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Рy19 July 2016
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The bill of the new Broadcasting Code, voted by the Parliament on July, 1 this year in the first reading, contains more provisions regarding the activity of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council which according to the bill nr.53 will be called the Broadcasting Council. Among others, the article 76, paragraph (1) of the bill stipulates: "The Broadcasting Council is composed of five members, appointed by the Parliament". This provision made the vice-president of the Communist Party in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Oleg Reidman, retaliate in plenary session: „Why does the number of BCC members have to be reduced from nine to five members? Why on the contrary not to increase the number till fifteen?”
Thus, why is the cut of members of the broadcasting regulating authority necessary from nine members, who work at present, to five?
Asked by Media Today, the media expert Ion Bunduchi, one of the authors of the new Broadcasting Code, said that some judgements have been taken at the basis of this provision. "First of all we thought that the main task of the regulating authority, that of broadcasters' licensing, has almost finished because we exhausted the frequency spectrum and then we thought that a new authority couldn't have necessarily nine members. The second judgement: we thought that for instance in the USA, a country a little bigger than ours, there are five commissioners they call them like this, but in our country nine. The third judgement was that we came to the conclusion from discussions with many people from this field that since the existence of a regulating authority in our country, it didn't prove too much efficiency. In such a way, it may be better that the number of the BCC members is smaller, but the board of the BCC is a more consolidated one".
According to Angela Zaharova, producer Elita TV, finally the efficiency of BCC depends on the fact that its members act in public interest and not in the interest of the parties which delegated them in the regularing authority."If they were fewer in number, but equally controlled politically, as they are nowadays, because this thing is found in different studies and monitoring reports, the situation wouldn't change too much in the direction which we want. It is ok to reduce the number of the BCC members, but I would focus on their freedom". In this connection, Angela Zaharova says that representatives of the associations of broadcasters, media organizations, professional experts, competent and experienced people should be part of the broadcasting regulating institution.
In the opinion of the BCC member, Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca, any structure which will make decisions with impact on the development of the broadcasting field should have in its composition a bigger number than five people because " in the case when one is ill or is on holiday, four remain and then which will be the quorum- three or four people? Which will be the majority to make a decision valid? From my point of view, the ideal number, if the cut is necessarily wanted, cannot be fewer than seven people for a council of this kind to be functional, taking into account the size of the market, broadcasters etc", said Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca.
We asked Ion Bunduchi if a possible increase in the number of the members till fifteen people would bring to BCC a more democratic spirit: „We could have a council of 101 members, but will this mean that it will be more democratic? What about the USA where the regulating institution is formed only of five commissioners is there less democracy in broadcasting?" answered with a question the expert. According to him, this provision was included, not least to make the broadcasting regulating institution accountable. "During many years from 2006 till present, the BCC demonstrated several times lack of accountability. And every time we recall the case when before the constitutional referendum the members of BCC went on holiday", states Ion Bunduchi.
We want to remind you that the bill of the new Broadcasting Code was elaborated by the civil society in 2010 and presented to the Parliament as legislative initiative by the Liberal Party in March 2015. The Parliamentary Committee for mass media organized public consultations on this document, and on July, 1 2016 the bill nr.53 was voted in the first reading. Vladimir Hotineanu, the president of the Parliamentary Committee for mass media recently stated for Media Today: "We prepare the bill nr.53 with those three other merged bills for the second reading. We work at this in the Committee. And I would like to succeed in having at last the Broadcasting Code this summer...".
Thus, why is the cut of members of the broadcasting regulating authority necessary from nine members, who work at present, to five?
Asked by Media Today, the media expert Ion Bunduchi, one of the authors of the new Broadcasting Code, said that some judgements have been taken at the basis of this provision. "First of all we thought that the main task of the regulating authority, that of broadcasters' licensing, has almost finished because we exhausted the frequency spectrum and then we thought that a new authority couldn't have necessarily nine members. The second judgement: we thought that for instance in the USA, a country a little bigger than ours, there are five commissioners they call them like this, but in our country nine. The third judgement was that we came to the conclusion from discussions with many people from this field that since the existence of a regulating authority in our country, it didn't prove too much efficiency. In such a way, it may be better that the number of the BCC members is smaller, but the board of the BCC is a more consolidated one".
According to Angela Zaharova, producer Elita TV, finally the efficiency of BCC depends on the fact that its members act in public interest and not in the interest of the parties which delegated them in the regularing authority."If they were fewer in number, but equally controlled politically, as they are nowadays, because this thing is found in different studies and monitoring reports, the situation wouldn't change too much in the direction which we want. It is ok to reduce the number of the BCC members, but I would focus on their freedom". In this connection, Angela Zaharova says that representatives of the associations of broadcasters, media organizations, professional experts, competent and experienced people should be part of the broadcasting regulating institution.
In the opinion of the BCC member, Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca, any structure which will make decisions with impact on the development of the broadcasting field should have in its composition a bigger number than five people because " in the case when one is ill or is on holiday, four remain and then which will be the quorum- three or four people? Which will be the majority to make a decision valid? From my point of view, the ideal number, if the cut is necessarily wanted, cannot be fewer than seven people for a council of this kind to be functional, taking into account the size of the market, broadcasters etc", said Mariana Onceanu-Hadarca.
We asked Ion Bunduchi if a possible increase in the number of the members till fifteen people would bring to BCC a more democratic spirit: „We could have a council of 101 members, but will this mean that it will be more democratic? What about the USA where the regulating institution is formed only of five commissioners is there less democracy in broadcasting?" answered with a question the expert. According to him, this provision was included, not least to make the broadcasting regulating institution accountable. "During many years from 2006 till present, the BCC demonstrated several times lack of accountability. And every time we recall the case when before the constitutional referendum the members of BCC went on holiday", states Ion Bunduchi.
We want to remind you that the bill of the new Broadcasting Code was elaborated by the civil society in 2010 and presented to the Parliament as legislative initiative by the Liberal Party in March 2015. The Parliamentary Committee for mass media organized public consultations on this document, and on July, 1 2016 the bill nr.53 was voted in the first reading. Vladimir Hotineanu, the president of the Parliamentary Committee for mass media recently stated for Media Today: "We prepare the bill nr.53 with those three other merged bills for the second reading. We work at this in the Committee. And I would like to succeed in having at last the Broadcasting Code this summer...".
