RTSH, between public obligation and political shackles

2026-01-16 20:31:00, Opinione Lutfi Dervishi

Albanian Radio Television is not financed from the state budget nor directly from general taxes.

Its financing comes from a modest fee, less than 1 euro per month for each family. Here begins the first paradox: 10 percent of this fee, the lowest on the continent, is kept by the state itself in the role of tax agent. With these financial crumbs, we demand a public service of Nordic level and then wonder why this standard is never achieved.

RTSH has proven that reform is possible. The period 2016–2021 (the leadership of Thoma Gëllçi) proved that the institution can move, modernize and catch up with the formats of the time.
Editorial principles were drafted, a development strategy and a business plan were drafted, which were thrown into the trash immediately after the violent interruption of the reform at RTSH.

(RTSH did not have a single penny in debt and had a full sports package - even the Champions League)

Although it was not an absolute success, it was a serious effort that the public felt and supported. For the first time, the public broadcaster was becoming a dignified alternative.
However, in the technological transition from analog to digital, a typical Albanian "miracle" occurred.

While the government subsidized private national broadcasters with millions of euros in grants, RTSH, which bore the main burden of this transformation, was burdened with a loan of 25 million euros. As if this were not enough, the state also invoiced about 4 million euros in VAT on this loan, contrary to the spirit of the law. The balance was clear: private broadcasters were subsidized, while the public was invoiced.

The next blow came through brutal political intervention - and SPAK's - the famous "RTSH–Agro" issue and the uproar created over the payment of a tender that was delayed by 4 days, setting the broadcaster back a decade.

Today, RTSH lives with a survival mentality. It does not even dare to think about critical reporting on the government. It is not about written censorship, but about something much more dangerous: self-censorship. The system has trained the institution not to take risks, turning silence into the cheapest and most efficient means of control.

The real problem is not simply the delay in reform, but the lack of sincere political support over the years. Everyone talks about "reform", but no one is willing to defend editorial independence. On the contrary, politics continues to violate the law in the election of the members of the Steering Council. The Prime Minister's Office itself treats RTSH as its technical infrastructure and not as a national asset.

In a media market where the interests of private owners prevail over the public interest, an independent public media is not a luxury, but a necessity.

RTSH needs to be reformed, but not by closing it down in a panic, not by privatizing it, nor by "twinning" it with the Kullas. The challenge is not how to give it to the private sector, but how to take it away.

It needs a new contract with the public, based on transparency, professionalism and real performance measurement. (It's really funny how RTSH has journalists who spend hours and minutes trying to convince the living and the dead from one TV studio to another that they support the ruling party! What kind of professionalism and credibility are we talking about?!)

Without the trust of citizens, even 100 lek per month seems an unfair fee; without their support, any reform will remain just paper.

The closure is a lesson from the history of technology. Nokia did not collapse because it lacked skilled engineers, but because it believed that its name and status would protect it from changing times. RTSH is at the same point today: either it will boldly reform to serve the public, or it will remain a brand that everyone remembers with regret, but no one follows anymore.