Albania

[AL] Regulatory Authority Criticises TV Stations after Monitoring on Ethics

IRIS 2012-7:1/7

Ilda Londo

Albanian Media Institute

In the first months of 2012 the National Council of Radio and Television (NCRT) has monitored some of the programmes on the two national commercial TV stations, TV Klan and Top Channel TV. The NCRT reported that the monitoring was carried out after complaints by citizens about these programmes. According to the outcome of the monitoring process, the satirical weekly programme broadcast by Top Channel TV, “Portokalli”, used vulgar language, with an undue amount of allegations. The statement said that in spite of the humorous nature of the programme, the choices were not always justified. In addition, the monitoring group observed that some of the spots on the show also contained discrimination based on origin regarding different regions of the country.

Meanwhile, the monitoring of TV Klan noted that two of the programmes also violated ethical norms in terms of language used and the norms of communication. The first programme is “Zone e Lire”, a talk show. This show was rebroadcast at a time when children could watch it, which makes the situation even more serious. Moreover, NCRT stressed that it is not the first time this programme has violated ethical norms. In addition, the second programme, “Aldo Morning Show”, used allegations of homosexual conduct, with words and gestures that were not appropriate to the morning time slot. The NCRT has sent messages to both TV stations, indicating their opinion of the unethical conduct of these programmes.