When Will Edi Rama Intervene in RTSH A Deep Analysis of the Crisis and Necessary Solutions Flamur Buçpapaj, former candidate for RTSH Director

When Will Edi Rama Intervene in RTSH
A Deep Analysis of the Crisis and Necessary Solutions
Flamur Buçpapaj, former candidate for RTSH Director
The Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH) is currently facing a crisis that extends to every aspect of its functioning. Once a symbol of reliable and independent public media in Albania, the institution has sunk into an alarming situation where the combination of inherited debts, delays in employee payments, and politicization of the leadership structure has created an environment that undermines professional operations.
The Board of Directors Has No Connection to Management
First of all, there is a board of directors that has no connection to the management, such as a chairman who has no connection to media, nor do the members. This must be urgently stopped. There is no reason to appoint a journalist, director, or former journalist as a leader, because this has nothing to do with the management of the institution; these are completely different matters. For example, being a journalist or director is different from being a media administrator. This is where the mistake begins.
Top Channel and Klan – Oligarchs Sinking RTSH
For 30 years, leaders of RTSH have been chosen from Top Channel and Klan; these two TV channels have been sinking RTSH every day, not only by appointing whoever they want. This is not just a recent problem, it has been ongoing. For example, the Festival was recently run by journalists from Top Channel, as if RTSH had no journalists or presenters of its own.
This is no joke. You constantly joke with RTSH because you do not care about the institution. You appointed a host to head RTSH with enthusiasm, like in the old “Party above all” days, while she had no economic platform or programming plan. She only had the support of former party directors, employees, and Hoxha loyalists who didn’t understand what she was saying or know RTSH.
This is a common phenomenon: people appointed from nowhere make a name for themselves by sinking institutions and then leave. Albanian society has witnessed various fools in leadership over the years who have made millions and left. But RTSH is closing down. This is an alarm for everyone.
Should you feel bad that the DVB-T2 tender was canceled? The DVB-T2 tender had been won by an Albanian company with €3 million less than the limit; according to the portal Pamfleti, the director canceled it and dismissed the head of procurement, A.G., because she refused to cancel the tender, which the procurement agency had deemed valid. This was therefore not implemented.
Advertisements – How Top Channel and Klan Take Them All
The question arises: Why do Top Channel and Klan get ALL the advertisements, and not RTSH? The answer: Because they have been directing and ARE the real leaders of RTSH. For 25 years, Vjollca and Sandri have exploited everything at RTSH excessively. Together with other oligarchs, they have now completely destroyed this public media and will not stop until it is fully privatized.
I ran for director not only as a writer, translated in the U.S. and Europe, and as an administrator of Nacional.Media, but also as an intellectual who wanted to save RTSH. Everyone knows that I successfully managed Nacional.Media, which is the top-ranked in audience and viewership, despite state-level interference, such as when the former minister, Elva Margariti, came out of nowhere to lead the Ministry of Culture, attacked me, and tried to take over the building to turn it into a palace with the former 5D group.
We will never forgive this. We are in SPAK and will not stop until she and her group are punished. In this same situation, RTSH must be intervened in and everything studied: stop unknown people from leading institutions while stealing millions and leaving, while Albania and the public suffer.
I Tell You RTSH Cannot Function as a Political Tool
RTSH cannot continue to function as a political tool or as a place where personal priorities take precedence over public interest. Every director who comes treats RTSH as private property. Every delay in intervention has direct consequences: salaries are not paid, debts increase, programs lose quality, and the audience loses trust. Complaints and numerous lawsuits increase uncertainty and complicate institution management.
If no action is taken, we will face strikes and protests, and we will no longer pay the RTSH tax. Leadership should not be concentrated in one person. A collegiate administrative board is needed. Look at public media in Europe and how it is managed. There is no need to appoint a director just because they were a journalist or director. The board of directors must be abolished immediately, as a communist relic from 1993 onward. An administrator who has successfully led a private or public media organization with national or regional results should be appointed.
Stop Vjollca and Sandri; everything has limits. They are like insatiable turtles with money and luxury. Was democracy only for Top Channel? No. This is not right. For those of us who brought pluralism and were imprisoned under dictatorship, this is a tragedy.
Finally – Urgent Reform
This is the last time I write about RTSH. I wanted and tried to do something good for Albania, but I did not succeed. I have proven myself not only at Nacional.Media, which is the best and has had no state ads for 25 years on air, but I was attacked just for its building to be taken over by Elva Margariti and the 5D group.
I wanted RTSH to be number one. You know there are many factors that can save RTSH and place it in service of the public. Management starts where RTSH has endless properties and potential, for leasing and endless profit, yet it is used for personal interests. Reform is not just a legal obligation; it is a moral commitment to the citizens. RTSH is sinking daily. You know it, but maybe you don’t want to intervene because you know very well how to do it.