Elira Canga

Elira Çanga is a journalist and communication professional, media trainer and educator from Albania. She has 20 years of experience divided between active journalism, media development and communication for international organizations. During 2022-2023, she served as a media and communication adviser to the President of Albania, planning strategically media relations and appearances as well as communication approach of the institution. She holds a Master on EU Studies and she is pursuing her PhD program at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, Arizona State University. Elira started her career as a journalist in 1999 and worked for Albanian national news agency, different local newspapers while established a TV program on regional and foreign affairs “Diplomaticus” for News 24 Tv.  She got specialized in radio journalism and worked as local producer for BBC. She dived into media development working for different international organizations as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and USAID aimed at modernizing the public service media in her country, enriching the journalism curriculum at the public school of journalism, University of Tirana and guiding the establishment of the first Albanian fact-checking service. Elira has spent the last ten years working on media development implementing project supporting investigative reporting and fact-checking, as well as training and mentoring young journalists on media and information literacy and countering disinformation online.
As a communication professional she worked closely with organisations as UNICEF, World Bank and World Health Organisation into building their communications strategies and ensuring high visibility of various much needed projects and initiatives of these organizations into making a difference in Albania. She was a Humphrey Fellow at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication during 2021-2022. Her research focuses on strategic communication, political communication, disinformation, and impact of fact-checking on audiences.