BIRN: Challenged by the Flamingo Protest, Rama Strengthens Propaganda Sector

The prime minister has announced new recruitment at the Media and Information Agency, which international organizations have criticized as a “propaganda ministry.”

The government’s Media and Information Agency issued an open call on Thursday to recruit new staff specializing in public communication, as the government faces protests targeting high-level corruption and a lack of transparency in decisions on investments involving public property.

“Do you have an idea that could improve public communication? Tell us,” the agency’s public announcement states, outlining two forms of employment: as an in-house agency employee or as an external collaborator.

The call does not clearly define the recruitment criteria but leaves the door open to people interested in “expertise” and “innovation.”

For more than two months, Albania has been gripped by a marathon protest against the government, known as the “Flamingo Revolution.” It began as opposition to a tourism project in the protected Vjosa-Narta area and evolved into a broader movement against corruption, a lack of transparency, and the way the government manages public property and assets.

The protests have challenged the image cultivated by the government at home and abroad as a promoter of tourism development and foreign investment, shifting public debate toward the links between those in power and “strategic” investors, the lack of transparency, and allegations that business interests are being favored at the expense of public property and the public interest.

MIA Director Manjola Hasa told BIRN that the initiative does not concern a specific number of vacancies to be filled, but is intended to completely reform the entire institution and institutional communication as a whole, based on the new applicants it attracts.

“This is a reform that begins with communication by public institutions, and we are open to every new idea that comes forward, whether for ministry spokespersons, new communication ideas for social media platforms, taking technological developments into account, or other expertise focused on communication,” Hasa said.

According to her, the call should be seen as the first step in implementing a new contract between the government and citizens, beginning specifically with public communication.

The agency has an approved staff of 69 employees, who serve as a press office handling public communication for Prime Minister Edi Rama and his ministers.

International media organizations have called for the agency to be shut down, describing it as a “propaganda ministry” that further centralizes government control over information./BIRN