By Ben Andoni
In these days when one thinks of resting, and—as often happens in Albania—of preparing for the unforeseen that awaits in the most intense months of the work-life calendar, we are bombarded with bitter news. The country, Kosovo, the media, the world… For the community of journalists, the most painful blow has been the fate of their colleagues at the “Fokus” Company and its media outlets, as well as the bitter truth surrounding them.
It is true that there is a lack of solidarity for NEWS 24, and now all sorts of internal realities are surfacing, in addition to the official version of events—the formal confirmation of the blocking of premises. What remains worrying is the lack of transparency, and what is even more painful is our community’s inability to confront the most vital realities. These start with the Public Television’s delays in paying program contributors, but also extend to other stations that, due to lack of authority and colleagues’ permission, the author cannot name.
It is troubling that for years journalists have complained about the failure to uphold payment commitments, alarming gaps in social security contributions, and above all, the plague of self-censorship. The author of these lines is himself a product of such developments—just as much a sufferer, perhaps even more so than many of the colleagues at Fokus. The absence of a Journalists’ Order is now merely a marginal factor, since journalists themselves are divided into castes: those living in unmeasured luxury, rivaling even their owners, and those barely surviving, paying rent with the help of their families. Montanelli’s postulate is “laughable” here, for many colleagues feel no shame in flaunting their wealth. If a vetting process were ever conducted for our community, the entire society would be shaken.
In fact, the problem is deeper and began decades ago—it has been studied in countries we take as reference points. But yes, it is true: government and news media are tied together by a hundred threads. That is why today the community of journalists is powerless, and why the Fokus colleagues did not receive much support, while the public—betrayed by the very essence of journalism, which is impartial information—was left on its own.
Solidarity for journalists goes beyond the interests of media owners and the laws of the state, for this is a social group that supposedly deals with the people’s troubles, yet cannot solve its own mountain of problems. “The news media and the government are intertwined in a vicious circle of mutual manipulation, mythmaking, and self-interest. Journalists need crises to dramatize the news, and government officials need to appear as if they are responding to crises. Often, the crises are not really crises at all, but joint fabrications. Both institutions have become so enmeshed in a symbiotic web of lies that the news media cannot tell the public what is true, and the government cannot govern effectively,” writes Peter Vanderwicken in Why the News Is Not the Truth.
In fact, this is the thesis presented by Paul H. Weaver—former political scholar at Harvard University, journalist at Fortune, and corporate communications director at Ford Motor Company—in his provocative analysis News and the Culture of Lying: How Journalism Really Works. This is a reality Albania is now living through, and it is not merely the problem of “Fokus” but the very misery of our crisis.
Do you want me to also prepare a polished, native-level adaptation that reads like it was originally written in English while keeping the same message and voice? That would make it even sharper for an international audience.