Document details

A Summary of the Study “Religious Extremism in the Media”

Tirana: Albanian Media Institute (2017), 8 pp.
"The monitoring and the analysis carried out for the purpose of this study found out that the media and the institutional channels of mass communication of religious communities have behaved correctly while carrying out their duties, and have established a climate of communication that emits and fosters mutual respect among the faithful, tolerance and harmony that have prevailed the Albanian religious tradition. On the other hand, alongside media institutions of religious communities or organizations operating in the country, the Albanian online world has been infiltrated by a relatively large number of websites which appear to have been created and operated by Islamic religious organizations based in Turkey or other countries in the Middle East. Some of these websites promote schools of Islam that do not match the tradition of the Albanian Islam, and provide a more radical interpretation of the Islamic doctrine. Especially problematic are some websites that promote in Albanian the schools of Salafism and Wahhabism as well as other extremist schools or sects. Meanwhile, the monitoring of the mainstream print and broadcast media in Albania, revealed that they report on religion and activities of religious background mainly during religious festivities, on cases of religiously-motivated clashes or conflicts, on controversial statements regarding religion, its history and religious cohabitation in Albania, as well as cases of scandal and controversy among the ranks of religious authorities." (Page 3)