A misinforming headline on Publika.md

On Monday, Publika.md published a new item under the headline “A judge in Comrat who issued controversial decisions concerning a bank will be sanctioned” (“Judecătorul din Comrat care a luat decizii controversate faţă de o instituţie bancară va fi sancţionat”), which presents information on the topic in a wrong manner. Then, however, Publika.md says, “A judge in Comrat risks losing his job for supposedly favoring attacks on a bank.” Still, the following sentence specifies only the fact that a disciplinary procedure had been initiated against the judge: “The Supreme Council of Magistracy is to issue a decision on the violations notified by Prosecutor General Corneliu Gurin.” Thus, Publika.md violated the principles of journalistic ethics from the Guidelines on Style containing Ethical Norms for journalists, according to which “Journalism leaves no room for speculation. We shall observe the truth and the public’s right to the truth, considering it the first responsibility of a journalist.” Also, the Code of Ethics (item 4.9) prescribes that journalists must observe the presumption of innocence. “Journalists shall observe the presumption of innocence and consider every person not guilty until a final court judgment on their case is issued.”