"Analysis of media in Albania and mapping of main trends through credible, regular, and complete data is a problematic endeavour. However, the data available show that it is safe to say that challenges for professional journalism remain formidable
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in Albania. Full formality of the media market has not been achieved, especially regarding online media, and to some degree print media. In addition, problems related to labour relations of media employees are still visible. Along with the interdependence of media owners from political and business interests, this certainly conditions the freedom of journalists to be independent and not to censor themselves accordingly.
Increasingly fewer students are choosing journalism and communication degrees, even though the number of online media seems to be increasing, at least where the online media are concerned. The concentration of major media groups owning several types of media outlets and the blurring of boundaries between new and traditional media in their staff and content production does not make it easy to see a visible trend in terms of journalists’ statistics. However, it is clear that there is considerable market pressure to follow similar trends in reporting and format in the main media outlets, including prioritizing speed of publication and sensationalism over professional standards and ethics. Efforts to self-regulate exist, but it is too early to see an impact in this respect." (Executive summary)
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"Alongside the rise of new technologies and the evolving global conditions in the media industry, journalism and media in Serbia will face numerous challenges, particularly in the areas of basic
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media freedom and journalist protection, based on the findings of this research:
• There is no reliable data on the number of journalists in Serbia, or how many of them are women or members of marginalized groups.
• Media ownership in Serbia is highly concentrated, particularly in the television broadcasting sector, which affects media reporting. Channels with national frequencies often align their narratives with the government’s or ruling party’s agenda.
• The state and ruling party demonstrate tendencies to control the media. This is evident in the newly updated law that allows business companies engaged in electronic communications, such as the state-owned Telekom, to own media outlets. Additionally, findings indicate that some media owners at the local level are connected to the ruling party.
• Media financing is often misused to encourage biased reporting. Public calls for funding are corrupted by GONGO media organizations, which prioritize funding pro-government outlets; state advertising is not regulated by law, and the media community was left out of the discussion on new advertising laws; despite receiving the majority of its budget from citizens’ subscriptions, the national public broadcaster RTS is still perceived as one of the most progovernment outlets in the country; foreign donors, including the EU, US and UK, provide significant financial support for media projects in Serbia, but there is no transparent data on the total amount of money donated.
• National minorities are represented through media outlets funded by National Councils of National Minorities. However, journalists from some of these media outlets work under political pressures and engage in self-censorship. National minorities living in the northern province of Serbia, Vojvodina, are also served by the provincial public broadcaster RTV. RTS does not provide content in the languages of the Bosnian, Vlach and Bulgarian communities in Serbia’s eastern and western regions. Romani and Albanian communities are represented on RTS, but the amount of content is minimal.
• Television is the most commonly used source of news and information, with citizens watching up to eight hours of television daily. The most-watched TV news programmes are central-informative political shows on channels with national frequencies, which are widely considered pro-government.
• Only 30% of Serbian citizens trust the media. Social media is the least trusted media type, while television is the most trusted." (Executive summary)
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"[...] the purpose of this paper is to highlight the main models and elements that media in Albania manifest regarding hate speech, propaganda and disinformation. The research focuses mainly on online me
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dia, as they are identified as the main carriers of disinformation and hate speech, with a few exceptions, but traditional media are also present. The analysis is based on previous research studies, interviews with experts, and public statements and case studies, but mostly on the direct monitoring of models that are identified as manifesting problematic elements in the framework of this research. The content monitoring was carried out in the period June–August 2020, and focused on several media outlets and social media networks, mainly on particular narratives and case studies. The paper does not intend in any way to single out particular media, programmes or individuals, but rather to provide an overview of the main tendencies regarding hate speech, propaganda and disinformation in Albanian media, and also identify ways of countering these narratives." (Introduction)
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"The study revealed the lack of sufficient knowledge on the part of journalists on violent extremism and terrorism. Furthermore, alongside a lack of expertise on violent extremism, journalists in Albania also display a poor level of knowledge about religions, which makes it even harder for reporters
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to do their jobs, especially when it comes to cover events related to religious extremism. Journalists in traditional and online media outlets suffer from a shortage of training courses and other similar forms of continuing education. The findings of the study showed that nearly 60 percent of journalists in the Albanian media have never received any training on covering and reporting on these topics. Lack of training is evident even amongst media spokespersons and communication officials in public institutions. The study also revealed that journalists are aware of their lack of skills in covering violent extremism and terrorism, but they appear eager to participate in training programs on such topics. This indicates that media professionals are willing to get a better grasp on the phenomenon and improve the level of their knowledge." (Conclusions, page 29)
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"This handbook aims at helping Macedonian CSOs that work with people with disabilities to deal with some of the challenges they face on daily basis: the absence of quality reporting on people with disabilities; the perception of people with disabilities which is often burdened with negative stereoty
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pes and prejudice; and the lack of practical guidance on how to deal with those challenges." (Introduction, page 5)
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"The advertising market in Albania is relatively small, especially in regard to the large number of media that exist in the country. The market clearly favours televisions, which receive the lion’s share of the advertising. While the print
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media is in continuous decline, online media’s advertising share has increased significantly, even though the role of the television in absorbing advertising funds is as strong as it has ever been. The radio continues to have its own small, but consolidated niche in this advertising market. The transparency in the media market in Albania continues to be low; both in terms of measurement of audience on one hand, and, consequently, on the criteria used to allocate advertising, on the other hand. Similarly, the strengthening of new actors in the media scene, such as advertising agencies, and partner companies of the media outlets, further complicates the range of factors that affect media outlets’ economy. As a consequence, in the absence of a powerful advertising market or the alternative tools for economically supporting the media, all of these factors to some extent affect also the editorial policy and media content served to the public." (Conclusion, page 53)
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"The survey discovers that the Albanian public, in its overwhelming majority, considers that the media has great importance for the democracy of a country. However, although they recognize the ver
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y important role of the media vis-à-vis democracy, about half of respondents say that Albanian media have served democracy and public interest somewhat. The surveyed Albanian public also considers that media in Albania are partially free. This perception and evaluation are in line with Freedom House and other international institutions, which classify Albanian media as partially free. Respondents said that the three greatest problems for Albanian media are: 1. Bias, partisanship, and political clientelism; 2. dependence on business interests of media owners, and 3. verbal violence and physical threats toward journalists. The prevalence of such very serious problems for the functioning of the media and the fulfillment of its public mission explains the fact why Albanian media are partially free. On the other hand, the presence of such issues at the top of the list of problems demonstrates serious shortcomings and challenges with regard to aspects of their freedom and independence." (Summary)
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"This study focused on creating a picture of the local media in the country, by analyzing the main institutional players, the problems that they are facing, the status of the local journalists, as well as prospects for the future. The objective of
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this study was the identification of the whole universe of the local media, as well as the mapping of the local media. Convinced that the mapping of the local media will serve as an important basis for the launch of other in-depth studies, we have carefully analyzed the majority of available sources from which we could collect information on the local media landscape [...] The effects of the lengthy Albanian transition are clearly visible in the way the local media have been developing. During these three decades of free press, the local media in Albania have not managed to build a sustainable business model and have been continuously fighting for their survival in the market. The small markets, poor economic development, and a lack of media literacy in many local communities in the country, have made the job even harder for these media. Besides these problems, local media operators also have had to face the transformative power of technology at a time when they still had not perfected their model of management. The proliferation of web-based media publications, the social media, and lately the switch to digital broadcasting have found these media unprepared." (Conclusions, page 51-53)
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"This report, which follows the Council of Europe’s list of “Indicators for Media in a Democracy”, intends to provide an analysis of the current media situation based on the standards upheld
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by this list. The aim of this report is to raise awareness on the status of affairs in the media scene for an array of actors, such as policymakers, government representatives, media professionals, professional associations, media experts, and civil society. The report is based on methodology that uses varied instruments and feedback from different relevant actors that affect legal, political, economic, and professional environment for media operation. Apart from collecting and classifying statistical data from publicly available sources, existing research, and surveys, the primary research consisted also in legal analysis conducted for the purpose of comparing Council of Europe standards to domestic legislation, carrying out of surveys with stakeholders, and in-depth interviews with key players in the media fi eld, judges, government representatives, parliament, and public institutions. Using a specially designed questionnaire, a survey was conducted on a sample of 110 editors-in-chief, media owners, and journalists of different media outlets across the country, including representatives from minorities. In-depth interviews were conducted with media owners, media managers, and editors of mainstream media outlets, as well as with other actors with direct input and knowledge on media scene, such as the Audiovisual Media Authority, public broadcaster RTSH, journalist trade union, professional associations, the Media Council, journalists from various media, etc." (Introduction, page 7-8)
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"During the transition years, Albania saw the establishment of a relatively complete legal framework for the protection and development of media freedom and independence. However, in many cases, the legal framework was delayed or a mechanical trans
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plant of western legislation. Enforcement of legislation remains a problem. In the framework of relations between the media and politics, both in the early transition phases and during recent years, there have been frequent efforts of political formations to ensure in a way control Relations between media and politics in Albania over the media through law as in the case of the Press Law or the case of legislation establishing the regulations for the election of the Steering Council of RTSH and AMA, which gives the opportunity to the political majority to decide on the composition of the steering bodies of these two institutions. In terms of transparency over media ownership, Albania has made progress, but the concern is raised regarding the possibility of hidden ownership. Besides the ownership factor, their funding also has played a considerable role in the degree of dependence or independence of the media. In this regard, for many domestic analysts or international rapporteurs, the situation remains alarming. The EU Progress Report on Albania notes that media financing remains very problematic. There is almost no transparency and funding sources are manipulated or hidden. Similar to countries of the polarized pluralistic media model, in Albania too, professional organizations and the trade unions of journalists are generally weak. An indicator of the lack of organization of the media and the journalists’ community is also the fact that Albania, for a long period during the transition years, has not managed to have a Media Council, which exists in the majority of the region’s countries. The inexistence or poor role of journalists’ associations has led to a poor level of self-regulation of media in the country." (Executive summary)
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"The monitoring and the analysis carried out for the purpose of this study found out that the media and the institutional channels of mass communication of religious communities have behaved correctly while carrying out their duties, and have estab
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lished a climate of communication that emits and fosters mutual respect among the faithful, tolerance and harmony that have prevailed the Albanian religious tradition. On the other hand, alongside media institutions of religious communities or organizations operating in the country, the Albanian online world has been infiltrated by a relatively large number of websites which appear to have been created and operated by Islamic religious organizations based in Turkey or other countries in the Middle East. Some of these websites promote schools of Islam that do not match the tradition of the Albanian Islam, and provide a more radical interpretation of the Islamic doctrine. Especially problematic are some websites that promote in Albanian the schools of Salafism and Wahhabism as well as other extremist schools or sects. Meanwhile, the monitoring of the mainstream print and broadcast media in Albania, revealed that they report on religion and activities of religious background mainly during religious festivities, on cases of religiously-motivated clashes or conflicts, on controversial statements regarding religion, its history and religious cohabitation in Albania, as well as cases of scandal and controversy among the ranks of religious authorities." (Page 3)
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"The study confirms that after the fall of communism and the establishment of pluralistic democracy in the country, the conditions were created for the emergence and development of free, independent and pluralistic media. This led to a multiplicati
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on of the capacities and space also for international reporting. A large number of channels of international media information existed in Albania during the past 25 years after the fall of communism. Nevertheless, during the last decade, due to the crisis in the media and because of the emergence of new channels of online information, a decline has been noticed in international news in the press and television. These media outlets do not have a special editorial structure for international news and it is mainly covered by the news department or newsroom. Meanwhile, human resources for this field have been shrinking in about 40% of the media outlets. Because of economic difficulties, Albanian media also lack or have a very limited number of correspondents abroad. Thus, none of the newspapers has correspondents in other countries." (Conclusions, page 58-59)
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"This study takes it upon itself to present a general overview of the development of online media and social media in Albania, focusing particularly on how professional
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media outlets use social media. The empirical research focused on monitoring the most widely used social media in Albania, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Instagram and the blogosphere, as well as the six leading online media in Albania, namely top-channel.tv, balkanweb.com, shekulli.com.al, panorama.com.al, albeu.com, and shqiptarja.com. The monitoring covers a one-year period extending from August 2014 to August 2015." (Page 3)
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"This publication opens up a path for dialogue and better mutual understanding among media actors in the various Western Balkan countries. I see its main value in presenting facts and bringing different perspectives together. This is a promising ba
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se to further foster bridges between journalists, reporters and media experts. I hope that these bridges will extend to reach wider publics in the region, so that all of us will have a greater understanding and tolerance for the ‘others’." (Foreword)
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"Overall, the scope of media assistance in Albania has been rather ambitious, aiming to reform all key segments of the media sector. It is therefore not surprising that the results have been mixed
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at best. The important elements of the regulatory framework have been put in place, but the reforms aimed at public broadcasters, the introduction of self-regulatory mechanisms, and professionalization of journalism have proved to be particularly challenging. While media assistance has been crucial in media development, external factors such as the market, the existing informality, the interaction between politics, business, and media, etc., have affected the outcome of donor efforts in the media field." (Summary)
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"This material summarizes the main results and trends of a survey carried out with children and young people aged 13-18 in Tirana. The material focuses on the preference of this age group regarding different media, on the trends of opinions, sugges
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tions for improvement, especially regarding the portrayal of this age group, as well as the relationship of trust this group has with each of these media." (Page 2)
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