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The discussion focused on the Policy Paper drawn up by the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance for the decision makers in the Baltic States, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, in response to Russia's using the information as a weapon. "A response to it is called for, but we should not resort to the same devices; the response must be in line with democratic values", said the Chair of the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance, Mrs. Sarmite Elert.
"It is a topical issue and it has been discussed extensively in Moldova", said Nadine Gogu, IJC Director, who reminded that in April 2014 the Broadcasting Coordinating Council had fined several media for rebroadcasting Russian propagandistic materials. In the long term, the IJC Director rather counts on continuing media education measures than on prohibitive action. "Banning Russian programs would not be a solution, as they can still be found online", she says. Nadine Gogu welcomes the voting in Parliament of the Law on Media Onwership Transparency; still, she thinks that "we need to oversee how the Law is enforced".
Alina Radu, Director of Ziarul de Garda Newspaper, drew the audience's attention that although the Russian media does not meet international requirements for a free press, the poor quality products are widely consumed here. "Why does Moldova continue to eat up such toxic programs as Давай, поженимся! (Let's Get Hitched!')?" she wondered. In her opinion, there are a number of reasons for it, namely that we do not have a serious analysis of Russian media products broadcast in Moldova, as well as that pro-European politicians in Chisinau bear in mind "other interests than those of the people".
How feasible and relevant is the Policy Paper prepared by the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance for Moldova? APEL Chairman, Ion Bunduchi, is positive that it is indeed relevant. However, in terms of feasibility, the expert noted that Moldova has to tackle both Russian and domestic propaganda. Therefore, he said, the journalists need to learn how to act as professionals rather than as propagandists and people need to be aware that the media materials need to draw on multiple sources. "The solution is to educate the people so that they distinguish truth from lies, so that they carefully everything they are served", said Ion Bunduchi. In this context, the APEL Chairman warned that often there is no proper response from the authorities to certain provocative acts in Moldova, such as, for example, the recent stretching of the "St. George Ribbon" in Vulcanesti. "Do we have statesmen in Moldova or just party members?" wondered Bunduchi.
"We are discussing here what the authorities should do, but there are no officials here", commented Petru Macovei, Director of the Independent Press Association, on the absence of the advisors to the Prime Minister at the round table on such an important topic, where the relevant Parliamentary Commission was represented, as usual, only by Liberal MP Corina Fusu. "Where is the media? Where is the public television? Could it be that it is not a matter of public interest?" inquired Petru Macovei. In his view, the authorities do not have a strategy on combating information warfare. Although media NGOs had come up with excellent proposals and initiatives, such as, for example, the adoption of a new Broadcasting Code, they did not take any of them into account,said the IPA Director.
The Policy Paper presented at the round table by the Chair of the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance, Sarmite Elert, includes a number of recommendations. Among other things, they call for ensuring the transparency of media ownership; enhancing alternative broadcasting channels in Russian, based on high professional standards. The authors stated that the despotic nature of media regulation in Russia had silenced many Russian journalists who should be supported by creating new media projects outside of Russian state control. A special role is reserved to the civil society. "While engaging in direct counter-propaganda actions would be inappropriate for the media and inefficient for the government, NGOs could play a significant role in exposing misinformation", believe the authors of the Policy Paper. Other proposals are: set up an European Fund for Professional Journalism and ensure regional cooperation for combating threats.
