Lexojeni në shqip: Mediat në vijën e parë: të sulmuara, të akuzuara dhe kur ekspozojnë të rinjtë
Journalists reporting from the protest are both witnesses and targets. Headlines from 13 to 21 October describe at least 33 incidents against journalists: blows, rubber bullets, stones, broken phones and being stopped from filming. Most are attributed to the police. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister calls two outlets "the ugliest sources of propaganda". But the media are not only victims: some publish the names of people arrested, including groups with minors.
In brief
- Headlines describe at least 33 incidents against journalists: 19 are attributed to the police, 10 to protesters or other people and in 4 the perpetrator is unclear.
- Almost half of the incidents (16 of 33) happen on 18 and 19 October; 12 of them are attributed to the police.
- The journalists hit most are those broadcasting from inside the protest, especially the crews of Syri and News24.
- Journalists' organisations count 17 cases on 18 October and 37 on 21 October. The figures differ because each counts with different sources and definitions.
- In the headlines we monitored, we found no police response to the specific cases involving journalists.
What the data show
1. Who hits journalists?
Incidents attributed to the police are blows, rubber bullets, pepper spray, phones taken or footage deleted and being stopped from filming arrests. Incidents by others are mostly stones and molotovs thrown at the police that hit journalists, phones broken by protesters and masked people stopping journalists from asking questions.
Some examples from the headlines (our translations, some shortened):
- Syri, 18 October: "VIDEO/ Police beat SYRI journalists LIVE, shoot them in the legs"
- Lapsi, 18 October: "REUTERS: Police fired shotguns at protesters, two of our journalists wounded by rubber bullets"
- Balkanweb, 19 October: "VIDEO/ He was filming a protester being taken away, police attack the News24 journalist with pepper spray…"
- Top Channel, 19 October: "Video/ 'Get out of here or I'll gouge your eyes out', the moment a police officer threatens a Top Channel journalist"
- Report TV, 18 October: "Protest at the Ministry of Education, journalist hit by a stone, protesters open the way for the ambulance"
- Report TV, 16 October: "Report TV journalist attacked during the protest in Gjirokastër, a protester breaks his phone while…"
According to the headlines, violence against journalists comes from both sides, but not in equal measure: incidents attributed to the police are almost twice as many as those attributed to others.
2. The peak of 18 and 19 October
On 18 and 19 October, 16 of the 33 incidents take place. These are the days when police use rubber bullets, when Reuters reports that two of its journalists were hit and when arrests move into side streets, where journalists are stopped from filming. They are also the days when the Prime Minister speaks against the media (see point 4). This is an overlap in time; the data do not show that one causes the other.
3. Why the numbers do not match?
| Date | Who counts | What is counted |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct | AGSH (Balkanweb) / SafeJournalists (Report TV) | 17 journalists attacked in 5 days / 17 incidents |
| 19 Oct | Association of Journalists, APJ Albania (Lapsi, MCN) | 21 cases of violence and obstruction in 6 days |
| 19 Oct | European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, ECPMF (Balkanweb) | at least 25 attacks |
| 21 Oct | AGSH (Balkanweb) | 37 incidents against the media in 7 days |
| 21 Oct | Artivista, from headlines | at least 33 incidents, 13 to 21 October |
The numbers grow because cases are reported late and because the protest continues. They also differ because each counts something different: some include verbal pressure and cases outside Tirana, while we count only what a headline describes. These figures do not contradict each other; they are nets of different sizes. All point in the same direction.
4. When the media become a target of words
On 18 October the Prime Minister says media analysts "are worse than those with stones" (Report TV). On 19 October he calls News24 and Syri "the two ugliest sources of propaganda against the police" (ABC News). AGSH condemns the "verbal attacks" against News24, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the Prime Minister accused its owner "without grounds" (Balkanweb, 21 October).
5. When the media expose young people
The media are also a source of risk. At least 14 headlines from 13 to 21 October announce lists with the names of people arrested or detained; 7 of them are from Report TV. Two of these lists, on 19 and 20 October, concern groups that include minors. On 15 October students report that their phone numbers were exposed and that anonymous threatening calls began. On ABC News, commentators name individuals as "Albanian Antifa" and ask the government to "say the names". This article repeats none of these names.
Why it matters
Journalists on the ground are the public's eyes. When they are stopped from filming arrests, the public loses evidence of what is happening, exactly when official figures and testimonies are disputed. Many cases of violence, against protesters and against the police, are known because someone filmed them.
Presence explains the blows. Syri and News24 broadcast from inside the protest every day, so their crews are the most exposed. When they report attacks on their own crews, this is documentation of what happened; several cases were filmed live and are also reported by Reuters, RSF and AGSH.
The words of those in power carry weight. When the head of government puts the media in the same category as people throwing stones, he risks giving others, officers or protesters, the idea that attacking them is justified. We did not measure this; it is a risk that journalists' organisations themselves raise.
The media also have their own responsibility. Publishing names, especially when minors are among them, exposes young people to retaliation, stigma at school and at work, and threats. Personal data protection and children's rights call for more care.
Other possible explanations
- Who tells the cases? Outlets report the cases of their own crews more, and outlets with more crews in the street have more cases to tell. So the count also reflects who speaks. Still, several cases are confirmed by independent sources.
- The journalist's role on the ground is not always separate. Some headlines show journalists stepping in: on 17 October a Syri TV journalist tries to take a 16-year-old out of police hands, and on 19 October Syri writes that "journalists try to block the way of police vans". This does not justify violence, but it may explain part of the clashes and should be looked at case by case.
- The risk of position. Many of the incidents by others are stones and molotovs thrown at the police that hit journalists standing near them.
What the data do not show
- The perpetrator of an incident is the one the headline or the witness names; we did not verify every case.
- An incident may be reported in the text or video but not in the headline. Outlets outside our monitoring are not included.
- We do not yet know the outcome of any investigation.
What to watch
- Are the filmed cases investigated, and do the Police Oversight Agency (AMP) and the Prosecution publish the results?
- Do the police respond to the specific cases involving journalists, and are the protesters who attacked journalists also identified?
- Do outlets keep publishing names of people arrested, especially minors?
How it was measured
We read one by one the headlines that mention journalists, camera operators, photo reporters or media crews. We counted each specific incident once, even when several outlets report it. We did not count general reports without a specific case, nor purely verbal exchanges. We took the perpetrator from the headline; when the headline does not say, the case is "perpetrator unclear". This count is more complete than the first count on the monitoring dashboard (27 incidents), because it also includes the cases of 20 and 21 October and those with an unclear perpetrator. Headlines with lists of names were read one by one. Headlines are our translations of the published headlines, some shortened. Source: Artivista media monitoring.
