Media Azi Broadcast: How do we diminish Media Concentration?

The topic of the second Media Azi broadcast is media concentration and the ways to diminish the negative impact of this phenomenon on citizens. Journalist Nicolae Negru and Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca, member of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC), discussed different aspects of the topic: the meaning of the term of concentration, provisions of the current Broadcasting Code regarding concentration, what the BCC should do in order to prevent monopoly on the media market, etc.

Nicolae Negru considers that the law should intervene if in some localities of Moldova people have access only to the televisions owned by one politician, because even the current Broadcasting Code does not allow dominant positions on the media market. According to Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca, the current code says nothing about interdiction of concentration, but it does prohibit exclusivity on the market. And since there is public television on the media market, too, there can be no exclusivity.

Answering the host’s question about what should be done so that people have access to a variety of media outlets and that there be no dominant position of someone with political affiliation on the information market, Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca mentioned two solutions. The first one, according to her, is related to the fact that the first national multiplex of 15 TV channels has been launched, but the question is what these channels will be and what they will broadcast. The second solution consists in adoption of a new Broadcasting Code with provisions regulating dominance on the market and the entire legal regime of property.

The Media Azi broadcast is produced weekly by the IJC’s department of campaigns and productions, and it can be watched on Media Azi and Mediacritica online portals.