E fundit!

22:24 TODAY

Ninth day of protest/ More than 4 hours of rally

The ninth day of the anti-government protest has been goin...

Difficulties of the media/Activities: There is a lack of dialogue with the authorities on improving the situation

2023-12-13 19:23:38, Kosova & Bota CNA

Difficulties of the media/Activities: There is a lack of dialogue with the

Organizations of journalists and civil society discussed with concern today the difficult situation of the media in Albania, which is also reflected in the Progress Report of the European Commission for Albania.

In addition to the intimidation and censorship of journalists, the participants emphasized at the "Faktoje" Center conference that the government is preparing a guide, where it does not clearly state the decriminalization of defamation according to European standards, and is not developing a comprehensive and transparent dialogue with civil society.

In the Progress report drawn up by the European Commission for this year, it is emphasized that there has been limited progress in harmonizing the law on audiovisual media with the European Directive on audiovisual media, but there is no improvement in terms of verbal and physical attacks, denigrating campaigns and lawsuits against journalists.

The main obstacles to media independence, pluralism and quality journalism are, according to the report, the connection of businesses with political interests, the lack of transparency on media funding sources, the concentration of media ownership, the intimidation of journalists, as well as the difficult conditions of their work. .

"Every time I come to Albania, I worry about the state of the media, the degradation of journalists by the owners and by the people in power and in the opposition. I am also concerned about the fact that Albania is a country where it is very difficult for the public to be informed about how the government is informed. Civil society and organizations must speak and monitor the situation", Flutura Kusari, representative of the European Center for Freedom of the Press and Media, tells Voice of America.

The participants at the table emphasized from the report of the European Commission, that high officials and politicians have continued to express a derogatory language towards journalists and the media, while attacks on journalists are not sufficiently monitored in their judicial progress.

Meanwhile, it has been observed that the media are being financed by owners with political agendas, and there are even suspicions that people accused of crimes and money laundering may be financing to hide from justice.

"We are all witnesses that we have a fragile democracy. Our society is suffering from a protracted transition, while we have a weak and problematic opposition. Therefore, the media has a very strong role for all groups; for citizens, for politics, for the development and strengthening of civil society and Albanian society as a whole", says Klodiana Kapo, head of the Faktoje Center.

The government is preparing a guide for dealing with issues in chapters 23 and 24 of the negotiations with the EU, with great importance for the media, laws and fundamental rights and other areas, while the final draft is not yet public.

Activists claimed that this document requires full inclusiveness and transparency, a structured dialogue between the government and civil society, which has proposed the full decriminalization of defamation according to EU standards and is waiting for this to be clearly reflected in the guidelines and changes to the code. criminal.

Journalists again expressed their concern about the limited access to official information, to documents important for their writings, as well as for not being allowed to closely follow the activities of the institutions, which then launch video materials and texts prepared in their offices.

"Should we use the problems that the media has to cover the corrupt laws, the arrogant behavior, the lack of transparency, the missing space for the media in the Parliament?! Today we have gone from the almost complete blocking of access to institutions, to blocking the media's access to information", said MP Jorida Tabaku, president of the National Council of European Integration.

The problems of the media in Albania, according to the activists at the conference, start with the difficult working conditions of journalists, who do not even have physical access to the work contract, and have no days off, are attacked by politicians in power and the opposition, are censored and self-censored, as well as being mistreated by the public administration and by their owners.

After the lack of self-regulatory media forums, the participants hope that their raised voice will increase the international concern towards the Albanian government to return to dialogue and cooperation to improve the difficult situation in which the Albanian media and especially their journalists find themselves today. ./ VOA