In a meeting with young journalists on World Press Freedom Day

The President of the Republic, H.E.Mr. Bajram Begaj addresses his message in a meeting with young journalists on World Press Freedom Day. On World Press Freedom Day, the President of the Republic, H.E.Mr. Bajram Begaj chose to address his message on the freedom of the press in Albania, during the meeting with a group of young journalists. In this meeting, the President emphasized the importance of the media in a democratic society in shaping public opinion, its irreplaceable role in accurately informing society, as well as its mission to express the truth in an impartial and transparent manner. The President of the Republic assessed that this day is an appeal for media professionals, journalists and publishers to play their role in a democratic society, and that World Press Freedom Day is the day when society should express support to journalists in their efforts to achieve the freedom of the press. He also underlined that it is the day that invites for solidarity journalists who have encountered threats, attacks or blackmail in their work for the sake of their professional stance in defense of the truth. The President reiterated his steadfast position in defense of the values of democracy and its important component of the media and its employees, by stating that: “As I have reacted in every case, I repeat my conviction and position that no journalist should feel threatened for his life and his job because of the use of his constitutional freedom to openly tell the truth in public. If we want to reach the standards of democratic countries, no media should feel under the pressure of censorship, whether it is preliminary, direct or implied. Freedom of the press and media should be a standard respected and universally accepted by us, as an indicator of social emancipation and a cornerstone of democratic state-making culture.” The President answered their questions on media reality, freedom of the press, censorship and self-censorship, as well as for the missing trade union organizations of media workers. He further expressed the belief that they, as young and well-trained journalists, will contribute with their professionalism to the qualitative improvement of the media.