The EBU and OSCE presence in Albania have joined forces to facilitate discussions on the development of a new strategy for the country’s national broadcaster RTSH.
In a statement, the EBU says that senior EBU consultant, and former VP, Boris Bergant held a series of meetings with a group of managers, heads of departments and experts at RTSH to expedite the completion of a new strategy document for the broadcaster. The document will focus on the vision, mission, programming, technology strategy and management of channels.
Bergant said: “finalising the strategy will provide RTSH with a clear road map for development and support the management in its endeavours to make real progress.”
The EBU adds that concurrently with work on the strategy, the OSCE and the EBU organised a workshop on elections coverage for RTSH news journalists.
Eurovision Academy faculty member and former BBC journalist Jonathan Stoneman worked with 15 news journalists from RTSH and its local stations in Shkodra, Gjirokaster, Kukës and Durrës. The main topics of discussion were planning, selection of topics, use of social media, and the various editorial and legal dilemmas associated with the political situation in Albania, where the major political opposition party is boycotting the upcoming elections.
Stoneman said: “This is my third trip to Albania as a trainer and I see real changes in RTSH: the journalists are really engaged and want to work for their audience. Change does not happen overnight, but I do see evidence of new thinking and a genuine will to do real journalism in the public interest”.
Radka Betcheva, head of member relations, Eastern Europe, added that the cooperation between the EBU and OSCE, in the framework of a MoU, supports a wide range of activities and will be further enhanced with the support of the delegation of the EU in Albania.
She continued: “I see, that after years of hard work and perseverance, there are already signs for changes. I think, that we are starting to build a critical mass of professionals who know the standards and want to implement them.”
Vojislav Raonic OSCE senior media officer, pointed out that the tripartite partnership encouraged many fundamental changes and expressed his hope that the changes will become visible on the screen soon.
The EBU concludes its statement by saying that it and the OSCE are determined to continue to cooperate and support the transformation of the Albanian national broadcaster. Workshops on programme scheduling, a common needs assessment survey and the development of new programme grid will follow, as well as continued exchange of best practices with the EBU Slovenian member RTVSlo, the Slovenian public broadcaster.
