„Ren TV Moldova” penalised again for the „Dissemination of false Information”

„Ren Moldova” TV channel was sanctioned on Tuesday, 29th of March, by the Broadcast Coordinating Council (BCC)  with the suspension of its right to broadcast advertisement for 72 hours after the monitoring of its programme „Военная тайна” (“The military secret”) which was put on the air in late January and dealt with the political situation in the Republic Moldova.

The BCC members established that the media product was executed with multiple deviations from the regulatory standards, such as "presenting the opinions as facts, dissemination of truncated information taken out of context, promoting a single point of view on controversial and conflictual issues, misinformation by asserting facts which have not happened and by disseminating false information, inciting ethnical and language hatred and intolerance".

That was not the first time when the BCC imposed a fine to a broadcaster who transmitted propagandistic manipulative messages. In summer of 2014, the BCC suspended for six months the broadcasting of Rossia 24 TV channel in the Republic of Moldova and in May 2015, it requested the cessation of this channel’s broadcasting, after having established the infringement of Article 34 (paragraph 3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. At the same meeting, a number of TV channels, including Ren Moldova, were imposed the maximum fine of 5,800 lei for repeated breach of the provisions of licensing conditions and for infringement of the national broadcasting legislation.

Media Azi requested the opinions of two media experts who were asked: What should be done to encourage the broadcasters who retransmit broadcasts from the Russian Federation to conform to the national legislation of the Republic of Moldova? Here are their answers.

Victor Gotișan, media researcher:
„First of all, there is need for a national strategy for the protection of the information space, and the mass-media space should be one of its elements. In other words, official policies for the protection of citizens against such attacks or manipulative and untruthful information shall be developed. Secondly, the regulatory institutions that are responsible for the monitoring of TV and radio stations shall really do their job and sanction those mass-media institutions that put such information on air. I mean the BCC, for example. Thirdly, the media organizations should lobby for introducing a media education course (a lot of examples are available: Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, etc.) in schools, colleges and universities, intended to inform the participants about how to filter and select the information they consume. They should also educate a culture of media discernment, focused on the idea of raising the awareness and understanding which information is correct and truthful and which is not".
 
Ion Bunduchi, media expert:
“Such a kind of sanctions cannot stop by themselves the propagandistic broadcasts (not necessarily the ones of Ren TV), or I do not see how the broadcasters / service distributors might eliminate them. In this regard, it would be more efficient that the BCC makes the list of TV channels that are allowed to be retransmitted in Moldova.
Personally speaking, I cannot imagine how should be a law which is intended to counteract the phenomenon of mass-media propaganda. In my opinion, this phenomenon can be mitigated by complex activities, among which the education of the media/information culture of every citizen should be a priority".