SCiDEV organises event on media freedom in Albania and the relevance of cooperation with
academia. The journalists’ associations from the Western Balkan countries, with the support of the
European Commission, have set up a joint platform Safejournalists.net to monitor changes in
their countries’ legislation and practice and to engage in various advocacy activities aimed at
advancing political, legislative, and institutional environment in which the journalists and media
work.
Starting from 2020, the members of the platform monitor the situation in seven countries
(Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and
Serbia). Every year, the assessment of the situation is conducted on the basis of standardized
methods for data collection and analysis, while the focus of the advocacy research is on the
changes in both the traditional and online media environment in the Western Balkans.
The report Indicators on the Level of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Albania
2021 published by the Safe Journalists Network this June, is the second one that monitors the
changes in Albanian legislation and practice in regards to media freedom and safety of
journalists to engage in various advocacy activities aimed at advancing political, legislative, and
institutional environment in which the journalists and media work. This publication was
produced with the financial support of the European Union and Balkan Trust for Democracy, a
project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. The first report was published in 2021 and can be found here.
To reflect on the findings of the Safe Journalists Report 2021 for Albania, SCiDEV hosted an
event that brought together media experts, journalists, representatives of civil society and
university as well as EU-funded projects focused on media. In addition, representatives of the
Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) shared their experiences in collective action, self-
organization, and advocacy for media freedom and the safety of journalists in Kosovo. Blerjana
Bino presented the key findings of the report and highlighted recommendations particularly for
strengthening collective action, advocacy and networking. Kristina Voko, BIRN Albania,
reflected on the systemic challenges to the media freedom in Albania, whereas Koloreto Cukali,
Albanian Media Council, focused more on what can be done to improve the situation,
particularly in terms of potential legal actions on conflict of interest and concentration of
ownership. Meanwhile, Valbona Sulce underlined the efforts to set up networks of journalists,
particularly women in the media, in Albania. Ada Heqimi, UK Embassy, shared the lessons
learned from supporting an informal network of young journalists and the development of safety
protocol in cases of violations.
Read the full report Indicators on the Level of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in
Albania 2021