The guidelines set forth by the Party for all writers and artists to follow in their creative endeavors are the principles of socialist realism. The general definition of this approach to art and literature is that the form of creative works must be national, but their content must be socialist. The principle of art for art's sake has been rejected by the Communist leaders. All cultural developments must reflect the efforts to create a socialist society.
The information media are controlled by the Party directly or indirectly through the government and such organizations as labor unions, youth groups, and cultural societies. Private ownership of such media has been prohibited since the Communist regime came to power.
NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE INFORMATION MEDIA
The media are invaluable instruments for the achievement of the goals of the Communist leaders. When the Communist regime came to power in November 1944, it seized control of all such media, although they were not formally nationalized until 1946. From the outset, the press and radio were used to justify and extend Communist rule. In general, the function of the media has been to propagate Marxist-Leninist ideology, as modified to relate to the specific conditions in Albania, and to liquidate the traditional religious, social, and economic beliefs of the people ([see ch. 4], The People; [ch. 2], Historical Setting).
The functions of the media have remained essentially unchanged throughout the twenty-six years of rule by the Albanian Workers' Party. The leaders have used the media extensively in their efforts to revolutionize all aspects of the national life. In this connection, there are many specific functions performed by the press and radio that generally fall into the categories of education, organization, and control.
The first functional category has two aspects: the press and radio are instruments of political and social indoctrination, and they help to raise the educational and cultural levels of the masses. In practice, however, these two aspects are often combined—that is, in the process of education, Marxist-Leninist ideology is usually interjected. In general, the educational function has been performed by conducting campaigns against illiteracy and ignorance, encouraging maximum utilization of the educational and cultural facilities set up throughout the country, and making literary works accessible to the population ([see ch. 5], Social System).
The media, in the final analysis, are used to saturate the population with Marxist-Leninist ideology. The content of the media—whether it is news, music, or literature—is structured to promote the goals of the Party and designed to further the building of a Communist society. In order to facilitate ideological indoctrination, content is devised to appeal to sentiments of Albanian nationalism. The development of communism, for example, is related to the theme of developing the nation and preserving its independence; and Enver Hoxha, the Party leader, is quoted as frequently as are Marx and Lenin.
One of the most important uses of the press and radio, which falls into the category of organization, has been to mobilize the people actively to support, and participate in, the implementation of specific policies, such as the fulfillment of economic plans or antireligious campaigns. Often, in conjunction with mobilization campaigns, the media are used to transmit specific information that is necessary for the implementation of various aspects of the policies. In the economic sphere, for example, discussions of industrial processes or agriculture often appear in the press.
The media are also means of Party control over officials at all levels of the government and the Party hierarchies, as well as over the population in general. This function is performed primarily through exposure of corruption, negligence, and inefficiency on the part of various officials or workers or by issuing warnings against such crimes and behavior. In addition, the press and radio are channels through which the top leaders issue directives or communicate changes in the Party line to the lower level administrators and activists throughout the country.
The importance of the pervasive role of the press was stressed in the following statement by Enver Hoxha that was quoted in the December 1965 issue of Rruga e Partise (Party Path): "Without the press there can be no education of the masses; without the press there can be no conscientious mobilization of them, organization, nor solution to the problems of the economic and cultural construction in the new socialist society." Although the article dealt specifically with the press, it can be assumed that the role assigned to it also pertains to the other media of communication.