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Nadine Gogu, Executive Director of CIJ, made a review of the problems faced by the media throughout the reporting period. Among them, the deficient legal framework, the phenomenon of concentration, the attempts to censor the Internet, the unprotected information space, the critical situation in the broadcasting area in the absence of a Broadcasting Code compliant with the European norms, the increasingly frequent cases of verbal and physical aggression against journalists, etc. “This year again, our Statement points out that the situation in terms of press freedom in the Republic of in Moldova has not improved, on the contrary, we see a regression. Such findings were made not only by the Moldovan civil society, but also by the international reports, such as the Freedom House Report, which notes that the press is partly free in the Republic of Moldova, and the Report of Reporters Without Borders in which the Republic of Moldova ranks 76th ”, CIJ Executive Director said.
Petru Macovei, AIP Executive Director, drew the attention of those present to the fact that the access of journalists to information is an issue on the agenda and not accidentally the United Nations and the UNESCO formulated the following slogan of this day of international observance: “Access to information and fundamental freedoms - this is your right!”. According to AIP Director, in the Republic of Moldova, “the access to information is becoming more and more problematic and this fact is reflected in the Statement”.
The very high fees for the information; the unjustified restrictions imposed by the Centre for personal data protection in terms of access to the data concerning the donors of certain companies - all these factors “had an impact on the journalists, particularly on investigative journalists who have to get the information through other ways or to spend a lot of money for the access to information, contrarily to the European best practices”, Petru Macovei stated.
According to Ion Bunduchi, Executive Director of APEL, the NGO-s in the field of mass-media do a lot of things, but they cannot do everything. “Since we celebrate this day in Moldova, we remark a mimicry of the authorities’ concern, a mimicry of the reforms”, Ion Bunduchi stated. In this context, he invoked the commitments taken in relation with the mass-media which were included in the Action Plan of the Government. “This time again, we have a chapter that looks good, but we can see that things did not “get off the ground” ”, the expert said, adding that this happens because of the “unwillingness to have informed citizens”. In terms of quality journalism, Ion Bunduchi pointed out that journalists often use to follow “the agenda of the politicians, not the one of the citizens”, that “journalists would rather obey to the employer’s order, while their mission is to inform equidistantly the citizens”.
The Statement calls upon the State authorities to treat the mass-media as a social institute which is able to essentially contribute to the country’s democratization and recommends to undertake effective measures to strengthen the media independence and the professionalism of journalists, in accordance with the requirements of the Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, and with the Government's Activity Programme for the period 2015-2018 in the field of the mass-media. The signatories of the Statement call for the urgent adoption of a new Broadcasting Code, intended to bring a modern vision in the broadcasting area, in line with the international mass-media standards, while the Broadcasting Coordinating Council, as the guarantor of the public interest, shall not admit the pollution of the information space, neither by foreign broadcasters, nor by the Moldovan ones.
The Statement was signed by nine NGO-s - the Centre for Independent Journalism, the Association of Independent Press, the Electronic Press Association, the Press Freedom Committee, the Union of Journalists of Moldova, Acces-Info Centre, the Association of Independent TV Journalists, the Centre for Journalistic Investigations, the Centre of Young Journalist from Moldova.
The Press Freedom Days in the Republic of Moldova will finish on 20th of May. The event’s agenda includes a range of activities, including the launch of „Media Azi” (“Media Today”) broadcast, the display in front of the Parliament of a board of shame entitled “The enemies of press, May 2015 - May 2016”, a March of Press Solidarity, the launch of a campaign against plagiarism in the media, the start of the 3rd edition of the contest “Environmental Journalism Awards”, public debates, discussion clubs, etc.
