OSCE organizes regional exchange visits for Albanian public broadcaster

On 13 December 2016, Albanian public broadcaster senior managers’ concluded a three-day study visit to Slovenia’s public broadcaster, organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as part of their efforts to assist the Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH) transformation into a real public broadcaster.

The RTSH General Director Thoma Gëllçi and his Slovenian counterpart Marko Filli discussed the establishment of integrated newsrooms – where TV, radio and online media journalists work together.

News and marketing directors from both broadcasters shared their experiences on how to best use resources while ensuring professional standards and generating revenues. Slovenia Radio and Television representatives shared their communication strategy and business plan as well as tools to ensure a good public broadcaster positioning in country’s media landscape.

Albania’s Public Broadcaster is in a transformation process towards an editorially independent, professional, sustainable and accountable public service broadcaster, with the OSCE Presence and the EBU assistance. In November 2016, using the Slovenian model, the first ever editorial guidelines and amendments to the statute were developed with OSCE and EBU technical expertise.

On 8-9 December 2016, Albanian public radio, Radio Tirana, managers’ and journalists’ visited Radio Montenegro with the aim of reviving the programme exchange between the two broadcasters. An exchange visit will take place on 16-17 December in Tirana. The visits are organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the OSCE Mission in Montenegro, in light of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two broadcasters in 2014.