Advertising market in Albanian media

The advertising market has a deep influence on the media integrity level in Albania, due to factors such as legal vacuum, the small size of the market and the dependence of media on economic and political actors. All of these factors lead to a situation where, also due to the low transparency of advertising market, there is a reasonable doubt that there is a direct correlation between advertisers and media content. Similarly, there is also the possibility of misusing state advertisement or public funds for media, and impose to some extent the agenda of the political party in power. This publication aims to shed light on the situation of the media advertising market in the country. The problems with transparency or reliability of data regarding the media market in Albania remain unsolved for years and make this a difficult task. However, the publication attempts to draw an overview of the main trends of the advertising market in the country, focusing on the size of the market, on the existing legal framework, on state funds, on funds of private companies, as well as on the mechanisms used to allocate the existing funds and the actors involved in this process. In drafting this report the Albanian Media Institute has cooperated closely with the Monitor magazine, which has been following the evolution of the media market and the dynamics and trends of this sector for several years now. The publication was supported by Open Society Foundation Albania.