FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The US Department of State has sounded the alarm about the media situation in the country. In the human rights report published a while ago, it is emphasized that independent media organizations and professional journalists claimed that the government, political parties, businesses and criminal groups tried to influence the media in inappropriate and non-transparent ways.
“ There were credible reports that senior media representatives used their media outlets to blackmail businesses by threatening them with negative media coverage. Political pressure, corruption and lack of funds limited the independence of the print media, and journalists reportedly practiced self-censorship ," the report states.
The State Department says the lack of regular employment contracts reduced the independence of journalists and contributed to biased reporting.
DASH mentions delays in payments to journalists in many media, "including at least eight television stations, in some cases up to five months", referring to the Union of Albanian Journalists.
According to the report, politicians used the popular media to spread fake news about their rivals and critics, and that political and business interests put pressure on journalists.
The report mentions several cases of violence and intimidation against journalists, including the case of Report TV's Elvis Hila and his wife who were attacked in Lezha, after Hila published a report, according to which one of the perpetrators of the attack. The report also lists the shooting attack on Top Channel television, where a security guard lost his life.
DASH also says that after ABC News changed ownership, there were reports that programs directed by journalists critical of the government were shut down and those journalists left the station. But it seems that the Devolli brothers who bought the television have received a strong slap.
Another example is the public television, Radio Televizioni Albanian, where the report states that after the change of senior managers, some media reports said that there were unjustified dismissals. Here the slap goes to Alfred Peza.
The report also states that senior managers of private media outlet Syri.net reportedly monitored journalists' and editors' communications electronically to ensure they respected the owners' political leanings.
Lini një Përgjigje