TIRANA, May 6/ATA/ The Democratic Party in opposition responded to the Association of Journalists of Albania (AGSH) and Safe Journalists, clarifying that Chairman Sali Berisha’s recent remarks were targeted at the owner of News24 TV, not individual journalists.
The DP emphasized Berisha’s consistent respect for journalists and their efforts to expose corruption, dismissing the reactions from AGSH and Safe Journalists as unfounded and outside their core mission.
“Berisha has rightly criticized only the owner of News24 TV for his personal engagement in fake news, fabrications and manipulations dictated directly by the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama against the Democratic Party”, reads the DP statement.
Further on, the DP underlined that a large part of the media is under the influence of the government. According to the DP, this influence is seen through censorship of the opposition and self-censorship of journalists.
“Serious international reports confirm that over 90% of the media in Albania are under the control of the government, whether in the editorial line or in the content of the news. In return to benefits from the government, there are media owners who order censorship of the opposition, slander and fabrications against it and parrot the prime minister’s ERTV news or his podcast, and even accept lists from the latter’s offices on which political opponents should not be invited to the studio, or who should be publicly denigrated,” the DP emphasized.
According to the DP, the opposition’s task is not “politically correct language”, but the accurate identification of problems.
“The Democratic Party remains steadfast in its belief that the free media is an irreplaceable ally in documenting government thefts and in holding the government accountable, according to the principle: “The problem is the government”, emphasized the DP. /m.q/a.f/p.s./
