On the International Day of Press Freedom, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) presented the deteriorating situation of media freedom in Albania. In their report, the situation of media freedom in Albania is endangered by the threat of editorial independence from the partisan regulation of the media, the violation of physical integrity by organized crime and the failure of the state to protect press workers.

Albania in this year's Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report ranks in the 103rd position out of 180 countries in the world, which is a decrease of 20 places, compared to 2021 when it was ranked 83rd.

The private media companies, which have more influence on the public, are owned by a small number of people, which also have businesses, mainly in the field of construction and are associated with politicians, the RSF report states. As such, the report mentions RTSH, Top Channel, TV Klan and RTV Ora.

The RSF 2022 report states that journalists in Albania face political pressures, which increased last year aiming to control information during the 2021 parliamentary elections and the Covid-19 pandemic. Journalists who are critical towards the government face regular political attacks seeking to discredit them.

According to the RSF report, journalists have difficulty obtaining public information, which threatens further restrictions from a recent centralization of communication by the government. In a post on social media, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, denied the finding of the 2022 report of RSF calling them “lies” and “fantasy”.