By Alfred Peza
The title of the only play written by Ismail Kadare, “A boring season in the Olympus”, seems to be well suited to the relation between the media and Albanian politics during these hot August days, because the more temperatures rose, the more fires there were around the country, the more victims were swallowed by our waters and the more foreign tourists swarmed the country like never before, the more Albanian media is desperately looking for political stories in an emptied Tirana. Although this is an official month off for Parliament, government, presidency, prefectures, municipalities and political parties, media continues to search for political stories.
Every movement, every photo, every comment, every status in social networks by political leaders, ministers, MPs and candidate MPs, government officials, however unimportant they may be, immediately occupy the headlines of every news bulletin, newspaper, online media and social network, where all of them reproduce the same text, the same comment and the same stance. We often get the idea that they are all written by the same hand and projected by the same mind and that all the media outlets are nothing else but a conveyer of the same media product.
We rarely encounter stories, articles, comments or analyses which are original, authentic and from which one can learn something new or understand something more than in other media. Meanwhile, a new type of journalism is taking shape, where a public person says or does something and everyone else immediately tries to offer his “opinion”, make his “comment”, say his “word”, make his own “analysis” or utter his own authentic insult. This seems to be the new trend of the new media in this boring season of news stories.
If we want to see a program on Albanian tourism, on what Albania has to offer this year, on the sights, scenery, destinations, packages, restaurant prices, hotels, if we want to be informed on the cultural and historical heritage that Albania has to offer during this season and throughout the year for foreigners who want to come here, then, don’t search our media for it, because they have nothing to show. You will not find them. But even if they have something, they have taken them from CNN, BBC, Reuters, Vogue, National Geographic, the New York Times or other prestigious world media.
The same thing also goes if we want to learn something about the Albanian economy, foreign investments, projects on Vjosa River and their environmental impact, TAP, on the relations between Albania and Serbia, on the new political crisis in Kosovo, on the obstacles concerning the use of Albanian language in Macedonia, in the interest of the Americans in Tirana in regards to the Iranian issue, on the successes of Albanian artists and sportsmen in the world, on the success stories of the emigrants and the adventures of the criminals. This way, we get the impression that our media have turned into local offices that cover unimportant news, which only bear local interest.
Meanwhile, we must not worry about professional news that bears a national interest, because someone else worries about them. Someone covers them and we need not worry on finding them. Under these circumstances, we’re left with nothing else but translate them and learn them from foreign media, news agencies, TV channels, radio, newspapers and websites. Based on this logic, on this reality and this tendency and this misery, you don’t need to get bored, because there’s always hope, for as long as hope is the last one to die. Because the boring season in the Olympus of Albanian politics is coming to an end. Most of the month of August is behind us now. Starting from the beginning of next week, temperatures will fall, but there will also be rain, wind and storms. This is a clear and certain sign that our political leaders are getting ready to end their holidays and leave the beaches. They will leave the coasts and start, one by one, to make their way toward the capital.
We will also see the lectures in the political youth summer camps come to an end, after teaching them for the nth August in a row that Albanian democracy continues to be fragile. Meanwhile, technocrat ministers finally handed in their resignation and the report on the elections. One deputy minister resigned for personal reasons. Next week, the Socialist Party will convene the National Assembly and the opposition will return with fresh energies to fill the media once again with old news.
Then September will come, the most fertile month for politics and those who cannot live without politics, are looking forward to it. The new Parliament will convene, the new government will be set up, the new opposition will join the right wing and everyone will start to hear some old debates. Don’t forget to watch Parliament each Thursday from 10 am to midnight, how they insult each other, threaten, accuse and debate on everything and never about the order of the day.
Then, the new season of TV political debates will start. New topics will be analyzed again by old analysts. Fresh news will be once again commented in the old studios. Then, the debates will continue in cafes, benches, parks, restaurants, offices and households as to when will the judicial reform be finally implemented? Will the new President cooperate with the new Prime Minister? And the new Assembly speaker? Will the chairman of the DP cooperate with the chairwoman of SMI? Will the opposition be united? What will be the stance of the Americans? What about the EU? What is Donald Trump thinking about us today? What about Angela Merkel?
Then we will have opinion polls in social networks with questions such as: Will there be divides within the DP? Will Astrit Patozi create a new party? Which minister do you value more? Will the opposition cooperate with the President? Will Albania be accepted in the EU? We hope at least that someone will ask questions such as: Who will the new coach of the Albanian team choose as goalkeeper, Berisha or Strakosha?
After we’re done discussing all of these, don’t put away your phone and don’t leave your computer or TV, because we have not yet finished. Now it’s the time to be informed a little, because time has come to learn new things about the Albanian economy, our social problems, foreign investments, the opening of new jobs, the growth of economic stability, tourism, sport, art and culture. Where will you find all of those? Don’t worry. It’s all ready. You just need to read foreign media.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
