The ‘Fake News and The Press Freedom Under Threat’ conference took place in Tirana today, hosted by the Institute for Democracy, Media, and Memory, to discuss the outcome of a report on freedom of expression violations in Albania during 2019.
The report was conducted by Exit.al journalist Erblin Vukaj and supported by Dr Jonida Godole from the IDMC and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. Attendees included local media, journalists, and students from a number of local schools, as well as speakers Koloreto Cukali from the Albanian Media Council, Aleksander Cipa the Chair of Albanian Union of Journalists, and Fatmiroshe Zhemalaj a historian.
Opening remarks at the event were given by the Canadian Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Alexandra Bugailiskis.
“Free media and the credible press is a cornerstone of democracy and independent fact-based reporting is vital,” she said.
She noted how journalism and free media was under attack, not just in Albania but globally and that a joint effort is required to counter disinformation, preserve human rights and the rule of law, and keep media open, free, and factual.
Vukaj then presented the key findings of his study, noting that 2019 was a particularly difficult year for freedom of expression in Albania.
Events such as the political crisis, opposition protests, murders, and the powerful earthquakes that rocked the country in June, September and November, when accompanied by criminal and political attacks seriously harmed the media. The new media laws introduced in December 2019 also impacted the freedom of journalists to conduct their work.
Between January and November 2019, the study found 60 instances of fake news that had been published some 130 times. This showed that not only was fake news being created by some journalists but that it was being republished without verification, creating a concern regarding media credibility.
“The republication of news is done by using sensational ‘clickbait’ titles that are reworded differently from the source in order to give the impression of being original news. This is primarily due to the shortcomings of online media, such as the lack of financial, human, and professional resources,’ he said.
It was also found that TV stations were also guilty of broadcasting fake news, meaning that it is not just a phenomenon that impacts small, under-funded online platforms.
Social media was also fuelling the fake news phenomenon with some 30% of fake news stories originating from social media, 16% of these coming from the pages of public officials.
The IDMC recommends that to combat the creation and spread of fake news, discourse and training should be promoted. They also suggest that online media should use self-regulation mechanisms in order to attain a more professional standard of journalism.
They also suggested working closely with school and university students. In 2019, the IDMC and CFLI held a number of discussions with students in Tirana, Elbasan, Shkodra, Kukes, Berat, Vlora, and Korca. Youngsters expressed their desire to receive further information regarding media literacy and how to fact-check news that they come across in their daily lives.
