The BCC penalized Jurnal TV and Publika TV for violation of rules of unbiased presentation of events

The Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) at the meeting on November 13, 2015 applied the maximum fine of 5,400 lei to Jurnal TV and a public warning to Publika TV for violation of rules of unbiased and pluralistic coverage of political and social manifestations that took place this September in Chisinau.

The decision was made after the examination of the report on the monitoring of the main newscasts, specifically materials in those newscasts that directly or indirectly concerned the protests organized by the civic platform “Dignity and Truth” (DA) and other similar events.

The BCC was alarmed with how conflicting news stories were presented by the penalized televisions. According to the monitoring report, journalists from Publika TV and Jurnal TV avoided presenting the positions of the sides involved in the conflicting stories that they produced.
Following debates concerning the report, the BCC mentioned positive trends in terms of correct coverage of information on public television Moldova 1 and on private Pro TV Chisinau and Accent TV.

The BCC decided to monitor the main newscasts of 14 broadcasters in terms of compliance with legislation in the coverage of the September protests in Chisinau. This decision of the council came after the request of the “Dignity and Truth” civic platform. The monitoring period was September 6-27, 2015.