The media experts on the exclusion of the notion of "own production" from the audiovisual legislation

The authors of the bill nr.218, on the modification and completion of the Broadcasting Code in force, propose: " To exclude the term of "own production"  throughout the Code". What does such an amendment infer, what impact could it have on the situation from the audiovisual? We decided to address this topic for the reason that the Parliamentary debates, held on July, 1and 7 demonstrated that the notions of " own product" and "local product" are often confused, including by MPs.
So, we asked two experts in the field to comment on this provision. They are Vasile State, the president of the Association of Electronic Press (APEL) and Vasile Calugareanu, journalist Deutsche Welle.

Vasile State, APEL: "The exclusion of the notion of own production from the legislation can affect the fair competition in the audiovisual sector"
 
Normally, the audiovisual works designed and realized exclusively by a broadcaster, using own technical and intellectual means or coproduced together with one or more independent producers from the Republic of Moldova should be included in the category of own product . The local product would include the own product, as well as the ordered and purchased works by the broadcaster from media service providers or the independent producers from the Republic of Moldova. The European works, as they are defined by law (art.3 of the Broadcasting Code) incorporate the two above mentioned categories, to which the works produced in the EU member states are added, the states which ratified the European Convention on the transfrontier television etc.
These two notions - own product and local product - are important in terms of development of broadcasting market and ensuring healthy competition. Experience shows that there are few TV stations nowadays which have own product, the others continuing to rely on external programs which they actually fit in this category by virtue of an inadequate definition of the Broadcasting Code in force.
 
The exclusion  from the legislation of the notion of own production involves some risks for the media pluralism and can affect the fair competition from the audiovisual sector. We can't exclude the fact that some televisions could work further without own production under these new provisions of the bill nr.218, taking over in part or in majority local audiovisual products from other broadcasters under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova. This possibility could be "exploited"  most of all by some televisions in the media holdings which would mean differentiated rules of the game for the market competitors.
 
Vitalie Calugareanu, journalist Deutsche Welle: "They aim to fully seize the market of the audiovisual"
 
In the 1990's, people who bought cheap wheat from the peasants from the north and then sold it with a surcharge three times higher in Chisinau were called "dealers" and in Russian "спекулянты". The police caught them. Nowadays these people are called businessmen and nobody catches them. Why to struggle to produce? It is easier to buy and sell. So, the situation is that almost no one produces anything in our country.
By trying to exclude the notion of "own product" from the audiovisual Code, a bunch of media dealers aim to fully seize the audiovisual market from the Republic of Moldova. They are a kind of bumble bees that want to take part in the dealing of the "honey keg", which is the local advertising market, without producing absolutely nothing. It is even worse that they build contractual relationships with TV and radio stations from outside, paid by the Government, so the propaganda dominates Moldovans' minds. Some Eastern broadcasters even pay these media dealers from our country to retransmit manipulative programs here.
The notion of "own product", in the formula proposed by the civil society, is necessary in the new Broadcasting Code to make accountable and develop the audiovisual institutions from the Republic of Moldova, otherwise we risk to find ourselves, in a short time, having some boutiques on wheels on the pedestrian street instead of TV studios, with one employee who receives advertising spots, being equipped with a computer from which to put on the air the programs broadcasted by the "Martians".
We want to bring up and recover our society, to do it immune to the propaganda, to make accountable every citizen, but for this we need the broadcasting tool to function. It is important to have healthy competition between own products of the TV and radio stations, the consumer to have freedom to choose the most qualitative product, without being manipulated, and the journalists to have freedom to choose their job and employers who would highlight their professional qualities, but not the servilism.