The Media Forum, 2nd Edition: None Recommendation Contained In the “Roadmap” of the Previous Edition Was Implemented By the Authorities

The Media Forum in the Republic of Moldova, unfolded on 2^nd and 3^rd of December in Chisinau, began with a review of the implementation of the "Roadmap" developed by the participants in its previous edition. About 180 participants attended the event – media representatives, editors, media managers, representatives of media organizations and associations, of advertising agencies, of the academic environment related to journalism education, experts from the country and from abroad. After having initially accepted the invitation, the Prime Minister, Pavel Filip, and the President of the Parliament, Andrian Candu, announced, two days before the forum, that they would not attend it “for various reasons”. The chairman of the parliamentary committee for mass-media, Vladimir Hotineanu, came late and soon left the event.
 
The Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, Pirkka Tapiola, and the representative of the U.S. Embassy to Moldova, Joseph Tordella, attended the opening session and gave speeches. The European official said: “The freedom of the press is very important, reducing the media concentration and securing the transparency are European values ​​that we encourage in Moldova, too”. In the same vein, the American diplomat added that a truthful information conveyed to consumers brings fidelity and consistency from their side and that “we are all responsible for providing accurate and quality information”.

According to Petru Macovei, Executive Director of the Association for Independent Press (API), the current edition of the Mass-Media Forum should find solutions for two types of problems faced by the media – internal problems, such as the quality of the journalistic product, and external problems which are influenced by a number of factors, including the political one. The API Director also tackled the challenges faced by the Moldovan journalists over the past two years, which “have become more pronounced”. “Even if the country is moving towards democracy, the Moldovan journalism encounters a number of serious problems, such as the quasi total dependence of the main media channels on their owners who are politicians, the lack of a climate of fair and honest competition on a small and highly concentrated media market, the more frequent barriers to accessing the public information”.

In his short speech, Vladimir Hotineanu commented on the criticism of the authorities from the participants in the event. “The responsibility should be mutually shared by the politicians and the mass-media”, the Member of Parliament pointed out. In his opinion, the press faces many issues related to the media, one of them being the monopoly.

The journalist Natalia Morari urged the participants in the forum to discuss about the guild’s problems, since the State authorities have not accepted the invitation to attend the event. “When we say that the press is good, but the governance is bad, it is not quite true, because the press also has its own problems. And maybe it is time to call things by their name and acknowledge that there are media making propaganda here, in our country... ”. As far as the collaboration between journalists and the authorities was concerned, the journalist added that “such a dialogue is not wanted”.

The President of the Association of Russian-speaking Journalists of Moldova, Iulia Semionova, spoke, among other issues, about the phenomenon of media concentration, which negatively affects the quality of journalism. In her opinion, the authorities are content with the fact that the media are a kind of “service staff” for the power. According to the journalist, in case of infringement of the legislation related to the media, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) should penalize not only the media, but also “their owners, because journalists often do not have any other solution, except “dancing following the song of their boss”.

The participants in the forum assessed to what extent were implemented the recommendations contained in the "Roadmap" of the Mass-Media Forum held in 2015. In this regard, the debate moderator, Ludmila Andronic, member of the Press Council, has read several provisions included in the “Roadmap” adopted at the previous forum. Among them: “Development, evaluation, public debates and adoption of the draft Strategy for Mass-Media Development; development of the draft regulatory documents in accordance with the Strategy for Mass-Media Development in the Republic of Moldova, including a new Broadcasting Code, a new law on advertising, a new law on sponsorship and philanthropy, the new Regulations of the BCC; the new Regulations of the Council of Observers of the National Public Broadcaster “Teleradio-Moldova”; the new Regulations of the National Public Broadcaster “Teleradio-Moldova”; public debates, evaluation and adoption of regulatory documents in accordance with the provisions of the Strategy for Media Development in Moldova, etc.“.

According to the participants in the event, none recommendation contained in the “Roadmap” of the previous edition was 100 percent implemented by the authorities.

The Mass-Media Forum will continue its work on Saturday, 3^rd of December, with 6 thematic workshops.
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The Mass-Media Forum 2016 is organized by the Press Council of the Republic of Moldova, in partnership with the Association of Independent Press (API), the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) and the Electronic Press Association (APEL).
The works of the Mass-Media Forum 2016 are funded by the Mass-Media Programme of Soros-Moldova Foundation, the Council of Europe’s Programme "Promoting the professional and accountable journalism by supporting the regional network of self-regulation structures”, the U.S. Embassy to Moldova and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany.