Data from the Audiovisual Media Authority has confirmed that television stations in Albania have largely broken the law by giving preference to the ruling Socialist Party during the first two weeks of the electoral campaign.
Daily and weekly reports published on their website show an unmistakable bias towards Prime Minister Edi Rama, his Socialist Party, and candidates.
The Electoral Code places restrictions on airtime that can be given to political parties, how much political advertising can be broadcast, and clear annotation of political adverts. The Code also lays down provisions that anyone found breaching these rules can face fines of up to EUR 24,500 and the forced closure of the station for 48 hours.
Not surprisingly, with the coverage in favor of the incumbent party, they haven’t taken any steps to strike a balance.
As per Articles 81 and 84 of the Electoral Code, a TV station should give equal airtime to those that got less than 20% of the vote during the previous election including LSI, PSD, PR, PAA and new parties. Those that received more than 20% in the last election such as the PS and PD should not get more than double the airtime of the smaller parties.
The data presented by the AMA shows that the PS received more than the PD and significantly more than the other parties. Rama, Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj, and Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu also had high levels of coverage during this period when compared to opposition politicians from the PD and LSI.
Overall, smaller parties and independent candidates did not have the allocated amount of airtime prescribed by law.
AMA looked at 22 television stations and found that the PS got 50% of news time while PD had 38%. LSI had 7% and only 5% went to 14 other political parties. 17 out of 22 stations gave more time to SP and five gave more to PD, according to data processed by BIRN.
Three of the TV stations with the most concentration of viewers, Top Channel, TV Klann, and Vizion Plus had the highest amount of PS coverage. They dedicated some 59% to PS. RTSH, the public broadcaster which is supposed to be impartial and receives significant funding from the OSCE to help with its independence, gave 58% of airtime to the PS.
In terms of political figures, Rama received 34.8% of airtime, Basha 29.6%, Monika Kryemadhi 5.6%, and the other 1800 candidates, received less than 30% of airtime coverage.
