Heads of the Parliamentary Commission for Mass Media explain where reforms “got stuck” in the past six years

In the past six years, journalists and media organizations sent to the Parliamentary Commission for Mass Media numerous signals that their situation is not as it should be. That is why the organizers of the Media Forum invited the three MPs that headed the Commission in this period to speak about the public policies that they implemented. In this context, Ludmila Andronic, Chair of the Press Council and moderator of the discussion, asked a trenchant question: “Let’s see what happened with our documents and initiatives. Where did the roadmaps that we prepared over the time get stuck?”

According to authorities, the greatest achievement in the field of mass media since 2009 has been the liberalization of the media market. The diversification of broadcasting has been appreciated positively by European institutions, but the three guests recognized that manipulation and internal propaganda started at about the same time. Also, according to the current Chair of the Parliamentary Commission, Vladimir Hotineanu, and the two former chairs, Corina Fusu and Chiril Lucinschi, several initiatives and draft laws have been blocked. So, the lack of information space security and of media ownership transparency, as well as manipulation and monopolization of media outlets are still unsolved issues.

Corina Fusu said that the society had a lot of trust in pro-European parties in the implementation of reforms, including reforms in mass media. “Very many private televisions and radios emerged, which pleased us, and European institutions appreciated us for the fact that we manage to develop the broadcasting market,” Corina Fusu said. Another priority was depoliticizing the “Teleradio-Moldova” broadcaster by re-electing new members of its Supervisory Board and of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council. However, in Corina Fusu’s opinion, it has not been fully achieved because politicians and political parties managed to win “supporters” in these structures. The list of failures also included the law on freedom of expression, which “is not alive because it is not applied by journalists or politicians.”

In his turn, Chiril Lucinschi, MP, mentioned among the achievements of the time when he ran the Parliamentary Commission for Mass Media the development of the draft law on media ownership transparency. “It had been difficult, but we did promote it; on November 1 it will be put in application by the BCC [Broadcasting Coordinating Council] and I hope that in 20 days we will find out the true owners of televisions and radios in Moldova. I have never hidden the fact that I own two televisions and I appealed to everyone to follow my example,” Chiril Lucinschi said. Regarding failures, he believes that Moldovan print press is treated with discrimination in comparison with the foreign one. “I initiated a draft law, according to which the foreign press imported to Moldova should pay VAT for advertising, just like our media. Unfortunately, the Government did not accept this draft, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t come with other proposals in order to help print press,” Chiril Lucinschi concluded. About internal propaganda, he said that it “is getting increasingly disturbing as it intoxicates the society.”

The phenomenon of manipulation and internal propaganda in Moldovan mass media was also mentioned by the current Chair of the Parliamentary Commission for Mass Media, Vladimir Hotineanu. In his opinion, “monopolies emerged that we feel every time,” and “freedom of expression is being politically divided.” Hotineanu said that to better understand the real situation in mass media, an advisory council had been created under the Parliamentary Commission, and priorities include speeding up the work on the new Broadcasting Code and on securing the information space.