This is the most sincere wish I can give today to journalist Vasili, since she also has the highest number of votes at the end of the first round for the position of general director of RTSH. This lead and distance from the others turns attention to a document that usually gets little notice: the platform. Not the name, not the rumors of political interference, but what the candidate herself says she will do with RTSH. And here begins the concern.
At the beginning of her document, Vasili articulates the idea that “the current legal form of RTSH is unclear” and proposes that the institution be transformed into a joint-stock company with 100% state capital. Here begins the first clash with reality and the law. To illustrate this change, she brings the example of the BBC as a success model and talks about the meaning of the word “corporation” as a commercial company.
But this is a fundamental misunderstanding. The BBC is not a joint-stock company. It is a “public corporation” created by a Royal Charter and operates as an autonomous public entity, separate from the market, independent from the government’s annual budget, and funded by a dedicated fee paid by citizens—the “TV licence fee.” This model has nothing in common with a commercial enterprise, let alone with a structure relying on state budget support.
The Albanian Law on Audiovisual Media, in its article 90, states: “Radio and Television of Albania (RTSH) is a public legal entity, non-profit, based in Tirana, providing public transmission services in the field of audio and audiovisual services in the Republic of Albania.” Thus, RTSH, like the BBC, is a public corporation established by Parliamentary law, operating as an autonomous public entity, separated from the market, and without profit motives.
Turning RTSH into a joint-stock company gives it no advantage regarding commercial activity, procurement, contracts with other enterprises—as Eni herself says in her platform—but rather restricts its activity and puts it under the control of the government and the Ministries of Finance or Economy. If RTSH became a joint-stock company, it would also be managed by a Board of Shareholders, which in this case would be the Albanian government.
In her platform, Mrs. Vasili emphasizes funding from the state budget, increasing it, and seems to underestimate direct financing from the fee paid by the citizens.
The idea of moving RTSH “under the wing of the state budget” is a step backward by decades. Instead of guaranteeing a sustainable and independent funding model, as is the case with most European public media (ZDF, ARD, RAI, France Télévisions), Vasili proposes relying on the political will of a finance minister who tomorrow may not have a budget for a critical documentary or a corruption investigation.
In Germany, for example, public media are funded by a fixed monthly fee paid by citizens as part of their obligations toward public information. The same applies in France and Italy. The purpose is clear: whoever funds the media controls its content. Therefore, these countries keep public media away from political budgets—to protect them from politics.
Her platform also mentions the idea that RTSH has several frequencies and that they could be used to generate income by leasing them to others. But this reflects another lack of legal and technical knowledge. According to the law, RTSH owns only two frequencies: one for its own broadcasts and another to assist local television transmissions. Where did she get the idea that RTSH has many frequencies that it does not need? It seems naive, but in my experience working at RTSH, I have often encountered the idea of taking an RTSH frequency and giving it to a private operator. In reality, throughout Albania, there are only seven national frequencies: three owned by the Top Channel-Digital group, two by RTSH as explained above, and one each by Klan TV, Vizion Plus, and Tring.
In the second part of her platform, Eni Vasili focuses on channel composition. Here comes the idea of dividing screens according to political beliefs. One channel for the ruling party, one for the opposition. So everyone feels represented. Even the Ballists and partisans. In response to a question from a member of the Governing Council, Mrs. Vasili said she had thought about a second channel for the Ballists.
So, the partisans can rest easy because they have protected RTSH’s main channel once again. And don’t be surprised if tomorrow there will be two police checkpoints proposed: one for PS, one for PD; two hospitals, one for the ruling party and one for the opposition. We will have only one kind of tax: just for the opposition.
This is pluralism according to Eni Vasili: not debate, but territorial division. Not dialogue, but a duel of monologues. According to this logic, RTSH will no longer be a public service but a service with a political menu: choose your party and we will bring you the news with the corresponding flavor. Do you want propaganda or not?
Regarding programs and channels, it seemed Mrs. Vasili did not propose any study but had already decided: 7 plus 2. RTSH 3 for the diaspora, RTSH School, RTSH Shqip, RTSH Agro, the four local RTSH stations in Korçë, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, and Kukës. One question I keep asking myself is this: if RTSH employs many people, about 1000, and has plenty of funds available, then why was the RTSH School channel shut down and developed on other platforms?
In a country where tourism is the main economic branch, how can RTSH Agro be removed when it was specifically designed as a channel dedicated to agriculture, livestock, fishing—the fields related to feeding people and the economy of the country? How is tourism with over ten million tourists expected to develop without agriculture? And is there a greater mission for public television than building a good educational channel for agriculture, food, and tourism?
And what about RTSH 3? In a country where the diaspora sends more money than strategic investors, shutting down a channel dedicated to them is like closing Albania’s cultural embassy abroad. And to make it more dramatic, all this is in clear contradiction with the law, which in article 13 of the Diaspora Law clearly mandates RTSH to offer a channel dedicated to this community. RTSH 3, the channel for Albanians abroad, is targeted for closure.
Moreover, the old Governing Council has a decision about this. But this is not just an arbitrary action. It is a violation of the law. Not only does the Media Law require this, but also the Diaspora Law, article 13, obliges RTSH to have a dedicated channel for the diaspora. It is not a wish but a legal obligation. And moreover, it is a bridge that connects more than one million Albanians abroad with the language, culture, and information from their homeland.
I have always been amazed how the closure of RTSH School can be proposed? This channel proved its usefulness during the pandemic but also serves today as a model for hundreds of teachers on how to deliver lessons because the best teachers in Albania were involved in creating the channel’s materials. On RTSH School, children—and not only them—can learn that the beautiful Albanian word “hapur” (open) should be used instead of the loanword “open,” which is used only for snobbery because the Albanian language cannot properly express it. Or, as a character in a movie says: “This cursed Albanian language messes up the girl!”
Instead of closing RTSH School, it should be developed. There are many ways and tools for its development, but I will not delve into this today.
How can the local RTSH studios, an extraordinary asset of the public radio-television that makes RTSH unique among all “central” channels, be erased with the stroke of a pen? This is the most backward part of society and representative of anti-values.
This was the famous platform that has received the most votes so far. No word about the radio. No word about the news. No word about the programs. The most worrying thing is the complete emptiness of the platform regarding content. Investigative journalism is not mentioned anywhere, nor independent information, nor any plan to strengthen newsrooms or support investigative work.
An RTSH without journalists who ask, seek the truth, denounce abuses, and illuminate the dark corners of the state is not public media. It is a propaganda washing machine. At a time when in countries like Sweden and Denmark, public media are increasing investments in investigative journalism as a guarantee of transparency in society, RTSH is being proposed to be stripped of every tool to be the guardian of democracy. And this is tragic.
Finally, this platform does not talk about content, audience, education, culture, equality of voices. It talks about structures, boards, regulations, and a technocracy that hides the aim: to turn RTSH into another apparatus under the control of power. In the field of technological development, the only proposal in those 15 lines she wrote is the opening of an RTSH mobile application (the one RTSH had but my successors shut down when it had over a million downloads).
No word on the directions technology should take in radio and television, no word about the archive. No word about developments in radio, social media, etc., etc. It’s not reform. It’s a regression. From a media that should serve the citizen, to media that serves the patron. And in this turn, the citizen is forgotten. As always.
But this platform is now the favorite among the members of the Governing Council, so the only hope is that Eni becomes director but does not implement her platform. She can borrow the platform of one of the other candidates. They are much closer to the real content and reform. Let her be director but implement Laureta Roshit’s platform. Or Flamur Bucpapaj’s. Or Elton Meta’s. Or anyone else’s, no problem. Each of the other platforms brings something good for RTSH.
Gazetar e drejtues i disa medieve të shkruara gjatë viteve ‘90. Po ashtu ai ka punuar në struktura të larta në detyrën e drejtorit të Departamentit të Informacionit në Kryeministri.
Ish-Drejtor i Përgjithshëm i Radio Televizionit Shqiptar.