On October 6, the Albanian tabloid “Prapaskena” launched a smear campaign against Blerjana Bino, Executive Director of the Centre for Science and Innovation for Development (SciDev), accusing her of producing a biased media freedom report favoring former Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The report, created by SciDev and Osservatorio Balkani Caucaso Transeuropa, analyzed the Albanian media landscape, focusing on media freedom and pluralism in the third section of the EC 2024 Rule of Law Report. SciDev responded by emphasizing the challenges facing Albania’s media and reaffirmed their commitment to media freedom, journalists’ safety, and ethical reporting. Despite the smear campaign, they remain dedicated to advocating for press freedom and working with national and international partners. The Association of Journalists of Albania and the SafeJournalists network expressed their support for Bino, condemning the defamatory articles, which featured unsigned, anonymous content targeting media organizations. Read more here.
Source: SciDev/ Mapping Media Freedom/ Safe Journalists