The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, has accused national televisions of inequality in media coverage between the majority and the opposition. In a statement, Berisha said that the DP press office has monitored four national televisions: RTSH, Top Channel, Klan and Vizion Plus, claiming that in a 30-day period these media have devoted about 15 hours and 11 minutes to the SP and Prime Minister Edi Rama, while only 4 hours and 47 minutes to the opposition. In a media outlet, this situation contradicts the principle of “par condicio”, which requires equal treatment of political forces in the media during electoral processes.
Berisha cited as an example the date of June 26, when, according to the DP monitoring, the opposition received only 1 minute and 30 seconds, while the SP was given 48 minutes and 45 seconds. He also accused the media of counting the reporting time on the opposition protests as time dedicated to the DP, claiming that this distorts the indicators of media coverage.
Berisha called on journalist and media organizations to monitor the situation and inform the public about what he described as “wild capture of national televisions.” The DP leader also criticized the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA), claiming that the data published by it does not truly reflect the inequality in media coverage of political forces.
"Again, we, the press office, have monitored the four national televisions, which are mammoths, oligarchs, are in one way or another the main censors and executioners of free speech. These four national media, state television, Top Channel, Klan and Vizion Plus have dedicated to Edi Rama and the Socialist Party in 30 days taken together 15 hours, 10 minutes and 59 seconds.
So, 15 hours versus only 4 hours, 46 minutes and 43 seconds or 23.9 percent for the opposition. According to the universal law, par condicio, of every democratic country, these media should allocate equal time to the ruling party and the opposition. But Edi Rama, among other things, also counts the news that the media provide non-stop about the 71-day protest as time for the DP.
The truth is that there are certain days in which the DP, from these media, was given 1 minute and 30 seconds, while the SP, and this is the date June 26, was given 48 minutes and 45 seconds, so a ratio of 32.5 to 1. This is the extreme inequality that is dictated by the government over the media controlled by it. And the two Siamese twins in deception in AMA serve Rama and the public as a true indicator, the indicator that more than anything else speaks of the rampant attacks that are made every day by the government's puppets against the opposition and its leaders," he said.
