The international non-profit organization promoting media freedom and the right to be informed, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) indicates in its latest report that journalism in Albania is currently in a problematic state.
It also underlined that the COVID-19 pandemic has been used to block journalists’ access to sources of information.
“The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partially blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organization”, says RSF.
Both Albania and its neighbors were categorized as problematic countries.
Albania is referred to as a country where journalism is not “trusted” and ranked 83 out of 180, improving by a single point from last year.
On the other hand, Kosovo was placed as 78, ranking much better than Albania, however losing 8 points from last year’s report.
Meanwhile, North Macedonia has made progress from last year climbing two spots in the classification.
“Threat from defamation law”
In the report, RSF mentions the controversial “Defamation Law” approved by the Albanian government despite criticisms from various NGOs as well as recommendations of the Venice Commission.
Furthermore, RSF notes that many media suffered losses in revenue, particularly following pandemic-related measures such as banning no more than 2 people in a studio at the same time.
“At the start of the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Edi Rama urged the public to “protect themselves against the media” and refused to help when the pandemic exacerbated the media’s financial problems to the point that newspapers stopped producing print editions for about six weeks”, recalled the report.
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