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Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia & Turkey in the Year 2020

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Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia & Turkey in the Year 2020 MONITORING MEDIA PLURALISM IN THE DIGITAL ERA APPLICATION OF THE MEDIA PLURALISM MONITOR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, ALBANIA, MONTENEGRO, THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA, SERBIA & TURKEY IN THE YEAR 2020 Country report: Albania Kristina Voko, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Albania Besar Likmeta, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Albania Research Project Report Issue 2021.2839 July 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. About the project 4 1.1. Overview of the project 4 1.2. Methodological note 4 2. Introduction 6 3. Results from the data collection: assessment of the risks to media 8 pluralism 3.1. Fundamental protection (59% - medium risk) 9 3.2. Market plurality (89% - high risk) 10 3.3. Political independence (64% - medium risk) 12 3.4. Social inclusiveness (72% - high risk) 14 4. Pluralism in the online environment: assessment of the risks 17 5. Conclusions 20 6. Notes 21 7. References 22 Annexe I. Country Team Annexe II. Group of Experts © European University Institute 2021 Content and individual chapters © Kristina Voko, Besar Likmeta, 2021 This work has been published by the European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the authors. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the year and the publisher. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] Views expressed in this publication reflect the opinion of individual authors and not those of the European University Institute. Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Project Report RSC / Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom 2021.2839 Published in July 2021 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) https://cadmus.eui.eu/ The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union. This publication reflects the views only of the author(s), and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 3 The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union 1. About the project 1.1. Overview of the Project The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool designed to identify potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States of the European Union and in candidate countries. This narrative report has been produced on the basis of the implementation of the MPM carried out in 2020. The implementation was conducted in 27 EU Member States, as well as in Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. This project, under a preparatory action of the European Parliament, was supported by a grant awarded by the European Commission to the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute. 1.2. Methodological note Authorship and review The CMPF partners with experienced, independent national researchers to carry out the data collection and author the narrative reports, except in the case of Italy where data collection is carried out centrally by the CMPF team. The research is based on a standardised questionnaire developed by the CMPF. In Albania the CMPF partnered with Kristina Voko and Besar Likmeta (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Albania),who conducted the data collection, scored and commented on the variables in the questionnaire and interviewed experts. The report was reviewed by the CMPF staff. Moreover, to ensure accurate and reliable findings, a group of national experts in each country reviewed the answers to particularly evaluative questions (see Annexe II for the list of experts). For a list of selected countries, the final country report was peer-reviewed by an independent country expert. Risks to media pluralism are examined in four main thematic areas: Fundamental Protection, Market Plurality, Political Independence and Social Inclusiveness. The results are based on the assessment of a number of indicators for each thematic area (see Table 1). Fundamental Protection Market Plurality Political Independence Social Inclusiveness Protection of freedom of Transparency of media Political independence of Access to media for expression ownership media minorities Protection of right to News media Editorial autonomy Access to media for information concentration local/regional communities and for community media Journalistic profession, Online platforms Audiovisual media, online Access to media for standards and protection concentration and platforms and elections women competition enforcement Independence and Media viability State regulation of Media Literacy effectiveness of the media resources and support to authority media sector Universal reach of Commercial & owner Independence of PSM Protection against illegal traditional media and influence over editorial governance and funding and harmful speech access to the Internet content Table 1: Areas and Indicators of the Media Pluralism Monitor 4 The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union The digital dimension The Monitor does not consider the digital dimension to be an isolated area but rather as intertwined with traditional media and existing principles of media pluralism and freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the Monitor also extracts digital-specific risk scores and the report contains a specific analysis of risks related to the digital news environment. The calculation of risk The results for each thematic area and indicator are presented on a scale from 0 to 100%. Scores between 0 and 33%: low risk Scores between 34 to 66%: medium risk Scores between 67 and 100%: high risk With regard to indicators, scores of 0 are rated 3% while scores of 100 are rated 97% by default, to avoid an assessment of total absence or certainty of risk. Disclaimer: The content of the report does not necessarily reflect the views of the CMPF, nor the position of the members composing the Group of Experts. It represents the views of the national country team that carried out the data collection and authored the report. Due to updates and refinements in the questionnaire, MPM2021 scores may not be fully comparable with previous editions of the MPM. For more details regarding the project, see the CMPF report on MPM2021, soon available on: http://cmpf.eui.eu/media-pluralism-monitor/. 5 The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union 2. Introduction Population: The Republic of Albania is a country of 2.8 million inhabitants, with a geographic area of 28.748 square kilometers located in the Western Balkans along the coast of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, bordering Montenegro and Kosovo to the north, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Minorities: The majority of the population is ethnic Albanian and according to the 2011 census only 1.5 percent of its inhabitants come from ethnic minorities (INSTAT, 2012). The 2011 census data remain controversial because only 83.2 per cent of the respondents declared themselves ethnic Albanians, while 14.07 percent refused to answer questions on the basis of nationality. A new census planned for 2020 was postponed to 2022. In 2020, the census could not be held because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while in 2021 because it was an electoral year. According to the Law no. 96/2017 "For the [1] Protection of National Minorities in the Republic of Albania" , recognized ethnic and/or cultural minorities in Albania include: Greeks, Macedonians, Aromanians, Roma, Egyptians, Montenegrins, Bosnian, Serbs and Bulgarians. The largest national minority in Albania is the Greek minority, which is concentrated mainly in the country’s south, close to the border with Greece, followed by the ethnic Macedonian minority and the Roma cultural minority. Economic situation: In 2020 Albania’s economy registered a recession, with a drop of 9% in the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, due to the disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic in sectors like tourism and trade. According to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the export of services fell 35% year-on-year in the period January – June 2020, the export of goods fell 17% year-on- year in the period January – July and remittances fell by 18.5% in the period January-June 2020 (EBRD, 2020). Political situation: The political environment in Albania in 2020, was marked by polarization, after opposition MPs forfeited their parliamentary mandates and opposition parties boycotted local elections in 2019, amidst allegation of ties between government and organized crime. A parliamentary commission controlled by the ruling Socialist Party initiated an impeachment procedure against the President, which was finalized in late July 2020. The ad hoc inquiry committee concluded that while the President had overstepped his constitutional competences, the violations did not justify his impeachment. Despite the fraught political climate, a political council was set up under the mediation of the US and EU and managed to stir political actors toward a consensual reform of the electoral code, ahead of the 2021 parliamentary elections (European Commission, 2020). Media market: Albania has a crowded media market, with dozens of broadcasters and newspapers and hundreds of news portals vying for market share. However, based on Media Ownership Monitor data, the number of media outlets does not reflect an effective plurality as most revenues and audience share are controlled by a handful of owners (RSF & BIRN Albania, 2018). According to an opinion survey in October 2020, Albanians consume information by using multiple media outlets. Survey data show that the overwhelming majority continues to get informed on important political developments via commercial broadcasters, followed by social networks (European Fund for the Balkans, 2020). Regulatory environment: Albania’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The audiovisual media is regulated by the Law no.
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