FLASH
Shkruar nga Luçiano Boçi
The siege of a newsroom is a serious act, which goes beyond media pressure. It is a threatening message to every journalist and every media outlet: "Whoever does not remain silent will be confronted with force."
A democratic society is measured not by the fine words of politicians, but by the way it treats the free media.
The siege of News24 is the latest signal that in Albania, the government is ready to use brutal methods to silence critical voices and kill freedom of speech.
This is not an isolated incident or an institutional measure. It is a public execution. It is the continuation of a sustained strategy to subjugate the media.
In the years of Edi Rama's government, we have seen the capture of television stations through finances, the selective distribution of state advertising, the use of fines and laws like the "Anti-Defamation Package" to curb independent portals.
We have seen attacks and shutdowns like with "Agon Channel".
What haven't we seen!!?
Meanwhile, the prime minister has publicly attacked journalists, calling them "scum" and "trash."
This rhetoric is not simply denigrating. It is a strategy to delegitimize them in the eyes of the public, to lynch them, creating a climate where pressure on them seems acceptable.
Besieging an editorial office is a serious act, which goes beyond media pressure.
It is a threatening message to every journalist and every media outlet: "Whoever does not remain silent will be faced with force."
And when a media outlet is physically isolated, it's not just a building that is surrounded, it's the truth itself that is surrounded.
Reports from Reporters Without Borders show that Albania has fallen significantly in the press freedom rankings. This is a direct result of policies and actions that have stifled the space for free speech.
Today is News24.
Tomorrow it could be any other voice that dares to question and criticize.
In a country where the media is surrounded, dictatorship has triumphed.
If citizens remain silent in the face of this, then silence will become the norm and propaganda will be the only public language.
Journalism is not the only one that protects free speech.
It protects every citizen who refuses to live in darkness.
The difference lies in the fact that while in Italy justice functions and no one suspected of breaking the law is excluded from investigations, in Albania the Prime Minister's friends are excluded from investigations despite continuous denunciations by the opposition and the Democratic Party for uncritical construction, money laundering, and urban planning abuses.
Lini një Përgjigje