In view of Albania's upcoming 2025 parliamentary elections, the OSCE Presence and the Central Election Commission (CEC) organized a technical workshop titled “Elections 2025: The role of media in the electoral process – Challenges and opportunities”, on 18 November 2024.

The event brought together regulatory bodies, media professionals and civil society representatives to discuss ways to improve the media environment and media’s coverage of elections.

“The media, often referred to as the ‘fourth estate’, plays a critical role as the primary source of information for most voters. It shapes public opinion and can significantly influence electoral outcomes. With this immense responsibility, it is imperative for the media to uphold the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct when covering elections”, Head of Presence Ambassador Michel Tarran said at the opening of the event.

“We recognize the immense pressures the media face in striving for fairness, analytical depth, and accuracy in their reporting. To address this, the Presence remains steadfast in advocating for effective media regulation and self-regulation. These mechanisms are crucial to ensuring that media outlets operate in line with ethical standards”, he added.

State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi stressed the importance of media professionalism and independence. "There are a number of mechanisms that ensure or should ensure the presence of these characteristics for the media. But if this process is not self-regulated or the media themselves, in general, do not have this approach, then it is important to have a regulatory aspect. It remains important that, in any case, the media is not in a position where it has to say something different from what it sees and verifies, as well as not to promote what should not be promoted," he said.

Participants discussed key challenges that Albanian media actors face in covering elections and electoral campaigns. Discussions focused on the OSCE/ODIHR’s recommendations, highlighting: the effective implementation of the Law on the Right to Information; implementation of legal obligations concerning airing of pre-recorded party-generated content in news; the allocation of airtime to election contestants; and lack of sufficient resources to perform comprehensive media oversight. Representatives of state institutions, media professionals and civil society presented their efforts, perspectives and recommendations to improve fair and ethical coverage of elections and to overcome the recurring challenges.

These efforts aim to ensure that Albanian voters have access to crucial information on electoral procedures, political platforms and candidates, empowering them to make informed choices.

The workshop discussions are part of a broader effort to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process. Earlier this year, the Presence and the CEC organized two technical workshops focused on voter education and vote buying. A fourth workshop, on vote secrecy, will take place in December 2024.