Media issues in Albania discussed at second annual Media Development Forum organized by OSCE Presence

Journalists, parliamentarians, media association representatives and experts discussed the key issues concerning Albanian media at the second Media Development Forum on 22 November 2016 in Tirana.  

The forum, currently the biggest meeting dedicated to media development, is organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania in close co-operation with members of the Media Partners Group, a group of domestic and international bodies dealing with media, also initiated by the Presence.

This year’s forum focused on the legal developments and initiatives relevant to media freedom as well as professional journalistic standards and the state of media literacy. A special session was dedicated to the Albanian public broadcaster’s transformation into a sustainable, independent and accountable national broadcaster. The role of the media in elections, transparency, and access to information were also discussed in view of the 2017 parliamentary elections.

“Media professionalism, balance and independence in the election coverage are a requirement for any democratic elections,” said Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Bernd Borchardt. “We are concerned about the widespread practice in Albania to broadcast productions of political parties instead of impartially reporting on political campaigns. The so-called “party tapes” should only be aired within clearly labelled political marketing programmes. I cannot stress enough that there is no replacement for genuine and independently-produced media coverage.”

Borchardt also stressed that the existing labour legislation should be observed in all media outlets.

Minister for Innovation and Public Administration Milena Harito, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Media Genc Pollo, and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Albania, Ambassador Romana Vlahutin, also addressed the participants.

The members of the Media Partners Group that helped organize the forum are the Albanian Media Institute, the Association of Professional Journalists, the Audi-Visual Media Authority, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), the Council of Ethics, the Journalism Department of the Tirana University, the Albanian public broadcaster (RTSH), the Open Society Institute, the Union of the Albanian Journalists, as well as the EU Delegation to Albania and the office of the Council of Europe.