The murder that shocked Greece on the evening of September 11, with 6 victims, was massively reflected in the Albanian media. They reported copy-paste that the victims were Albanians, part of a criminal group. Greek police authorities identified the children as being from Turkey. But in the meantime, the next disinformation from the Albanian media with unverified reports had taken place. Communication experts criticize this approach of the media to stigmatize immigrants or groups that are constantly targeted as problematic.
On the evening of September 11, it was reported that 6 people were shot dead in Greece. The crime that happened was widely covered in the media of the neighboring country and then massively by the media in Albania, claiming that the victims were Albanian citizens.
“MASSACRE in Greece, 6 Albanians were killed/ Journalist divulges the last details” – it was reported in the show ‘Breaking’ on Top News.
Source: Top News
Other media also gave details of how the 6 people were killed, making it a fait accompli that they were Albanians.
“Video/Massacre with 6 dead Albanians in Lucë, Greek media: They were executed with 25 bullets. The assassins escaped with…” Balkanweb reported.
Source: Balkanweb
Even the portal ‘Dosja.al’ announced in a report that the victims were Albanians, reflecting every detail of the serious crime.
“VIDEO/ Murder of 6 Albanians in Greece, footage from the murder emerges, dozens of officers gathered at the scene” – Dosja.
Source: Dosja.al
In fact, “News 24” reported that not only the victims, but also the aggressors were Albanian citizens.
“Albanians fired bullets at Albanians, how did the massacre happen with 6 killed in Greece”.
Source: News 24
In all these cases, the media in Albania had no official information from the Greek and Albanian authorities on the accuracy of the data. The whole river of incorrect information was a copy-paste reflection of what the Greek media reported.
Greek media reporting
On the afternoon of September 11, the Greek media reported on an event that took place in Artemisa, where 6 people were shot dead. According to the neighboring media, the first reports said that the victims were probably Albanians. The Greek media came to conclusions without referring to official sources, and that was enough for the news to be reported on television and online media in Albania.
However, a few hours later, everything became clear and the neighboring country’s media reported that none of the victims were Albanians.
Referring to foreign media , investigators suspect that Monday’s event is the result of a clash between two criminal organizations operating in Turkey and dealing with the drug trade. The victims are Turkish citizens with French passports, and according to media reports, they were associates of the Turkish mob boss Baris Boyun , who is suspected to be hiding in Italy.
In particular, the police are examining the possibility that the execution is related to an event that happened in France some time ago, where a member of a rival group with the one led by the Turkish mafia head was killed. Investigators believe that the murder of 6 Turks may have happened after a meeting of two criminal groups.
It was also reported in the Turkish media that the victims were Turkish citizens. “A recent shootout between gangs in Athens, Greece, claimed the lives of around six Turkish nationals on Monday. According to the police, the victims are suspected of having ties to organized crime. The incident was one of the deadliest recorded in recent years in Greece,” Turkish media reported.
The reaction of Albanian institutions
Immediately after the media coverage of the event, the Albanian ambassador in Athens, Luela Hajdaraga, told Euronews Albania:
“We still do not have accurate information from the police, we know that they are foreign citizens. The identification has not yet been made, the clarification of the incident is in the process”.
In relation to this serious event that happened in Greece, the Ministry of the Interior of Albania clarified that the victims were not Albanian citizens.
“The Office of the Minister of the Interior has been following the incident in Greece from the first moment and from the preliminary information from the Greek authorities we have been informed that the victims have Turkish citizenship with identity cards of an EU country”, the Ministry of the Interior officially announced.
The criminalization of Albanians, a narrative that also attracts our media
On the way this event was reflected in the media, communication expert Edlira Gjoni says: “Framed news like this reinforces the audience’s harsh perceptions of certain groups, as well as promotes stereotypes and labels that translate into annoyance and even contempt for the accused, in the end, come out completely unharmed in the event
Some media with a strong spirit of sensationalism are inclined to rush into hypothetical portrayals of certain groups, to which they know the audience will react. They appeal to the emotions of the audience, not their logic, because this way the portrayal that they have their own strategy to apply is more tightly controlled.”
Furthermore, Gjoni says that in many cases it is easier for the media to stigmatize immigrants or groups that are considered problematic.
“So, it is easy to premeditatedly portray a certain group, in a certain way, because the emotional appeal creates the need to follow the news more quickly, and this is the principle that the Greek media followed in this case. Besides the fact that it is always easy to stigmatize immigrants or groups that are constantly targeted as problematic”, argues the communication expert, Edlira Gjoni.
