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The annual report on media pluralism by the Center for Pluralism and Media Freedom, CMPF, at the European University Institute in Florence for 2023 places Albania on the list of countries with a 'high risk' media.
The report compiled by national experts, which takes into account a number of indicators in four different areas, notes that they remained largely unchanged from last year, but the media pluralism indicator deteriorated significantly.
“Three of the four areas of indicators on media freedom and pluralism, including Fundamental Protection (55%), Social Inclusion (69%) and Political Independence (70%) recorded little or no change compared to the previous assessment. Meanwhile, the risk increased in the field of Media Pluralism (92%)", the report reads.
The report is compiled for the 27 member countries of the European Union and the 5 candidate countries, including Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and North Macedonia. It is an annual report funded by the European Union and is in its 10th year of publication. In Albania, the report was compiled by Kristina Voko, Executive Director of the Balkan Network for Investigative Journalism in Albania and Besar Likmeta, editor-in-chief of the Balkan Network for Investigative Journalism in Albania.
Based on the data made public by CMPF, Albania is one of the countries with the most difficult situation in the region and in some indicators such as that of the pluralism of the media space, it ranks last in Europe with a risk rate of 92 per cent. The country does not perform well in terms of media independence from politics either, leaving only three countries behind in this indicator: Turkey, Hungary and Serbia.
The report points to a number of media problems in the country, including the lack of safety for journalists and the influence of media company owners who infringe on editorial freedom.
"Physical safety of journalists is not always guaranteed, working conditions remain bad, while media authority is not independent from political influence. "Employment and income trends across various media sectors are generally negative or stationary, while political and economic influence by media owners undermines the possibility for balanced and independent reporting," the report states.
The CMPF report notes that the situation for the media in the EU countries and the five candidate countries is complicated and only a few of the monitored countries have a low risk.
The director of CMPF, Professor Pier Luigi Parcu, in his message after the presentation of the report, said that a series of new obstacles had been raised in parallel with the digital transformation of the media and that the need to support free media was always greater.
"Today more than ever, there is an urgent need to support journalism and media pluralism," he said. The director of the CMPF said that the EU countries and those that are part of this monitoring would be required to take measures to strengthen the freedom of the media.
As for Albania, the reporters listed a long list of recommendations in which changes are required that would affect the improvement of the situation. The recommendations include calls for greater gender equality in media management, more space for minorities and the establishment of self-regulatory mechanisms to "combat gender-based hate speech in the digital sphere, especially in campaigns that sanctify human rights defenders." ".
The report also recommends a ban on the media's use of material produced by political parties or state authorities in news and information programs and stronger regulatory measures, "to make holding government office incompatible with media ownership".
The rapporteurs also recommend a series of measures on the transparency of media ownership and measures to protect journalists or editors from unfair dismissals and a clear separation between their role and that of the advertiser. The reporters also suggest a clear legal regulation to protect journalists from "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP)" and the complete decriminalization of defamation./ BIRN
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