During the COVID19 pandemic, the media in Albania finds itself between two fires: on one side, there is a lot of expectations for the media to inform the public and provide unbiased and ample coverage of the pandemic and related matters. On the other hand, the media is being undermined by the Government led by Prime Minister Rama.
When the lockdown started, he urged the Albanian people to stay home, to respect measures of personal hygiene and physical distancing and added: “protect yourself from the media”. This adds to his denigrating the media by calling them “trash bins”. With this Rama continues his fight against independent media as the recent report of RWF finds and there is a clear pattern of personalisation of power.
Media and human rights organisations have criticised the government of monopolising information and hindering media freedom. Reporters without Borders Media Freedom Rankings (2020) and the Annual Report of the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists (2020) both have pointed to the dangers of media freedom in time of COVID-19 crisis.
The COVID-19 crisis has made even more visible the persistent challenges of media freedom in Albania. While accurate and reliable information is paramount during the crisis and media is expected to play a key role, in reality the independent media in Albania is weakened due to a combination of factors such as limited quality and professionalism of journalism, symbiotic relations between media, politics and business, low trust level in public institutions, low media literacy and lack of financial sustainability.
As a result, the media is in crisis with newspapers going out of print, TV shows cancelled, newsroom curtailed, advertising in decline and journalists risking their health, security and their salaries. Reporting from the field is becoming even more difficult and there is a lack of know-how and clear procedures for journalists how to report during the pandemic and protect themselves and the others.
The news media in Albania, amidst many challenges and difficulties, has regularly covered and reported on the crisis. However, most of the reporting is simply broadcasting ERTV (Prime Minister’s Facebook TV Channel) video streams, reporting on PM’s Facebook statuses and communication with his followers and pre-prepared footage by public relations staff of line ministries.
The primetime debates and other TV shows have attempted to analyse and debate the government’s measures, the impact of the crisis on various fields and also compare the situation with other countries. However, as usually, priority has been given to the so-called analysts and opinion-makers, who are not public health experts or doctors and who usually maintain a certain angle of the argument.
Same as in the case of the deadly earthquake in November 2016, during the COVID-19 crisis the experts have been in the spotlight and on a positive note the media have provided space for experts to voice their opinions regarding the crisis, how it is managed, its impact and the way forward. Particular space has been given to public health experts, doctors and economic experts. Notwithstanding, their expert opinions and analysis still remains marginalised.
Most media have utilised some basic features of data journalism regarding the statistics and information on COVID19 in Albania by publishing some visual data analysis. Other online media platforms such as Exit.al, Monitor.al and Reporter.al have provided in-depth analysis regarding the COVID-19 crisis and also attempted to critically asses the measures introduced by the government.
However, the most comprehensive information regarding COVID19 (statistics, measures taken by the government and legal acts, and related advice) is provided by Open Data Albania. Journalists and experts who question or criticise the measures taken by the Government find themselves exposed to accusation of “spreading panic in a time of war”. Various recent analysis show that a concerning issue remains the risk of the disproportionate use of measures against persons or media outlets accused of spreading panic.
The BiEPAG Report argues that the COVID-19 crisis represents a critical juncture that has overshadowed other developments. This holds true for Albania. For more than 2 months now the “only game in town” is COVID-19. Journalists and media professionals claim that it has become very difficult to cover other topics, including major issues of public interest.
The media has covered the issues raised by the opposition in Albania. The opposition has focused on three main issues: criticising the Government for not taking measures earlier; asking for more testing for COVID-19 and demanding the cancellation of multi million private-public partnerships and using the money to subsidise small business and support the health system in the country. Nonetheless, the Government is using successfully the narrative of “being at war with COVID19” and as such “the fight with this invisible enemy” justifies all.
The transparency of the government is hindered during the pandemic with an increased role of the executive vis a vis other branches of government. The crisis has provided the Prime Minister with the opportunity to strengthen even more his personalisation of power and dominating the public discourse regarding the crisis.
In addition, the situation created by the COVID-19 exacerbates the political crisis with threats to human rights and freedoms, media freedom and independence and adds the prospect of an even bigger economic crisis. All these issues deserve to receive the adequate public scrutiny.
Blerjana Bino is Co-Founder of Centre “Science and Innovation for Development”, researcher in the intersection between political and media studies and an expert in project development.
