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ALBANIA
The Law on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms provides
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the
Government generally respected these rights. The
media are active and unrestrained but have developed
little sense of journalistic responsibility or
professional integrity. Sensationalism is the norm
in the newspapers, and the political party-oriented
newspapers in particular print gossip, unsubstantiated
accusations, and outright fabrications. A survey
conducted early in the year by the Albania Media
Institute showed that 63 percent of readers believed the
press was itself causing problems for ordinary citizens,
and only 18 percent thought that the press was making a
positive contribution to the life of the nation.
Some publications appear to be making efforts to improve
professional standards and to provide more balanced and
accurate reporting.
Political
parties, trade unions, and various societies and groups
publish their own newspapers or magazines, and
competition between the commercial publications is very
keen. At any time, an estimated 200 different
publications are available, including daily and weekly
newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and pamphlets.
Three Greek minority newspapers are published in the
Greek language in southern Albania. Difficult
economic times, coupled with readers’ distrust of
the press, resulted in a significant drop in newspaper
sales during the year. Total daily circulation of
all newspapers dropped from about 85,000 copies to about
75,000 copies.
Prime Minister
Pandeli Majko created a new Ministry of Information when
he came to office in October. The Ministry is
tasked with implementing the law on press freedom, which
originally was passed by Parliament in 1997 but has not
yet been implemented. The licensing board, whose
creation was mandated by the law, had yet to start
functioning or issuing private commercial broadcasting
licenses.
State-run
radio and television provide the most widespread and
universally accessible domestic programming, and the wide
availability of satellite dishes has provided citizens
with easy access to international programming.
Numerous small private radio and television stations are
in operation around the country. However, they are
unregulated, and the Government established new licensing
procedures to promote a more stable broadcasting
environment. Despite frequent complaints by
opposition politicians that the state-run media do not
give their parties fair coverage or equal access, most
international observers agree that the current
Government’s record is a significant improvement
over past practice. However, a Society for a
Democratic Culture media monitoring project from March to
July showed that state-run television’s news
coverage is lopsided in favor of the Government.
According to international observers, the state
television channel gave balanced coverage on the
constitutional referendum campaign up until a few days
before voting, when it began to give more coverage to
government positions.
Attacks on
journalists continued—both beatings by the police
and attacks by unknown assailants. According to
human rights NGO’s, in February police officers in
Librazhdi beat two journalists, reportedly because of the
stories they had written. Also in February police
officers in Elbasani beat a reporter for the daily
Republika. In May a bomb exploded at the home of a
journalist for the newspaper Koha Jone and injured her
two children and two neighbors.
Academic
freedom continues to be limited. University
professors complain that some faculty members are hired
or fired for political reasons and that students who have
the right political connections get preferential
treatment regardless of their personal
qualifications. Some international monitoring of
the magistrates’ school ensured selection on the
basis of merit. The Government maintains that
changes to university staffing are made on the basis of
merit.
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