A new draft Broadcasting Code was subjected to public consultations

On Monday, November 30, media experts and representatives of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) and civil society shared their views on the draft Broadcasting Code in public consultations organized by the parliamentary commission for mass media. The draft was produced by media experts back in 2011, but it was registered in the parliament only this March by the parliamentary group of the Liberal Party.
According to the authors of the draft, this document contains provisions allowing the adjustment of the national legal framework to European legislation, and some of them are also found in the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.
At the public hearings on Monday, only three chapters of the draft were discussed, because, according to the specialized parliamentary commission chairman Vladimir Hotineanu, it had been decided to discuss the document per chapters. One of its authors, media expert Ion Bunduchi, explained that the document seems voluminous because it also describes the mechanisms of how some provisions of the broadcasting legislation would function.
Another author, Eugeniu Ribca, mentioned that the new document more clearly stipulates the meanings of the terms and notions used in the Code. For example, European works are considered to be the media content produced both in the countries of the EU and in Moldova. According to proposals, broadcasters should air European works in the amount of at least 75% of total airtime. In their turn, domestic programs should make up 50%, and the channels’ own programs, created by Moldovan producers or in co-production with them – 25%.
A separate article is dedicated to protecting the heritage of language and national culture, according to which broadcasters will air their own and domestic informative and analytical programs in Romanian in the proportion of 100%, and in the places where the majority of the population is represented by an ethnic minority – not less than 20%.
A separate debate concerned proposals on access to events of major importance. Authors stipulated that the broadcasting regulator should approve a list of such events and send it to broadcasters. The Olympic Games, international arts contests, etc. were mentioned as examples. Media expert Ion Terguta claims that this provision would not be sustainable because Moldova has not enough money to organize the broadcasting of such events to several televisions.
BCC chairman Dinu Ciocan was also skeptical about this idea. He said that he could not discuss the document in full because the BCC is a collegial body and that he did not want to influence the public opinion with his own views. According to him, BCC representatives are ready to produce their expert opinion on this document.
In addition, according to new proposals, it is prohibited to broadcast communications about commercial products of tobacco and alcoholic beverages over twenty degrees strong. Vladimir Hotineanu said that the following chapters would be publicly debated in two weeks.