Preliminary report on media coverage of the 23 June parliamentary elections Released on 20 June, 2013 Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA), an independent, non‐partisan Albanian think tank that promotes the values of freedom and democracy, has been systematically monitoring the media coverage of the 23 June parliamentary elections. This project is conducted in cooperation with the Slovak‐based media monitoring organization MEMO 98 and with the support of the Open Society Foundation for Albania (OSFA) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Following is the summary of the main montoring findings covering three weeks of the official campaign period (24 May – 15 June): EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The media broadcast a variety of election‐related programs during the campaign which allowed voters to make a more informed choice. The campaign coverage in the news of most monitored television channels, however, lacked balance with some supporting the government and others criticizing the government and supporting the opposition. The media focused their news coverage of the campaign on the two main parties (DP and SP) with “smaller” parties receiving much less attention. Some media blurred the distinction between institutional and campaign related coverage of government officials. There was a tendency to cover the activities of state officials positively, often pointing out achievements and successes. News coverage of the campaign focused primarily on campaign rallies – some TV channels covered them live and extensively. Voters would have benefited from a more analytical and in‐depth coverage that could have helped them to better analyse and assess the qualities and programmes of electoral contestants. Monitored newspapers provided more detailed overviews of political platforms and offered a more in‐depth coverage of the campaign. Albania has a diverse media environment, with media divided along political lines. Many outlets remain strongly influenced by their owners, and only a few of them succeed in pursuing a more independent editorial policy. TV channels The media broadcast a variety of election‐related programs during the campaign which allowed voters to make a more informed choice. The campaign coverage in the news of most monitored television channels, however, lacked balance with some supporting the government and others the opposition. While there are two main coalitions consisting of a number of different parties running in these elections, the media focused mainly on the two main parties, with “smaller” parties receiving much less attention. Despite the political division among media, TV channels offered a broad range of views to voters. The public broadcaster TVSH has attempted to provide equal proportions of its coverage to the two main parties. Between 24 May and 15 June, TVSH devoted 24,8 per cent of its political and election related prime time news coverage to the DP and 38,6 to the SP. 41,8 per cent of the DP coverage was positive and 48,4 per cent neutral in tone, whereas 21,1 per cent of the SP coverage was posive and 60,9 per cent neutral. An additional 19,2 per cent of mainly positive and 33,5 per cent neutral coverage was provided to the DP‐led government. The third most presented political party was the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) which was devoted 3,6 per cent of the coverage (only some 2 per cent of this coverage was negative1). Between 24 May and 15 June, there were discernable differences in coverage of the candidates and parties on the monitored private TV channels. Top Channel provided comparable coverage to the SP (25,4 per cent) and DP (19,4 per cent). The government received 23,8 per cent of the coverage. While the coverage of the SP and the DP was mainly neutral or positive, the coverage of activities of government representatives was mainly neutral or negative. Another private channel Klan TV devoted 32,1 per cent of the coverage to the DP and 20 per cent to the government. This coverage was overwhelmingly positive and neutral in tone. By contrast, the SP was allocated 29,7 per cent of the coverage which was mainly neutral and negative. The monitoring by IDRA also revealed that: Vision Plus provided neutral and negative coverage of the government; ABC news criticized the SP and provided positive coverage 1 The LSI generally received more neutral and positive than negative coverage on most of the monitored media outlets. to the government; News 24 devoted comparable coverage to the two main parties which was mainly positive and neutral; Ora News gave a slightly more positive coverage to the DP than the SP; and Albanian Screen gave a slightly more positive coverage to the DP and negative coverage to the SP. Some channels also blurred the distinction between institutional and campaign related coverage of government officials. There was a tendency to cover the activities of state officials positively, often pointing out achievements and successes. Media coverage of appearances of the prime minister, Tirana mayor, or other government representatives at ceremonial events, such as openings of new roads or kindergartens, indirectly benefited the DP campaign. While critical and independent opinions on the performance of the authorities were generally available (presented mainly by their political opponents), a more comprehensive analysis of contestants’ platforms was generally absent from the news programs of broadcast media. Newspapers There is a wide variety of newspapers in Albania and in general, monitored newspapers provided more detailed overviews of political platforms and offered a more in‐depth coverage of the campaign. While TV channels generally devoted more positive than negative coverage to all monitored subjects, newspapers presented a different tendency by being more critical towards all the subjects. This could be attributed to the fact that while negative coverage on TV channels mostly came from political parties that criticized each other, the negative coverage in newsparers also reflected positions of journalists and others who provided more detailed overviews of political platforms. Similarly as the broadcast media, however, most of newspapers expressed their preference for one or another political party. The monitoring by IDRA showed that while Koha Jone, and, Standard tilted towards the DP and its coalition, Gazeta Dita, Shekulli, and Shqip provided critical coverage to the DP and the government. Panorama and Gazeta Shqiptare and Gazeta Mapo, to a certain extent, provided a more balanced picture of the major parties’campaign. Methodology IDRA has sought to evaluate the mass media’s performance in providing objective and balanced coverage of contestants and their platforms so the citizens of Albania can make well‐informed choices at the ballot box. The project’s findings have been determined through a well‐defined and rigorous methodology and are not intended to support any one candidate or political party, but the integrity of the media environment as a whole during the campaign season. On 24 May, IDRA commenced the monitoring of eight TV channels (TVSH, Top Channel, TV Klan, Vision Plus, News 24, Ora News, ABC News and Albanian Screen) and eight newspapers (Panorama, Gazeta Shqiptare, Koha Jone, Shekuli, Shqip, Standard, Gazeta Mapo and Dita).2 IDRA uses methodology that has been developed by MEMO 98 which has carried out similar projects in some 47 countries in the last 15 years. Given its comprehensive content‐oriented approach, it is specially designed to provide in‐depth feedback on pluralism and diversity in media reporting, including coverage of chosen subjects/themes. As such, the outcome of the monitoring is not a set of empty and superficial data, but a detailed analysis and evaluation of the current level of political diversity in media reporting, examined in the proper context, including concrete comparisons and analysis3. IDRA will issue a comprehensive final report, including recommendations for potential improvements, in four weeks. For more information on this project please contact: Auron Pasha, Executive Director, IDRA [email protected], cel:0692041035 Erinda Sadiku, Project Coordinator, IDRA [email protected] 2 The monitoring of TV channels focused on prime time news, while the monitoring of newspapers included all political and election related articles apart from paid advertising. 3 The IDRA’s media monitoring included quantitative analysis of the coverage focusing on the amount of time allocated to each “subject” and the tone of the coverage in which the relevant political subjects were portrayed – positive, neutral or negative. Qualitative analysis assesses the performance of media against specific principles/benchmarks, such as ethical or professional standards, that cannot be easily quantified. Monitors report about lies, distortions, unbalanced coverage, unfairness, inaccuracy, bias and anything else that is important to presenting the quality of reporting. These data are reported separately and integrated in the comments and conclusions of the narrative reports. .