Comment: Albanian Independent Press Squeezed

Fourteen years after the fall of Communism, Albania’s independent media is struggling in a chaotic economic environment and facing growing pressure from the Socialist government of Fatos Nano.

After a crisis in 1997 triggered by the collapse of so-called pyramid banking schemes toppled Albania’s right-wing government, many hoped the new Socialist government would not put pressure on the press and civic groups.

In fact, over the last seven years of left-wing rule, pressure on the media has mounted only within the last three.

Now Nano’s coalition government is almost routinely filing legal charges against publishers, journalists and civic groups.

Most of these lawsuits have followed Nano’s marriage two years ago to a young Albanian emigrant from Greece, who has turned into one of Albania’s top businesswoman, holding significant shares in the country’s tourism, foodstuffs and media industries.

Journals looking into the business dealings of Xhoana Nano often end up facing the judges.

Last week, to protest against this trend, around 200 journalists, including leading TV anchors, writers, and talk-show hosts, protested in front of the prime minister’s office, demanding a “hands-off” approach from the government in its relations with the media.

Protesters built a symbolic pyramid out of television screens, radio sets and newspapers, which were piled up and squeezed by rows of chains, representing what they said was an attempt to strangle press freedom.

The protest followed a series of lawsuits against journalists, the latest of which was filed in mid-May against Nikolle Lesi, publisher of the independent Koha Jone.

Earlier this year, this newspaper embarrassed the government by showcasing its front page with a fax of a government order awarding the prime minister and his inner staff the equivalent of five months’ salaries as a bonus. It followed the successful sale of a local bank to a foreign investor.

As the law provides for a maximum of only three bonus salaries per year, the leaked news of this award angered the authorities.

But direct pressure from the courts is only one of the pressures the media in Albania faces today. Given the poor economic state, the survival of 20 daily newspapers, together selling a total of only 60,0000 copies, in a population of 3 million, is always a challenge.

Many survive only from the advertising of state-owned companies, such as Albtelecom and the Albanian Electrical Corporation. As these are monopolies, which hardly need advertisements, in reality the offer of advertising is a useful carrot - or stick - for the government to use in its dealings with the media to ensure favourable coverage.

Foreign criticism of this kind of discreet government pressure on the media has been fairly minimal. Albania’s staunch support for the US-led “war on terrorism” has guaranteed Washington’s silence on the issue, while EU representatives in the country have been equally reticent, perhaps having failed to see any improvement following earlier criticism of the government’s handling of the press.

On a more positive note, a coalition between independent media and civic activists to resist outside pressure of this kind is growing in strength. Protests that were a product of such collaboration already ousted a former interior minister for punching a journalist last October.

For that reason, the government is going to have to watch out. If it fails to back off in its approach towards media, it may face more trouble over the summer.

Erion Veliaj is a member of the MJAFT! (Enough!), a civic movement campaigning to raise awareness of social problems.