Two Media Organisations Demand the Resignation of the Administration of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council that Failed to "Fulfil its Obligations" in the Election Campaign

The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and the Association of Independent Press (API) demanded on Wednesday, 16^th of November, the resignation of the Chairman of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC), Dinu Ciocan, and of BCC members who have not properly applied the legal provisions towards the broadcasters who breached the Broadcasting Code in the recent election campaign, thus undermining the citizen's right to objective information.

The executive directors of the two media organizations, Nadine Gogu and Petru Macovei, drew attention to the fact that at the previous session of the BCC, held on 11^th of November, the sanctions were not applied gradually, as provided by the Broadcasting Code.
 
According to IJC director, there are assumptions that the BCC has repeatedly applied a maximum fine of 5,400 lei to certain broadcasters, instead of withdrawing their right to advertising placement, "because certain broadcasters displayed a somewhat more balanced behaviour in the second round of the presidential election and, respectively, in the report to be presented next week they may appear in a better light and no sanctions will be applied to them. Instead, sanctions will be applied to other broadcasters who remained "in the barricades" and will eventually be punished".

Nadine Gogu also stated that, during this election campaign, the media NGO-se have urged the BCC to be more proactive, to submit monitoring reports more frequently and to apply the appropriate sanctions, but this has not happened. The BCC members have not learned the lesson and displayed the same passive behaviour, as in the past campaigns. In such conditions, “we believe it is appropriate that they resign", the IJC director said.

The API Executive Director, Petru Macovei, pointed out that BCC members are guilty of failure to enforce the broadcasting legislation in order to guarantee the right to objective information. "Our media associations demand the resignation of BCC Chairman, Dinu Ciocan, and of BCC members who, through their inefficiency, vitiated the electoral process and deprived the citizens of this country of relevant information about the campaign and the candidates' programmes. Certain TV stations with national coverage, contrary to the legislation, have not organised debates to inform the citizens about the candidates or have broadcasted such debates in the morning, when no one watched them. It means that the BCC has not fulfilled its obligations, and that these broadcasters parasitise on frequencies that are a public asset of the Republic of Moldova, not of the media owners that the BCC favours, as we could realise", Petru Macovei stated.

An official request for the resignation of the BCC Chairman and its members will be submitted to the BCC on 25^th of November, when the IJC and API will present the final report on media monitoring in the election campaign.