectorofRTSH.

In a similar fashion, are elected by politics the members andchairpersonofanotherimportantmediaentity,theAudiovisualMediaAuthority(AMA).With3memberssupportedbythemajorityand3supportedbytheoppositionandwiththechairmanelectedbytheparliamentarymajority,6AMAtooremainspracticallyaninstitutioninfluencedbythepoliticalmajority.Thiscouldleadtoconsequencesfortheindependenceandpluralityofmedia,consideringthatAMAtakes very important decisions on the licensing, functioning andpositioning in themarket of the country’s audiovisual operators.The U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Report for 2016emphasizes that the “independence of the Audiovisual Media

6. Lawno.97/2013onAudiovisualMediaintheRepublicofAlbania


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Authority, the regulator of broadcast media market, remainedquestionable.Theroleoftheauthorityremainedlimited.”7

Theselectionof theAMAmembershasbeenpartof thepoliticalbattle in thecountry for a long timeandhasbeenusedalsoas ademonstrationof thepolitical forceandpower.“From2004until2008, the opposition party refused to appoint itsmembers to theregulatory authority as part of the general protest against theelections it claimed were rigged and against the unfair electoralsystem,thusobstructingthenecessarybalancetotakedecisions.Inasimilarmanner,whenchangesincriteriatoelectthesebodieswereproposedin2006,aheateddebatetookplaceandtheamendmentsproposed by members were only approved with majority votes.Although these amendments were justified by the governingmajority as necessary in order to ensure greater professionalismof the regulator and to increase its independence, the number ofmembers in the councils and criteria for their selection wereamended again, sixmonths later, as one of the conditions of theoppositioninexchangeforconsensusneededfortheElectoralCodeforthenearingelections.Inotherwords,inspiteofstatementsfortheneedtoimprovetheprofessionalismoftheregulator,thisgoalwassacrificedimmediatelyforthesakeofachievinganagreementwiththeoppositionforamoreimmediategoal.”(Londo,2014)

2.3. Media ownership and financing

Transparency over media ownership is of vital importance forensuring plurality in themarket and for avoidingmonopoly andconcentration.Ownershipsourcesandoriginalsohavean impactonthedegreeofindependenceandtheintegrityofthemedia.

7. Link: https://al.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/140/2017/03/Shqiperia-2016.pdf


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Intermsoftransparencyovermediaownership,Albaniahasmadeprogressandatpresent,thenationalbusinessregistermaybeaccessedonline and it features the names of owners ofmedia businesses.TheEC toohas reached in thisconclusion in itsProgressReportforAlbaniafor2015,whichunderscoresthatmediaownershiphasbecomemore transparentwhile at the same time raising concernaboutthepossibilityofhiddenownership.8

Atpresent,themajorityofownershipinthemediafieldbelongstoprivatecapital.Statemediadonotexist,whilepublicradio-televisiononlytakesupasmallpartinAlbania’scurrentmedialandscape.Itappearsthatthecountryhasmovedfromtheabsolutemonopolyofthestatemediaofcommunismtoamonopolyofprivatemediaofpost-communism.

Theprevailingownershipmodelisthatofmediamagnateswhohaveextendedalso tootherbusinessesoutside themedia.9Thegroupsowningthelion’sshareinthemediamarketandwiththegreatestinfluenceonAlbanianpublicopinionarefour:

1.TopMedia,foundedbyDritanHoxha,currentlyownedpartiallybytheHoxhafamilyandpartiallybyotherowners.Theownersofthismediagrouphaveownershiporco-ownershipof thenationaltelevisionstationTopChannel,nationalTopAlbaniaRadio,thelocalTopGoldRadio,theTopRecordsrecordingstudio,theVGAStudioof advertising, theSaras publishinghouse, theDigitalb platform,theShqipnewspaper(currentlyonlineonly),etc.Otherbusinessesoutside themediafieldownedby thisgroup includecoffee trade,foodandservices.

2.KlanGroup,ownedbyAleksandërFrangajandmembersofhis

8. ALBANIA2015REPORT,Link:https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2015/20151110_report_albania.pdf9. Londo,Ilda,Media Integrity Matters: Albania, AMI,Tirana,2014


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family,whohaveownershiporco-ownershipofnationaltelevisionKlan TV, local televisionABC News, local station Radio Klan,the television production studio Media 66, various businessesdealing with event organization and advertising, such as ZoomEntertainment, Zoom Events, Promo, Proimage, etc. Owners ofthisgroup,followingsuccessinthemediabusinesshaveinvestedin other industries, outside themedia, such as construction, etc.,thusmarkingoneoftherarecaseswhentheystartwiththemediabusinessandexpandtootherfieldsoutsidethemedia;meanwhile,theoppositehasoccurredfortheothermediagroups.

3.Panorama Group, owned by Irfan Hysenbelliu,who ownssuccessful newspapers Panorama and Panorama Sport and themagazine Psikologjia. In 2011, together with businessmanArtanSanto, Hysenbelliu founded Focus Group, which bought dailynewspaperGazetaShqiptare,onlinenewsagencyBalkanweb, theRadioRASHstation,andlocalinformation-basedtelevisionNews24,thusturningintoamediamagnate.Hisotherbusinessesincludetradingandproductionoffoodsanddrinks,construction, tradeofelectricequipmentandmaterials,etc.

4. Media Vizion is owned by the Dulaku brothers, who haveownership or co-ownership of satellite and terrestrial televisionVizionPlus,theTRINGdigitalplatform,Livingmagazine,Livingpublications,etc.Otherbusinessesoutsidethemediafieldincludeconstruction,immovableproperty,trade,telecommunications,etc.

Twoothermediagroupshavemorelimitedinfluence:oneownedbyKoçoKokëdhimaandhisfamily,owningthenewspaperShekulli,television stationA1, etc., as well as the other group owned byCarloBollinoandhiswifeAlbaMallteziwhoownlocaltelevisionReportTV,print andonlinenewspaperShqiptarja.com, etc.BothKokëdhima and Bollino have a long story in the media and, at


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different periods, have been dominating actors in the field, butcurrently their power and influence is relatively smaller than thefour“bigones”mentionedabove.

Part of the major media owners, such as those of Top Media,MediaVizion andPanoramaGroupdonot have anybackgroundorprevious interest in journalismandhavepurchasedor foundedmediaaftersuccessinotherbusinesses.Theydonothaveopentieswith political parties, although their business practices time aftertime have been under focus,with claims that theirmedia outletshavebeenused to secure favors frompoliticians inorder tohelptheotherbusinessestheyown.Thisgroupofmediaownersisnotengaged actively in public political life as protagonists, but theeditoriallineoftheirmediaoutletshascertainlyleanedtowardonepartyoranother.10

Inageneralevaluationaboutownersofprivatetelevisionstations,theU.S.StateDepartmentReportonHumanRightsfor2016statesthat “Although private broadcasters have generally acted freelyfromdirectgovernment influence,manyownersused thecontentoftheirbroadcastsinordertoinfluencegovernmentactionstowardtheirbusinesses.Businessownersfreelyusedmediacompaniestoearnfavorsandpromotetheirinterestswithpoliticalparties.”11

The same reportmentions the concern regarding regress in 2016withregardtotheriskofconcentrationinmediaownership.InMay2016,theConstitutionalCourtruledinfavorofapetitionfromtheAlbanian Electronic Media Association to invalidate a law thatobstructed a shareholding individual from possessing more than40 percent of shares in one national electronic broadcaster.Some10. Media ownership and funding in Albania, AMI,2014,p.27Link:http://www.institutemedia.org/Documents/PDF/Pronesia%20e%20Medias%20Shqip.pdf11. Link: https://al.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/140/2017/03/Shqiperia-2016.pdf


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observers evaluated the decision as opening the way to potentialmonopolizationofthereallysmallnumberofnationaldigitalbroadcastlicenses.TheEU,CouncilofEuropeandtheSOCEhadcriticizedinthepastaparliamentattemptin2015toannulthesamearticle.12

Inordertoavoiddirectcontrolofpoliticalpartiesonbroadcastmedia,Albanian legislationprohibits the foundationof radioor televisionstationsownedbytheseparties(Londo,2014). Inspiteof this, themain political parties havemanaged to bring closer to themselvesmediaownersand, inexchangeformutual favors, to influence theeditorialpolicyoftheirmediatotheextentthatthepublicperceivesthemasmediaofoneoranotherparty.However,aswillbeseenlater,thisconfigurationhaschangedduringrecentyearsduetoanewwaveofre-politicizationofmediaduringthistime.

After theyears2000,a relatively limited tendencyhasemergedofmediaowners’involvementinpolitics,aswasthecaseoftheShekullinewspaperowner,KoçoKokëdhima, thecaseofKohaJonëownerNikollëLesi,orthecaseofUFOTVownerAstritVeliajwhobecameMPs.Meanwhile, it remains customary in the country for owners,directors, editors and political analysts and in some cases evenjournaliststohavetieswithorbeinvolvedinpoliticalalliances.

Besides the ownership factor, funding has played a considerableroleinthedependenceorindependenceofmedia.Inthisregard,formanylocalanalystsorinternationalrapporteurs,thesituationremainsalarming. The EC Progress Report on Albania notes that mediafundingremainsveryproblematic.Thereisalmostnotransparencyandsourcesoffundingaremanipulatedorerased.

Paradoxically,Albania has a very large number of national dailynewspapers,atotalof25(averyhighfigureagainstthepopulation12. Link: https://al.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/140/2017/03/Shqiperia-2016.pdf


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number),whichalmostalldeclarelosses,butstillremaininthemarketsupportedbytheincomesofotherbusinessesoftheownersorthroughunknownfundingsources.“Mostofthesedailiesmaybeconsidered“bulletinsofconstructioncompanies.’Thecompaniessupportthesenewspaperswithfundsnotfor themtoservepublicinterest,but toservetheinterestsofcertainbusinesses.Ifyouaskthesecompanieswhy they spend money every month for an activity that bringsthemnoprofit,theresponseyougetrandomlyisthatthroughthesenewspapers,theyprotecttheirbusinesses.Thisprobablyispartiallytrue,butonlypartially.Bymeansofthesenewspapers,thebusinessescanexertpressureandsecurefavors”(Lani,2011,p.53).

Asaresult,theconditionshavebeencreatedforthemediatosidewithpoliticsforthegoodoftheclientelisticinterestsandtothedetrimentoftheprinciplesofindependence.Intheseconditions,itappearsthatthemediaandpolitics,toalargeextent,enjoyasymbioticrelationshipregardingtheirpurposes:politicssupportsthemediatosurviveandobtainfavorsand,ontheotherhand,themediasupportsonepoliticalforceinthefightforpower.13

2.4. Organization of the media and the journalists community

Similar to countries of the polarized pluralistic media model, inAlbania too, professional organizations and the trade unions ofjournalists aregenerallyweak.There is a tendencyencountered inotherformercommunistcountries,suchasRomania,wherethereisalmost a lackof solidarity and realorganizationamong journalists(Gross,2008,p.126).Thissituation is foundalso inEC’sProgressReportonAlbania,whereitisunderscoredthatmanyjournalistsarestillunorganizedandunrepresented.

13. Baka,Besnik,Media vs. Politics: Transition toward political (in)dependence, AMI,2011


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During theyears of the transition in the country, some journalists’organizationswithnationalor local reachorbasedonprofessionalprofilehavebeencreatedbut they rarelybecomeactive.Themostknownassociations thathaveplayedarole in theorganizationandprotection of the interests of journalists are:Albanian Journalists’Union, led by Aleksandër Çipa, the Association of ProfessionalJournalistsofAlbania,ledbyArmandShkullaku,andtheLeagueofAlbanianJournalists,ledbyYlliRakipi.Atthelevelofownersandleadersofbroadcastmedia, theAssociationofAlbanianBroadcastMediaisactiveatcertainmomentstoprotecttheirinterests,ledbyAleksandërFrangaj.

Intheirrarepublicreactions,thejournalists’associations,includingtheAlbanianJournalists’Union,havedenouncedcasesofviolenceagainstjournalists,aswasthatagainstreporterEduardIlnicain2016orElviFundoinMarch2017.Insomeothercases,theassociationshave protested for delays in the payment of journalists, failure toequip them with employment contracts and unfavorable workingconditions.

During thisyear,wehave encounteredone caseof the fourmajorassociationsmakingajointproteststatementonadraftlawthatwaspart of the justice reform package and envisaged punishment forjournalists in cases of “any kind of inappropriate influence on theworkofspecialprosecutorsortheiractivityonconcretecasesthroughpublic authorities,media or othermanners or persons, influencingtheindependenceofprosecutorsduringtheexerciseoftheirduties.”Punishmentinthecriminalcodeforthiskindofoffensewentuptothreeyearsofimprisonment.14

14. http://www.lapsi.al/lajme/2016/08/17/shoqatat-e-gazetar%C3%ABve-i-drejtohen-kuvendit-mos-votoni-nenin-kund%C3%ABr-liris%C3%AB-s%C3%AB#.WcoTV7IjGM8


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Nevertheless, as a general characterization, it may be said thatthereisalackorlittleprofessionalsolidarity,unity,encouragementand motivation – indispensable for transforming the journalists’associations intodefining factors in thedevelopmentofmediaandpowerfultribunesforprotectingfreeandindependentmedia–amongjournalism professionals. Such a situation has led owners to beencouragedintheirharshstancestowardjournalistsandhasincreasedthe latter’s dependence on themomentary interests of politics andmediaowners.

Anindicatorofthelackoforganizationofthemediaandthejournalists’communityisalsothefactthatAlbania,foralongperiodduringthetransitionyears,hasnotmanaged tohaveaMediaCouncil,whichexistsinsomecountriesoftheregion.Severalinitiatedeffortsinthisregardhavefailed.ThereappearstobethesamefailureprospectsintheinitiativeofagroupofjournalistswhoannouncedinJuly2015thecreationoftheMediaCouncil,15whichsincethecreationhasbeenmostlyinactive.

The inexistence or poor role of journalists associations has alsoinfluenced a poor level of self-regulation ofmedia inAlbania. “Afirstcodeofethicswasdraftedbythemainjournalists’associationsand theAlbanianMedia Institute in1996.Thiscode representedanewconceptontherecentlyintroducedprofessionofthejournalist.However,itdidnothaveformalsupportbythemediaorganizationsanditsimplementationwasleftuptothefreewillofjournalists.TheCodewasrevisedin2006andtherevisionprocessincludedallinterestedpartiesinthemediacommunity,atallhierarchicallevels.Thenewest

15. MediaLiteracyandEducationNeedsofJournalistsandthePublicinAlbania,Bosnia-Herzegovina,Macedonia,Montenegro,Serbia.RegionalReport-March2017,Link:http://www.institutemedia.org/Documents/PDF/Rep_Regional_Media_Literacy_2017%20-%204.pdf


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andmostessentialfeatureofthiscodewasthatitbeganasacodeofconductandnotasacodethatcoveredthemaindeontologicalaspectsofjournalism.Inotherwords,itstartedasanattempttorespondtoasmanytoilsomedilemmasthatjournalistsencounterintheirworkandnotasanefforttodeterminethegeneralprinciples,asthepreviouscodedid.The journalists’ associations reacheda formalagreementtosupporttheimplementationofthecode.However,inspiteofthewidelyexpressedwillingnesstoadheretothecode,concretemeasuresforotherself-regulatorymechanismswerepoor.

Thelowlevelofthedevelopmentofself-regulationofthemediainAlbaniahasbeeninfluencedbyanumberofotherfactors,includingemploymentrelations,lackoftradition,aswellasthelackofinterestbymediaownersforself-regulation.”(Zlatev,Ognian,2010)

As Hallin and Mancini emphasize, poor consensus regardingjournalistic standards and the limited development of professionalself-regulationreflectsthefactthatjournalism,toalargeextent,hasnotbeenanautonomousinstitution,buthasbeenguidedbyexternalforces,mainlytheworldofpoliticsandbusiness.(Hallin,&Mancini,2004)

2.5. Editorial and professional autonomy, working standards and journalists’ protection

TheParliamentaryAssemblyoftheCouncilofEurope,initsdocument“Indicators for media in a democracy,” views editorial autonomyofmediaasan important indicatorof the levelofdemocracy.Thisdocumentestablishesthatmediashouldhaveeditorialindependencefrom owners, agreeing on the code of conduct for editorialindependence, to ensure that media owners do not interfere withthedailyeditorialworkanddonotcompromise the impartialityof


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journalism.16

However,intheAlbanianreality,onecanhardlyfindmediaownerswhodonot influence theeditorialpolicyof themediaoutlets theyown.Somemaybemoremoderateintheirinterferencethanothersand some harsher. However, it seems impossible to find ownerswhodonotexertinfluenceonthemediainthenameoftheirprivateinterests. Media leaders (editors and owners) continually adjusteditorial policies and news content to serve their economic andpoliticalinterests.17

Byfullyignoringthepublicfunctionofthemedia,mediaownersinAlbaniatreatinformationasprivatepropertyandnotapubliclysharedasset.Thisshowsthatthe“shiftfromthe‘sovietmediamodel’tothe‘socialresponsibilitymodel’appearstohavebeenmoredifficultthanhadbeenthought.”(Lani,2011)

Asacontinuationofthesubmissionofmediatotheirinterests,ownersandmediadirectors (whoareoftenon the sameside)buildfictiveemployment relations with journalists in order to find it easier todismissthemiftheydonotobeytheirrules.TheheadoftheAlbanianJournalists’UnionAleksandërÇipaconsidersemploymentcontractsatrapforjournalists.“Thesecontractsareoftenunilateralandareoftenimposed.Theymayindeedbeinwriting,buttheyareformulatedinsuchamannerthattheyoftenhavenolegalvalue.Mediabossesinmostcasesdonotgivejournalistsacopyofthecontract.”18

16. Indicators for media in a democracy,ParliamentaryAssembly,Council ofEurope,2008Link:http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/xref/xref-xml2html-en.asp?fileid=17684&lang=en17. Baka, Besnik, Media vs. Politics: Transition to political (in)dependence, AMI,201118. http://www.dw.com/sq/gazetar%C3%ABt-e-pambrojtur-t%C3%AB-shqip%C3%ABris%C3%AB/a-37359205


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“Poorimplementationofthecodeoflabor,bothforfull-timeandforpart-timejournalists,remainsaverydisturbingissue.Manyjournalistsworkwithoutemploymentcontractsorhavesuchcontractsthatmaybearbitrarilyinterrupted”–saystheECProgressReportonAlbania.

Thishasledtothesituationinwhichmanyjournalistsadapttotheowners’interestsandimplementtheiragendas,oftenself-censuringthemselvesintheirwork.TheU.SStateDepartment’sHumanRightsReportonAlbania for2016notes“Journalistsoftenpracticedself-censorship to avoid violence and harassment and as a response topressurefrompublishersandeditorsseekingtoadvancetheirpoliticalandeconomicinterests.”

These interests have placed journalists under permanent pressure.“Althoughwehavemovedbeyondtherepressionphase, itmaybesaidwithouthesitationthatwearegoingthroughthepressurephase.Inotherwords,imprisonmentandphysicalviolencetowardjournalistsappeartobelongtothepast,butthepressuretheyfaceremainsand,infact,isbecomingevermoresophisticated.”19

Thispressureandthelackofeconomicsecurityhavedecreasedtheindependenceofjournalistsandasaresulthaveinfluencedthedeclineofprofessionalstandardsandbiasinreporting.

3. Current trends in the relations between media and politics in Albania

From2013,Albaniaisgovernedbypoliticalforcesoftheleftwing.Afterarelativelysuccessful4-yearmandateinmacroterms,theSPmanagedtowintheelectionsinJuneofthisyearalone,sendingto

19. Lani,Remzi,Balkan Media: Lost in transition?In:ProfessionalJournalismand Self-Regulation. New Media, Old Dilemmas in Southestern Europe andTurkey,UNESCO2011


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oppositionitsallyofthepreviousmandate,theLSI,andgatheringarounditselfevengreaterpowerandresponsibility.

Intermsofmediafreedom,theperiodafter2013todatehasseena slight improvement, referring to data from thePressFreedomIndex, published by the prestigious international organizationReporterswithoutBorders.Thus,for2017,Albaniaclimbedsomesteps,ranking76thcomparedto82ndin2016and2015.20However,accordingtheFreedomHouseclassification,thecountryremainsin the spectrum of “partially free” countries with regard to thegeneralsituationoffreedom.

Whataresomeofthemaincurrenttendenciesthatdominatedthedevelopmentofrelationsbetweenmediaandpoliticsandwhathaschanged in the essence and in the symbiosis of these relations?Below is an attempt to bring some of the tendencies outlinedduringthistime,takingalookbothatthelevelofmediatizationofpoliticsaswellasthepoliticizationofthemedia.

3.1. The winner takes it all?21

During these years, there has been increased mediatization ofpolitics,shownintheincreaseofmediachannelsusedbypoliticalpartiesandpoliticiansaswellasintheincreaseoftimeandspacereservedforpoliticsinmasscommunicationmedia.Theincreaseoftheinfluenceofmediainachievingpoliticalobjectivesorgoalsis at the essence of the process ofmediatization of politics. Inthis regard, we may say without hesitation that the sensationalvictoryof theSPonJune25,2017,cameasa resultalsoof theincreasedmediainfluenceinthecontextoftheintensificationofmediatizationbytheSPanditsleaderEdiRama.20. https://rsf.org/en/albania21. AparaphraseofaknownABBAsong.


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Besides the process of mediatization of politics, we have alsonoticed a change in the conduct and rapport of media actors,especially owners, with politics in general and governance inparticular,leadingtoareconfigurationinthemedia’sapproachtopoliticalsidesandinsomecasesevenachangeoftheireditorialpolicies.

TheFreedomHouseReportonAlbaniastatesthatsincethelocalelectionsof2015,according tomonitoringby theOSCE, itwasdiscoveredthatallmainmedia,includingthepublicbroadcaster,favoredoneofthemainpoliticalparties,referringtotheSocialistParty.22 The concern that some of the country’s main mediaoutlets have changed editorial policies adopting a conformistor supportive policy toward current power has been articulatedstrongly,especiallyinthecaseoftheterminationorinterruptionbytheownersofcontractsforsomemediadirectors,suchasArmandShkullakuofABCNews,AlfredLelaofMaponewspaper,MentorKikia,newseditoratTopChannel,andparticularlythedismissalofAlidaTotafromherpositionasdirectorof informationatA1TV.23

With developments during the last four years, it appears thatwehave reached thesituation inwhichalmostall the importantmedia outlets, with rare exceptions, have lined up mostly onthe side of power, harming their publicmission in the name ofbusinessinterestsandabandoningincreasinglythepositionofthe“fourestate.”Infact,someofthemstagemoreoppositiontotheopposition than to the government. In terms of the authority ofpoweron them,FatosLubonja thinks thatwehave todowithakindof“Putinizationofmedia.”Regardingjournalistswhoonce22. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/albania23. http://www.newsbomb.al/levizje-dhe-shkarkime-te-bujshme-ne-boten-e-medias-shqiptare-nga-mentor-kikia-te-armand-shkullaku-cfare-ndodhi-ne-6-muaj-65296


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weredividedintotwogroups,Lubonjanowsaystheyareinonetrench,thatofthepartyinpower.24

Althoughtherearenoreportsofdirectpressurebythegovernmenton media to change their editorial policies, it appears that thementioned changes may have come in exchange for favors fordifferentbusinessesoftheownersofthesemediaoutlets,throughahiddenclientelisticpracticedevelopedbehindthescenesbetweenmediaownersandpolitics.Themostbetrayed in thisclientelisticflirtisthepublicanditsinterests.

3.2. New dimensions in the re-politicization and instrumentalization of the media

One of the characteristics of media in Mediterranean countries,whichAlbania’smedia have similaritieswith, is their polarizationand politicization. “As shown by history, media inMediterraneancountriesareverypoliticizedandpoliticalparallelismisveryhigh.Newspapers tend to represent discernible political tendencies.”(Hallin&Mancini,2004,p.98).Inthesecountries,agroupofmediacontinuouslysupportsleftwingpartieswhileanothergroupofmediasupportsrightwingparties,consistentlyadheringtotheirprofile.

With the appearance of clientelism in themedia, after 1998 thisdivision began to crystalize and deepen inAlbania too. Such adivision is noted in the Freedom House Report that emphasizesthat“the interminglingofpowerfulbusiness,political,andmediainterests inhibits the development of independent news outlets;mostareseenasbiasedtowardeitherthePSorthePD.”25

24. http://www.dw.com/sq/gazetar%C3%ABt-e-pambrojtur-t%C3%AB-shqip%C3%ABris%C3%AB/a-3735920525. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/albania


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The “surprise” of recent times lies in the fact that this kind ofpolarization appears to be assuming new forms. First, it seemsto be a shift from rightwing vs. leftwing media polarization togovernment media vs. opposition media. The ideological courseis not pursued also due to the fact that political parties have notadheredtooneideologicalprofile.ParadoxicallyinAlbania,partiesconsideredoftheleftwinghaveappliedmorerightwingpoliciesintheirgovernance.

Secondly,manyoutlets, including someof themainmedia, haverecentlyabandonedpoliticalloyaltyandaremovingforma“honeymoon”with theDP government to a “honeymoon”with the SPgovernment, adjusting their editorial course and policy with thecourse and policy of the political winner, simply and only toprotect and advance their business interests. As a development,this isnaturallygraverandmoreconsequential thanconstantandsustainable political polarization and parallelism and leads to aseriouscompromiseoftheroleofthemediaandtodevastationandeliminationofpublictrustinit.

Thissituationofthesubmissionofmediatotheinterestsofbusinessandpoliticshasbeenexploitedbythelattertoincreasetheleveloftheirinstrumentalizationforitsneedsandpurposes.ThebattlehorseinthiscasehasbeenPR.Likeneverbefore,PRofficesofpoliticalpartiesandstateinstitutionsareusingthemediatonotonlyconveymessagesbutalso readypoliticalcontentoftenbroadcastwithoutanyfilterbythemedia.

Based on research conducted in the framework of this study, therearedatathatpointtoahighpresenceofnewsthatsimply“transcribe”contentofPRoffices.Thetablebelowpresentsthesituationinthetwonational television stations, two national newspapers and two newsportalsmonitoredduringthemonthsofFebruaryandMarch2017.


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Table no.2. Percentage of PR-based political news

Media

Total number of political

stories

No of PR-based political

news

Percentage of PR-based political

news Top Channel 148 53 35.81%

Klan 152 51 33.55%

Panorama 573 118 20.6%

Shqiptarja.com 772 127 16.5%

Balkanweb 716 143 15.90%

Albeu 558 101 15.18%Source: Monitoring conducted in the framework of this study

Asmaybeseen in the table,politicalPR-basednews is found inhigherpercentage in television.Thus,more thanone thirdof thepoliticalnewsintelevisionoriginatefromPRofficematerials.ThisisexplainedbythefactthatthegreatestinvestmentofpoliticalPRofficesisfocusedontelevisiongiventhatthepressisinacrisisandhasincreasinglylessaudience,whileonlineportalsarenotmuchofatargetbecausepoliticalpartieshavetheirownonlinechannelstocommunicatedirectlywiththewebpublic.

Inthiscontext,wewouldliketoclarifythatduringthemonitoringconductedforthisstudy,“politicalstories”includednewsrelatedtopoliticalpartiesandpoliticiansandnewsrelatedtotheactivityofstateinstitutions.PR-basedstoriesincludeonlystoriesbaseddirectlyonmaterialfrompublicrelationsofficesofpoliticalpartiesandstateinstitutions. The cases when journalists followed political eventsinthefieldthemselvesandreportedonthemwerenotincludedinthiscategory.Takingintoconsiderationthefactthatmostofthesepolitical events are part of public relations activities, the numberand percentage of PR-based stories would be much higher thanthoseseeninthetableabove.


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Drastic developments have been seen recently also with theso-called “ready tapes.” From a phenomenon and problem ofelectoralcampaignperiods,“readytapes”arenowanomnipresentphenomenon and problem. Monitoring of 30 news editions ofthe19:30 time slot onKlanTVandTopChannel discovered thefollowingpresenceof ready tapesduring themonthsofFebruaryandMarch2017,longbeforetheelectoralcampaign:

Table no.3.Number of ready tapes broadcast in 30 news editions

Media SP tapes DP tapesTirana City Hall

tapes

Top-Channel 3 6 23

Klan 7 2 24Source: Monitoring conducted in the framework of this study

Asmaybeseenfromthedata,theSPispresentinTopChannelin3of30newseditionswhiletheDPin6such.OnTVKlan,theSPispresentin7of30newseditionsandtheDPin2such.WestressthatthemonthsofFebruaryandMarchwhenthemonitoringtookplacesawtheongoingprotestoftheDPknownasthe“tentprotest.”

BasedondataitappearsthatTopChannelismoreopentoDPtapesthanKlanTV,whileKlanTVismoreopen toSP tapes thanTopChannel.

Whatismoststrikinginthetableaboveisparticularlythestormingofthetwonationaltelevisionstationswith“readytapes”byTiranaCityHall,anewtrendfor this institution, initiatedby thecurrentMayorofTiranafromhiselectiontothepost.Of30newseditionsonTopChannel,TiranaCityHallwaspresentwith“readytapes”in23ofthem(orin77%ofthem)whileonTVKlan,TiranaCityHallwaspresentwith“readytapes”in24of30newseditions(orin80%ofthem).


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TVKlan identifies the “ready tapes” as suchwhileTopChanneldoesnot.

Thedebateon“readytapes”wasopenedagainaheadoftheelectoralcampaignofthe2017electionsandpartofthebroadcastmediacameoutwithastatementthattheywouldnotbroadcastthem.However,resistanceonlylastedafewdaysandtheybegantoairthemcitingtheobligationoftheElectoralCode.

Manyofthemmayarguethatthepracticeof“readytapes”isanaturalandmodern developmentwithin the context of themediatizationof politics.However, to the author of this study, in theAlbaniancontext, more than amediatization of politics, they represent aninstrumentalization of themedia by the PR offices of politics orstateinstitutions,causingharmtotheirindependenceandintegrity.

3.3. Politics challenges the mediation of traditional media

Withthemassivespreadoftheinternetandonlinecommunication,Politics 2.0 (otherwise known as cyberpolitics) has expandedincreasingly.Thismeanstheuseofinteractiveonlinechannelsforpoliticalcommunication.Foryears inAlbania, theSocialistPartyand its leaderhavecreatedsomekindofsuperioritycompared tootherpoliticalforces,beingmoreinnovativeandmoreinclinedtoapplythelatestnoveltiesofvirtualcommunicationfortheirneedsandgoals,whichisseeninthelargernumberoffollowersonline.

Besidesotherthings,theinternetcreatesthepossibilityforpoliticalactorstoenterintodirectcommunicationwithouttheneedforthemediationof traditionalmedia. In theonlineenvironment,partiescan bemedia themselves, can have theirwebTVorwebRadio,createtheirownYouTubechannelorfan pages insocialnetworks,etc.Through theweb, they reach young age groups and internet


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usersofallagegroupsmuchbetterthanthroughtraditionalmedia.

ThemostsensationaldevelopmentinAlbanianpolitics2.0hasbeentheopeninginMarch2017ofERTV,akindofwebTVthatcarriestheinitialsofthePrimeMinisterandSPChairmanEdiRama,whichbroadcasts live feeds besides from stories.At present,ERTVhasturned into amedia trademark and its videos are very frequentlybroadcast on traditional television stations, but in reversedroles: while once politics summoned the media for help in itscommunicationwithaudiences,nowitisthetraditionalmediathatsummonpolitics(ERTV)forhelpinmediatingtobringinformationaboutpoliticaleventstothepublic.

Anotherwaythatchallengesthemediationoftraditionalmediaisthe replacementof traditionalpressstatementsofpoliticianswithstatuses on individual or institutional profiles on Facebook orTwitter.Thenumberofstoriesgeneratedbasedonthesestatusesisontherise.Basedonthemonitoringconductedinthecontextofthisresearchstudy,itresultsthatforallthreemediacategories(press,TV,online)anaverageof1outof10storiesfrompoliticsoriginatedfromFacebookorTwitter, thusmarkingsomekindofFacebook-izationofpoliticalreporting.

The submissivepositionofAlbanian traditionalmedia topoliticsandthesecuritygainedthroughthecapacitiesofcyber-politicshasencouraged, time after time, a populist discourse in the politicalcommunicationoftheAlbanianPrimeMinister,whoisalsotheheadoftheSP.ERTVinsomecaseshasservedasawindowintoPopulism2.0ofthePrimeMinister,throughfootageofmeetingswithpeopleandthroughstoriesthatcarefullypickthemostattractivepopulistrhetoricthatisthoughttoproducethegreatestpossibleimpactonthepublic.

Furthermore,theabovecircumstanceshaveencouragedEdiRama


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tothrowinthelastgloveofdueltothemedia,declaring“openwar”onthem–acommunicationstrategythathasbeenusedbyAmericanPresidentDonaldTrumporothercurrentleadersofglobalpolitics.While Trump attacked media against him as “fake media,” EdiRama used in one of theOpinion shows in September 2016 themetaphor“basinmedia,” invitinghisopponents in themediatoaduel.Hecontinuedthebattlewith themediafurtheron thevergeof the electoral campaignwhenhe labeledbynamemanyof thecountry’sknownanalystsaspartofthe“basinmedia.”

Naturally,thechallengetothemedia,circumventingorignoringitandthe“attack”forelectoralpurposesmightproducemomentarybenefitsforpolitics.Yet,fromalong-termpointofview,itcultivatesa negative perception and a denying spirit for the media andjournalistswithoutdistinction,leavingthepublictobe,ontheonehand,preytotheincreasednumberoffake news andmanipulatedsocialnetworkinformationand,ontheother,preyofthediscourseofpopulistpoliticians,whichmayproduceanewauthoritarianismwithconsequencesfordemocracy.

On the other hand, the transformation of politics or state itselfintomediamay be considered also as an effort at some kind ofdelegitimizationof the“fourthestate,”kicking itoutof thegameand turning information intoa functionof the threeotherpowersand theirpublic relations.Thiswould representaverydangerousprecedentforthefunctioningofademocraticsociety.

3.4. Increasing politicization and opinionization of media and the society

Whetherconsciouslyornot,itmaybesaidthatpoliticsatpresenthasmanagedtobeatthecenterofthepublicattentionofAlbanians,infact,muchmorethanitshould.Themediahasplayedamajorrole


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in thisexcessivepoliticizationof thesociety.Atpresent,wemaytalk about the “bombardment” of the publicwith politics,whichappearsatseverallevels:

First,intheincreaseoftimeorspaceofthemediafilledwithpoliticalcontent. Thus, it has become almost normal for the country’stelevision stations, particularly the all-news stations, tobroadcastlive forhoursinarowallthemainpoliticalevents,startingfromtheparliament’splenarysessionsorcommitteemembermeetingsandcontinuingwiththecongressesorconventionsofthemainpoliticalpartiesaswellasothersmallerparties.Thelive cameraoftelevisionshasoftenenteredmeetingsoreventsofTiranaMunicipalityorotherstate institutions as well as events that may not have had muchpublicinterest.

Besideslive broadcasts,wenoticeanincreasedpresenceofpoliticalnewsintelevisionnewseditionsornewspaperpages.Themonitoringconductedaspartofthisresearchstudyhasfoundthatsomemediaoutletsgivemorepriority topolitics,makingpoliticalnewsoftenthe leading story of the newspaper or of TV news edition. Thefollowingtablepresentsmonitoringdatainthisregard:


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Table no.4. The number and percentage of news editions that had a political story as the leading or main story

MediaNo. of

monitored news editions

No. of news editions that had a political story

as the leading or main story

Percentage of news editions

that had a political story as the leading or main story

Top Channel 30 21 70%

Klan 30 10 33%

Panorama 59 22 37.3%

Shqiptarja.com 51 41 80%Source: Monitoring conducted in the framework of this research study

Asmaybeseen,thereisadifferencebetweenthedifferentmediaoutletsintheirpreferencesforpoliticalnewsasaleadingormainstory.TopChannelismoreinclinedthanTVKlantostartitsmainnewseditionwith suchstories.Outof30newseditionsof19.30thatweremonitored,21(or70%)startwithapoliticalstory.Inthisregard,TVKlan’s percentage is about twice smaller (33%).Thesituation is similar also in the reporting innewspapersPanoramaandShqiptarja.com.Of51editionsofShqiptarja.com,41(or80%)have a political story lead in the front page,while in Panorama,only22of59editions(or37.3%)havesuchastoryintheirlead.WeemphasizethatPanoramahasaspecificasithaschosentohavenotonebuttwoleadingstoriesandwecountedboth.

The monitoring also provides data about the average length ofpolitical storieswithin a news edition in both national televisionstationsTopChannelandTVKlanaswellasdataontheaveragenumberandpercentageofpoliticalstoriespublishedinonedayinthetwonewsportalsBalkanweb.comandAlbeu.com.Wemonitored


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respectively 30 news editions of the 19.30 time slot in each ofthem during the February-March period, whilewemonitored 30randomlyselecteddaysduringthisperiodintheonlineportals.ThepressmonitoringwasabitmoreextensiveandincludedalleditionspublishedbythetwonewspapersduringFebruaryandMarch2017.ThePanoramanewspaper,publishedeverydayoftheweek,hadatotalof59editionsduringthisperiod,whileShqiptarja.com,whichpublishes6daysaweek,had51editions.

Withregardtomonitoringontelevision,thesituationispresentedinthefollowingtable.

Table no.5.Length of political stories on TV

MediaAverage length

of a news edition (minutes)

Average length of political stories

(minutes)

% of time for political

stories

Top-Channel 30.24 9.85 32%

Klan TV 30.01 6.43 21%Source: Monitoring conducted in the framework of this research study

Asmaybeseen,onTopChannel,of30.24minutesoftheaveragelengthofthenewseditions,9.85minutesoraboutonethirdofthetime (32%)was taken up by political stories.OnTVKlan, timelengthappearsshorterforpoliticalstoriescomparedtoTopChannel,withabout21%ofthetime.Nevertheless,thetimelengthcriterionis not the only indicator, because the number of political storieswithinthetotalnumberofstoriesisalsoimportant.Inthisregard,itappearsthatTVKlan,althoughwithshortertimelength,oftenhadalargernumberofpoliticalstories,giventhatitsnewswereshorter.

Among the newspapers and portals, the monitoring presents asituationinwhichnewspapershaveahigherpercentageofpoliticalstoriesperissue,whichissomewhathigherthanthepercentageof


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thetelevisionandtwicehigherthantheaveragepercentageofthetwoportals.Belowaretheexactdata:

Table no.6. Number and percentage of political stories in newspapers and portals

MediaAverage number of stories in one

day

Average number of

political stories in one day

% of political stories in one

day

Panorama 34.83 11.59 33.30%

Shqiptarja.com 40.8 17.9 41.90%

Balkanweb 132.16 29.8 22.40%

Albeu 177.7 24.1 13.55%Source: Monitoring conducted in the context of this research study

Certainly,itwouldbeverynaturalforthemajorityofpoliticalnewstobeveryhigh,ifthemediaoutletsweretohaveapoliticalprofile.Butallsixoftheoutletsmonitoredaspartofthisresearchstudyhaveageneralistcharacterand,inthiscontext,wemaysaythatthereishighpresenceofpoliticalnews,especially in thenewspapersandtelevisions.

Besidesthehighpresenceofpoliticalnews,Albanianmediafeaturealsoanincreasingopinionization,especiallywithregardtoopinionsaboutpolitics.Thus,whiletenyearsago,televisionshadonly4talkshows of a political nature, at present the majority of televisionstationshaveonesuch.Itisalsonotsorareforpoliticstobepresenteveninentertainmentshows.Besidesnationaltelevisions,nowonefindsopinion-basedshows in themajorityof televisions.Theall-newsstationsaswellaspartoflocaltelevisionsnowhaveprogramsbasedonopinion.Thisisexplainedbythefactthatsuchacategoryofprogramsmayservebetterthanothersforbuildingbridgesbetween


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mediaandpoliticsaswellastoexertpressureortomakefavorstoitbyprocessingopinionaccordingtotheinterestsofcertainpoliticalforces.Inthewordsofanopinionmaker,theseshowshaveturnedinto“indispensablewindowsforpolitics,whereyouneedtoappearinordertoexist.”26

Opinion makers today represent a well-paid caste of the media,with incomes tens of times higher than those of reporters. Someof them also on the list ofAlbanian billionaires, becoming suchevenwithoutowningtheirownbusinesses.Thissituationhasbeendiscussedseveraltimesinthemediaaswell.27

Aspectacular indicatorof the increasedpowerofopinionmakersand “opinion-based programs”was the 20th anniversary ceremonyfor theOpinion showofBlendiFevziu,which tookplace in oneof themainsquaresof thecapitalcity,accompaniedwitha lotoffanfare and pomposity, and where all VIPs controllingAlbanianpoliticsandpublicopinionwerepresent.Asananalystwritesaboutthisevent,Fevziumanagedtoput in line theentire“elite”ofourAlbanianvillage,aspeopleneedinghismediawindow.28

Besides opinionization coming from the television window, inrecent years, we notice also an increased opinionization comingfromtheonlinemediasystem.Portals,blogsandsocialmediaoftheopinion-basedprofilehaveincreasedinrecentyearsataveryhighpace.From the television screens, opinionists havemoved to theonlineenvironmentinafeverishracetoattractasmanyvisitorsaspossible.Manycontroversialanalystswhohavebeenintheshadowsorwho have not found space in traditionalmedia have appearedinthisbattlefield.Anobservationoftheonlineenvironmentbythe

26. http://konica.al/2017/09/kur-driten-duhet-ta-jape-dikush-qe-nuk-e-ka/27. http://www.newsbomb.al/article-6556428. http://www.360grade.al/me-shume/editorial/item/94901-bravo-fevzo


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author shows that in this environment,Albanian opinionmakersappearevenmoreaggressive than in televisionor innewspapers,also due to the fact that they make their own portal’s editorialpolicy.Languageincyberspaceappearsevenmoreconflict-drivenandthosefewscruplesthatopinion-makerspreserveontelevisionappeartofall.

BothopiniontalkshowsonTVandopinion-basedwebportals,amongothers,haveincreasedconsiderablytheintensityof“bombarding”thepublicwithpolitics.Asaresult,insteadofmediatizingpoliticalcultureamongAlbanians,themediaismediatizingpoliticalconflict.Themediaisalsocontributingtobuildingasocietyofopinionandhotreasoninginsteadofbuildingasocietyofinformationandcoldreason.

Theincreasingopinionizationofthemediahasledtoaweakeningandreductionoffact-basedjournalism,creatingfertilegroundforopinion-based journalism and for fake news.This makes it evenmoreurgent theneed for themedia to reflect and return tobasicstandardsandthepublicmissionbeforeitistoolate.

Executive summary

Thisresearchtakesuponitselftoshedlightupontherelationsbetweenthemediaandpolitics inAlbania,startingfromthehistoricalandsocialcontextoftheserelationstocontinuewithcurrentprevailingtrends that shape the typologyof these relations. Inorder toalsoachieveconclusionswithregardtothereportingofpoliticsinthemedia,wehavealsoundertakenaquantitativemonitoring.

ThetransitionofAlbanianmediatowardfreeandindependentmediahasbeenpartandareflectionoftheoverallpolitical-socialtransitionof thecountryafter thefallofcommunismand theestablishment


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of political pluralism.At the start of the 1990s, pluralisticmediaemergedanddevelopedmoreundertheencouragementofpoliticaldemand and only later they began to develop also as a result ofsocial demand and market demand. The first media outlets intransitioning Albania were founded by political parties. Duringthisperiod,Albanianmediatriedtoemancipateitselfbutitdidnotsucceedtotransformitselffromapartyinstitutiontoanindependentinstitution. Only after 1994, media outlets owned by journalists,inclinedtodetachthemselvesfromtheinfluenceofpoliticalpartiesand to stage strong opposition to power, began to emerge.After1998,undertheinfluenceofmarketdemand,manyrepresentativesof large businesses entered the field of media ownership, thusmarkingtheemergenceofclientelisticmediaoutlets;manyoftheseownerscreatedtheirmediaoutletstoservebusinessinterestsandtostrengthentheirtieswithpoliticsinexchangeformutualinterests.

Followingthislongandwindingtransition,atpresenttheAlbanianmedia system appears relatively consolidated and, in manydirections, displays similarity alsowithmedia systems in part ofthewesterncountries.AccordingtoanalysisofthisresearchofthethreemodelspresentedbyauthorsHallinandMancini,themodelofAlbanianmediaismorelikethePoliticizedPluralisticModel.

During the transition years, Albania saw the establishment ofa relatively complete legal framework for the protection anddevelopment of media freedom and independence.However, inmany cases, the legal framework was delayed or a mechanicaltransplantofwesternlegislation.Enforcementoflegislationremainsaproblem.

Intheframeworkofrelationsbetweenthemediaandpolitics,bothintheearlytransitionphasesandduringrecentyears,therehavebeenfrequenteffortsofpoliticalformations toensure inawaycontrol


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overthemediathroughlawasinthecaseofthePressLaworthecaseoflegislationestablishingtheregulationsfortheelectionoftheSteeringCouncilofRTSHandAMA,whichgivestheopportunitytothepoliticalmajoritytodecideonthecompositionofthesteeringbodiesofthesetwoinstitutions.

In terms of transparency over media ownership, Albania hasmadeprogress,but theconcern is raised regarding thepossibilityof hiddenownership.Besides theownership factor, their fundingalsohasplayedaconsiderableroleinthedegreeofdependenceorindependenceofthemedia.Inthisregard,formanydomesticanalystsorinternationalrapporteurs,thesituationremainsalarming.TheEUProgressReportonAlbanianotesthatmediafinancingremainsveryproblematic.Thereisalmostnotransparencyandfundingsourcesaremanipulatedorhidden.

Similar to countries of the polarized pluralistic media model,in Albania too, professional organizations and the trade unionsof journalists are generally weak. An indicator of the lack oforganizationofthemediaandthejournalists’communityisalsothefactthatAlbania,foralongperiodduringthetransitionyears,hasnotmanagedtohaveaMediaCouncil,whichexistsinthemajorityoftheregion’scountries.Theinexistenceorpoorroleofjournalists’associationshasledtoapoorlevelofself-regulationofmediainthecountry.

Withregardtoeditorialautonomy,onecanhardlyfindmediaownerswhodonotinfluencetheeditorialpolicyofthemediaoutletstheyown. Completely ignoring the media’s public function, mediaowners inAlbania treat informationasprivatepropertyandnotapubliclysharedasset.Asacontinuationofthesubmissionofmediato their interests, owners and leading officials (who are often onthesameside)buildfictiveemploymentrelationswithjournalistsin


52

ordertofinditeasiertodismissthemifthelatterdonotobey.

Poor implementation of the labor code, both for those workingfull-time and those working part-time remains a very disturbingissue.Manyjournalistsworkwithoutemploymentcontractsorhavesuchcontractsthatmaybearbitrarilyinterrupted.Thishasledtoasituationinwhichmanyjournalistssubmittotheowners’interestsandcarryouttheiragendas,oftenexertingself-censorshipintheirwork. Pressure and lack of economic security have decreasedjournalists’ independence and, as a result, have influenced thedeclineinprofessionalstandardsandbiasinreporting.

Furthermore,recentyearshaveseenanincreasedmediatizationofpolitics,displayedintheincreaseofmediachannelsusedbypoliticalpartiesandpoliticiansandintheincreasedtimeorspacereservedforpoliticsinthemasscommunicationmeans.Besidestheprocessofmediatizationofpolitics,wehaveseenachangeintheconductandrapportofmediaactors,especiallyowners, towardpoliticsingeneralandgovernmentinparticular,leadingtoareconfigurationofthemediaapproachtopoliticalsidesand,insomecases,achangeoftheireditorialpolicy.

Thedevelopmentsofthelastfouryearsindicatethatwehavearrivedatasituationinwhichalmostalltheimportantmediaoutlets,withrareexceptions,have linedupmoreor lesson thesideofpower,thusharmingtheirpublicmissioninthenameofbusinessinterestsandincreasinglyabandoningthepositionthe“fourthestate.”Thereareauthorswhoseeakindof“Putinizationofmedia”inthisthissituation.

Although evidences of direct government pressure on mediato change their editorial policy are not reported, apparently thementionedchangesmayhavebeeninexchangeforfavorsforthe


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different businesses of the owners through a hidden clientelisticpractice thatoccursbehindthescenes inrelationsbetweenmediaownersandpolitics.

OneofthecharacteristicsofAlbanianmediaistheirhighpolarizationandpoliticization.Themergeof interestsofpowerfulbusinesses,politicsandmediahasnotallowedthedevelopmentofindependentnewsentities.ThemajorityofmediaoutletsareseenastakingthesideoftheSPorDP.

In recent times, it appears that polarization is assuming newforms. There is a shift from the rightwing vs. leftwing mediapolarizationtogovernmentvs.oppositionmedia.Also,manymediaoutlets,includingsomeofthemainonesrecentlyhaveabandonedpoliticalloyaltyandaremovingfroma“honeymoon”withtheDPgovernmenttoa“honeymoon”withtheSPgovernment,adjustingtheir editorial course and policy with the course and policy ofthepoliticalwinner,simplyandonlytoprotectandadvancetheirbusiness interests.Thisdevelopment isnaturallygraverandmoreconsequential than constant and sustainable political polarizationandparallelismandleadstoaseriouscompromiseoftheroleofthemediaandtodevastationandeliminationofpublicconfidenceinit.

Thissituationofmediasubmissiontotheinterestsofbusinessandpoliticshasbeenexploitedbythelattertoincreasetheleveloftheirinstrumentalizationforitsownneedsandgoals,usingparticularlypublic relations channels. Research in the context of this studyprovides data that point to a high presence of news that simply“transcribe”PRofficecontent.PoliticalPR-basednewsarefoundinhighestpercentageintelevisioncomparedtothepressandonlinemedia.

Drastic developments have been seen recently also with regardto “ready tapes.” From a phenomenon and problem of electoral


54

campaignperiods,“readytapes”arenowapermanentphenomenonandproblem.IntheAlbaniancontext,morethanamediatizationofpolitics,“readytapes”representaninstrumentalizationofmediabythePRofficesofpoliticsorstateinstitutions,harmingconsiderablytheirindependenceandintegrity.

Withthemassivespreadoftheinternetandonlinecommunication,Politics2.0hasexpandedincreasinglyinAlbania.Thismeanstheuseofinteractiveonlinechannelsforpoliticalcommunication.Theinternetcreatesthepossibilityforpoliticalactorstoenterintodirectcommunicationwithaudienceswithouttheneedforthemediationoftraditionalmedia.ThelatestandmostsensationaldevelopmentinAlbanianpolitics2.0wastheopeninginMarch2017ofERTV,akindofwebTVthatcarriestheinitialsofthePMandSPchairmanEdiRama.

Another way that challenges the mediation of traditional mediais the replacementofpressstatementsofpoliticianswithstatusesonindividualorinstitutionalprofilesonFacebookorTwitter.Thenumberofstoriesgeneratedbasedonthesestatusesisontherise,thusmarkingakindofFacebook-izationofpoliticalreporting.

The submissivepositionofAlbanian traditionalmedia topoliticsandthesecuritygainedthroughthecapacitiesofcyber-politicshasencouraged,timeaftertime,apopulisticdiscourseinthepoliticalcommunication of theAlbanian PrimeMinister, who is also theheadoftheSP.Also,theabovecircumstanceshaveencouragedtheAlbanian PM to throw the duel glove tomedia, declaring “openwar”onthem–acommunicationstrategyalsousedbyAmericanPresidentDonaldTrumpor other current global political leaders,especiallyforelectoraleffects.

Naturally,thechallengetothemedia,circumventingorignoringitandthe“attack”forelectoralpurposesmightproducemomentary


55

benefitsforpolitics.Yet,fromalong-termpointofview,itcultivatesa negative perception and a denying spirit for the media andjournalistswithoutdistinction,leavingthepublictobe,ontheonehand,preytotheincreasednumberoffake news andmanipulatedsocialnetworkinformationand,ontheother,preyofthediscourseofpopulisticpoliticians,whichmayproduceanewauthoritarianismwithconsequencesfordemocracy.

Throughtheincreaseoftimeorspaceofthemediafilledwithpoliticalcontent,themediahascontributedtoakindof“bombardment”ofthepublicwithpolitics.Thus,ithasbecomealmostnormalforthecountry’s television stations, particularly the all-news stations, tobroadcastlive forhoursinarowallthemainpoliticaleventsaswellaseventsthatmaynothavehadmuchpublicinterest.

Besideslive broadcasts,wenoticeanincreasedpresenceofpoliticalnews in television news editions or newspaper pages or portals.Certainly, itwouldbenaturalforthepercentageofpoliticalnewstobeveryhighifthemediaoutletswereofapoliticalprofile,butallsixmediaoutletsmonitoredinthecontextofthisresearchstudyhaveageneralistcharacterand,inthisregard,wemaysaythatthereisahighpresenceofpoliticalnews,especiallyinnewspapersandtelevisions.

Besidesthehighlevelofpresenceofpoliticalnews,Albanianmediahavealsofeaturedincreasingopinionization,especiallywithregardtoopinionsaboutpolitics.Thus,whiletenyearsago,televisionshadonly4 talkshowsofapoliticalnature,atpresent themajorityoftelevisionstationshaveonesuch.Thiscategoryhasservedtobuildbridgesbetweenmediaandpoliticsaswellastoexertpressureortomakefavorstoitbyprocessingopinionaccordingtotheinterestsofcertainpoliticalforces.Inthewordsofanopinionist,theseshowshaveturnedinto“anindispensablewindowforpolitics,whereyou


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needtoappearinordertoexist.”

Opinion makers today represent a well-paid caste of the media,withincomestensoftimeshigherthanthoseofreporters.SomeofthemalsoonthelistofAlbanianbillionaires,becomingsuchevenwithoutowningtheirownbusinesses.Aspectacularindicatoroftheincreasedpowerofopinionmakersand“opinion-basedprograms”wasthe20thanniversaryceremonyfortheanopinionshow,whichtookplaceinoneofthemainsquaresofthecapital,accompaniedwithalotoffanfareandpomposity,andwhereallVIPscontrollingAlbanian politics andpublic opinionwere present.As an analystwritesaboutthisevent,thisshowmanagedtoputinlinetheentire“elite”ofourAlbanianvillage,aspeopleneedinghismediawindow.

Besides opinionization coming from the television window, inrecent years, we notice also an increased opinionization comingfromtheonlinemediasystem.Portals,blogsandsocialmediaoftheopinion-basedprofilehave increased inrecentyearsataveryhighpace.BothopinionshowsonTVandopinion-basedportalsontheweb, amongothers,have increasedconsiderably the intensityof the “bombardment” of the public with politics. As a result,instead of mediatizing political culture among Albanians, themediaismediatizingpoliticalconflictevenmore.Thusthemediaiscontributing tobuildingasocietyofopinionandhot reasoninginsteadofasocietyofinformationandcoldreasoning.

The increasing opinionization of media has led to a weakeningandreductionoffact-basedjournalism,creatingfertilegroundforopinion-based journalism and for fake news.This makes it evenmore urgent the need for the media to reflect and respect basicstandards,throughthesensitizationofallactorsofthefieldandtheundertakingofinitiativesthatcontributetothereturnofthemediatotheirfunctioningofpublicresponsibility.


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