Last night, the new television season of important television shows officially began. What stood out was the Prime Minister's appearance on the Opinion show, in a recorded interview in which he spoke about many topics, but without giving any details about the new government. Which is actually the only thing he could say about something new, given that during the summer season he has repeatedly come out to explain the work of the majority. The action to demolish illegal constructions in tourist areas, the demolition of tents and the release of public spaces, two of the most important actions of the government in recent months, were topics that were touched upon, but which did not bring anything new except the rhetoric that Edi Rama has used all this time. In other television studios, it seemed that summer was simply a season that had helped analysts get a little tan from the sun. The same conversation, the same non-expert experts and warnings about events that no one has a precise argument to explain why they will happen. Fortune tellers predicting sensational arrests, ministerial appointments and analyses according to everyone's taste. Studios filled with ambitious politicians who use the space to impress their boss and analysts or journalists who try to justify the salary they receive for being so. The only news that made the rounds on the network was the declaration of eternal love that Ervin Salianji made to his partner, Grida Duma. An event that received attention, as if in this country the concern of citizens has become stuck in the private lives of two people who now represent only their opinion and nothing else.
No cold and accurate analysis of the crisis in Albania. About what is happening with the crime and political files. Curiosity about the names of the ministers seems stronger than the work and activity of the government itself or the fact that the Socialist Party has turned into a fighting squad where General Rama's orders are not discussed. No surgical analysis of what is happening with the opposition, apathetic and more factionalized than ever and in a banal fight to divide up a few administrative posts in the next Parliament. Thursday evening's debates focused on the nitty-gritty of the day's politics, without focusing on the real problems of Albanians. There was not even a detailed and accurate conversation or analysis about the tourist season. The studio is full of journalists and analysts following the conductor (the show's host), unconcerned that what is happening in the studio does not go into the pocket of any Albanian.
This poor and almost depressing panorama is the first signal that the next political and media season will be like the one we left behind. With the ups and downs of the banal debate of daily politics, without any substance or impact on improving the situation for Albanians. Shows where voices are raised, guests clash, but not ideas, where quarrels are the only product of a show, are indicators that television and evening shows are now simply an appendage of what politics offers Albanians. Much ado about nothing. The barrenness of beaten ideas, the lack of argument and treatment of serious topics are losing TV in Albania the status of an institution that raises problems even though it has no way of solving them. The comfort of those in the studio is the only message that Thursday's evening shows gave. By making Albanians more skeptical about what awaits them in the near future and abandoning traditional media in exchange for social networks, which, despite the chaos and unregulated market, at least give you the opportunity to be informed and form an opinion independent of those who are paid as opinion leaders and behave as subordinates of one party or another.
