Associate Professor Dr. Belina Budini is a distinguished scholar in the field of Humanities and Communication Sciences at The European University of Tirana. As Dean of Faculty of Humanities, Education and Liberal Arts, she is dedicated to design and develop new curricula and new courses to enrich the students’ experience. She is the leader of PROEUMEDAL as a Jean Monnet Chair in European Studies and Media, and various other research projects related to data journalism, media innovation and regulation in the framework of the EU integration of Albania and the region of the Western Balkans. Budini leads the Communication Research group at the Doctoral Studies School and her work in cultural studies, political communication, media studies and journalism has been published and incited public discussion in the field of the media and social studies, but also in the national mainstream media.

Her research builds on media analysis and agency analysis to better understand relations between society and journalism in the context of a new democracy and post-communist country. She has also published on foreign media representations of Albania and the phenomenon of mediated politics. Her latest book in 2024 in English, “The Emergence of aesthetic politics in Albania: a case study” delves into the issues of media image and manipulation. She has been awarded the national prize “At Zef Pllumi” for her book “Influencers” published in 2019. She has authored and co-authored textbooks in the field of Communication, Journalism and PR like “First look at Communication Theory” with McGraw Hill Education Publishing, “Introduction to Communication” with Oxford University Press and “Public Relations Today” with Palgrave. Her book about “Albania in Time Magazine, 1923-2013”, published in 2014 studies the perceptions and the image of Albania in the foreign media and also relates to public diplomacy and international relations. Her first book was a monograph on the emergence of a media-crafted politician in transitional democracy countries, published in 2009 after completion of her postgraduate studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She was awarded a PhD with highest achievement for her work on the international news media, from the University of Tirana.

As an associate professor, Budini teaches Communication and Media Studies to graduate and postgraduate students. She is also editor in chief of the scientific journal of the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Liberal Arts,” Polis” and has a background knowledge of the media from her work as editor and columnist of the most prominent newspapers in the country. As a researcher, she is interested in conducting scientific and policy-oriented research with a focus on news media, democracy, and governance, to help create informed policies that respond to the shared needs and interests of the Albanian society and beyond. Her latest research and policy projects have implications that could inform public policy issues for the Albanian international relations and the European integration process of the country. She is currently developing communication strategies for dealing with the public diplomacy issues countries of the Western Balkans encounter and the western media coverage they get with implications for their international reputation.

[email protected]