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Experts’ View on the Public Company Teleradio-Moldova after Adoption of the New Broadcasting Code

18 January 2018
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The draft of the new broadcasting code, which will be named the Code of Audiovisual Media Services, provides for a number of changes in the work of the public broadcasting company Teleradio-Moldova and of its supervisory body, the Supervisory Board (SB). This Board will have 6 members more than the Board of Observers (BO) currently has, and the nomination of candidates will take into consideration that 5 of them need to be from outside Chisinau and that 3 should be of minority ethnicity.
 
According to the draft Code of Audiovisual Media Services, two national public providers of media services will function in Moldova – the company Teleradio-Moldova and the company Gagauziya Radio Televisionu.
 
The operation of the national provider of media services will be ensured by the Managerial Committee headed by the general director and supervised by the Supervisory Board.
 
The general director will be nominated as a result of a public contest by the Supervisory Board and appointed for a seven-year term that cannot be renewed. The position of general director will be incompatible with party membership and/or political affiliation over the past 5 years. He may be dismissed by the votes of at least 2/3 of the members of the supervisory body.
 
The document also provides for a new approach to the functioning of the Supervisory Board. According to the draft, the SB must represent the diversity of society.
 
Thus, the Board will consist of 15 members from different fields, 6 persons more than the current BO, which has 9 members. All these people should be public figures with professional qualifications in the fields of journalism, law, public relations, international relations, culture, arts, cinema, financial management and  management of commercial enterprises, information technology, communications, academic work, mass media, or engineering.
 
Also, the Supervisory Board will have at least 5 members representing administrative-territorial units other than Chisinau municipality, and 3 members representing ethnic minorities. In addition, the principle of gender equality will be taken into account.
 
The members of the Supervisory Board will be appointed by the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC).
 
At the same time, the persons who were members of the BO or of the BCC will not have the right to run for the position of member in the Supervisory Board.
 
The term in office of the members of the Supervisory Board will be 6 years. The duties of the Board include the confirmation or dismissal of directors of the two public media service companies, approval of the maximum threshold of bank loans that the general director may request without the approval of the Supervisory Board, and others.
 
The draft Code of Audiovisual Media Services is at the stage of public consultations. The document is prepared by local and foreign experts within the parliamentary group on improving media legislation.