Mijatovic: The media are discriminated

“It would be good if the law would decriminalize slander. I would offer the assistance of my office for changing these dispositions and making a full decriminalization”, Miatovic declared.

“There are very unique cases when a journalist has been punished for slander or untrue information. The government of Mr.Berisha has prohibited all state officials to sue the media for slander”, declared Mark Marku, a Democratic Party MP.

An important part of the discussion was that of the unequal distribution of state advertisements, bay using the money of the Albanian tax payers to the media that defend the government. As result, the other media are discriminated, without forgetting the lack of an independent National Council of Radio and Televisions.

“The monopoly issue with the state advertisements belongs to the public operator, which I believe to be the one that causes these problems that I mentioned. The problem is not at the legal gap, but they must be addressed to with a political will. By discussing about this work, the preparation of the lagal framework and strategies that affect the media freedom in Albania, I don’t want to say that the situation is perfect, but let us remain to this information, as regards the legal framework of policies”, declared the Media Commission Chairwoman, Valentina Leskaj.

“The issue of state owned advertisements could affect the partial distribution of state funds to some preferred media. Another matter is the independence of the regulatory authority. This independence is related with the law, if it should be different and if its status should be better. Until we have a stronger framework, until the rule of law will reinforce the media activity, rather than limiting it, we, as representatives of the free media will raise these issues so that the government can do its best and leave the media and journalists to work free”, Miatovic declared.

A few times ago, the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Media and Education Commission, Valentina Leskaj, reported the political deformation and discrimination that the government is doing with the media with the distribution of state owned advertisements, declaring that there are 17 million EUR in advertisements that the TVs send to preferred TV outlets.

“I underlined the stance of the Socialist Party, regarding the advertisements that are related with equal opportunities. The finances reach from 15 to 17 million EUR that the government has given to its clients”, Leskaj declared on May 18th.

As regards the digitalization, Mrs. Miatovich declared that Albania should plan a strategy without favoring anyone, in order to give space to the market and operators, which unfortunately are facing many problems.

“As regards the media law, I am happy that you are working about it. The process is very complex in Albania. I have followed it closely and for the moment, all subjects are broadcasting illegally, because they have no permits. These broadcasts should be legalized as soon as possible. I believe that it is important for the state to have the necessary sources for this digitalization. I hope that we will have a situation that will be resolved soon. We are ready to assist. I know that the digitalization is a very technical process which is led by good experts, but it is important that you, as MPs, must secure pluralism, so that no one will have a monopoly about it. All voices that are heard in Parliament are an instrument that helps in this direction”, Mijatovic declared.
 

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