On the occasion of Audiovisual Media Authority 20th anniversary, today, on May 3, an International Scientific Conference on Audiovisual Media Market, audience behavior and regulatory framework was organized with the cooperation of Journalism and Communication Department of TU. The 3rd of May is also remembered as the World Press Freedom Day.
Representatives of academic life, invitees from the region and representatives of the Albanian Parliament were present in this conference.
The conference was divided into 3 main sessions, besides the plenary session. The respective topics were media market and audiovisual operators; audience behavior and programming; regulation and self-regulation as a response to technological developments. The speakers were the personalities of the academic world in the field of media and communication from France, Italy, Poland, Romania.
Among speakers of the plenary session were personalities in the field of audiovisual media, such as Mr. Artan Fuga. Mr. Fuga, after thanking the organizers, laid stress on the duty of media and regulatory institutions to respect civil freedoms. Mr. Fuga evaluated the contribution and example given by AMA in the cooperation between public institutions and their mutual strengthening.
Mrs. Vasilika Hysi, in the capacity of Deputy Speaker of Albanian Parliament greeted the conference participants in the name of Albanian Parliament. Mrs. Hysi valued the work done so far by AMA. She said that conferences of this kind have a direct impact on media education of students and on their professionalism in news reporting, as well as in all chains of an independent and free media.
Mr. Gentian Sala, Chairman of the Audiovisual Media Authority, in his welcoming speech, acknowledged the strong and weak points of AMA’s as an institution over these 20 years. He emphasized that, the last five years, AMA has entered into a normal run of institutional organization and functioning for the last five years and has been focusing entirely on programming issues since 2018.
Mr. Sala evaluated the cooperation with the Journalism and Communication Department, which was useful to the institution to make a fair decision-making in accordance with market needs and the audience trends.
Prof. Assoc. Dr. Mark Marku, Head of Journalism and Communication Department at TU, said the conference will present a full picture of the market and the media situation, and it will also help to better this situation.
Prof. Dr. Sabri Laçi, Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology, reminded a crucial moment of the Albanian media- the creation of Journalism and Communication Department. This department, he said, has given a new dimension to communication and has strengthened cooperation among Albanian media researchers and beyond.
The conference was greeted by Mr. Muja Ferati, Chair of Kosovo Independent Media Commission, who appreciated the cooperation with AMA and was eager to know the conclusions of the conference work, which will be valuable also for the reality of the Republic of Kosovo.
The conference will be followed by a publication of papers. It will be a summary of all the scientific works of the most famous media researchers. This conference was the fruit of cooperation of Albanian and regional media researchers.
Audiovisual Media Authority
