UNPACKING GENDER DYNAMICS IN ALBANIAN JOURNALISM: A POST-COMMUNIST PERSPECTIVE

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Published: Jul 10, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47305/JLIA2392136g
Keywords:
Soft News, Self-Censorship, Male-Dominated Hierarchy, Gender Dynamics

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Jonila Godole
University of Tirana, Albania
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5111-1872

Abstract

This study provides evidence of the challenges faced by women journalists in Albania after the fall of communism based on a nationwide survey of 295 journalists. Despite an increase in the number of women journalists, their emancipation in journalism is not necessarily implied. Women journalists tend to be confined to reporting on “soft news” sections or cultural and social topics, reinforcing traditional gender roles. Many women journalists conform to societal expectations and adopt gender stereotypes to exert influence while facing obstacles such as a male-dominated hierarchy, self-censorship, and pressures from family and editorial supervisors. Female journalists who make a name for themselves often cover male-dominated topics, following a masculine logic to gain respect and struggling to maintain their femininity. The study sheds light on the challenges and complexities women journalists face in Albania, providing insights into the gender dynamics within the media industry. 

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How to Cite
Godole, Jonila. 2023. “UNPACKING GENDER DYNAMICS IN ALBANIAN JOURNALISM: A POST-COMMUNIST PERSPECTIVE ”. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs 9 (2):120-31. https://doi.org/10.47305/JLIA2392136g.
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Vol. 9 No. 2 (2023): Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
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Articles
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Jonila Godole, University of Tirana, Albania

Dr. Jonila Godole has been teaching at the University of Tirana, Department of Journalism and Communication since 2005. Her academic research includes political communication, media systems, and the role of the media in collective memory. After the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990s, she was one of the first female journalists in the free press, becoming known for her interviews with key political figures of the time. She first studied literature in Tirana, then political science and sociology at the J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, and later did her doctorate on journalism cultures in post-communist countries, which was published as a monograph “Albanian Journalism in Transition” (Papirus, 2014). Since 2014, Godole has been the executive director of IDMC - Institute for Media, Democracy, and Culture (www.idmc.al), a partner institution of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Tirana, which encourages the new generation to recognize the values of democracy and to learn from the mistakes of the communist past in Albania. Through her personal and professional commitment, through press and television commentaries on the subject of "dealing with the past", Godole has succeeded in making the institute an indispensable body for the decommunization process in Albania. In addition to numerous specialist articles and journalistic contributions, Godole is also literary, writing and translating from German classics such as Rainer M. Rilke, Heinrich von Kleist, Adalbert von Chamisso, Robert Musil, Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Bernhard, Julia Franck, etc. On December 16, 2019, Godole was awarded the Golden Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. On February 23, 2022, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded Jonila Godole the "Federal Cross of Merit with Ribbon" for her work in the field of dealing with the communist past.