Who are your partners in Albania?
Shteg is a non-profit media organization founded with the support of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a leading international media network. In Macedonia, OCCRP’s partner is IRL. Shteg’s founder, Lindita Çela, is an internationally acclaimed investigative journalist whose work on organized crime and corruption has been featured in globally recognized outlets such as The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and the BBC.
IRL and Çela’s team have collaborated on several investigations, uncovering international ammunition smuggling, financial crimes, and tax evasion schemes.
Why isn't anyone else reporting on Samir Mane?
The media landscape in both Macedonia and Albania, as well as the broader region, is largely dominated by economically powerful individuals who invest substantial sums in advertising through their companies. Their aim is not just to promote their products or services, but also to "buy" a favorable image in the media. In both countries, commercial media outlets rely heavily on revenue from paid advertising, leading to a reluctance to report negatively on these influential figures and their businesses. As a result, those who have profited at the expense of citizens for decades can shape and distort public opinion without challenge.
Why did you choose a cross-border project between Albania and Macedonia?
This research marks the beginning of a series focused on the cross-border flows of money and influence in Macedonia and Albania. Following the fall of communism in the region, cooperation among investigative journalists from the former Yugoslav countries continued as part of the Euro-Atlantic integration process, fostering an environment for training journalists to work collaboratively across borders.
The generations trained at the beginning of this century have actively participated in numerous regional investigations, resulting in arrests, the dismantling of organized crime groups, and the downfall of dictatorial regimes. In contrast, Albania has lagged in its democratization efforts. This delay, combined with language barriers and toxic ethnic narratives in the region, has created a barrier that hinders the flow of accurate information between citizens of the two countries. Consequently, this environment has facilitated the alarming rise of organized crime and cross-border corruption in the Western Balkans.
