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ZdG published several articles about the Sports Arena design presented by Speaker of the Parliament, Andrian Candu, who used a video taken from the internet to show how the future Sports Arena, which the Government will build in Chisinau, will operate.
Many Internet users criticised then the Speaker for not mentioning the video source, thus misleading the citizens who might have thought that the Sports Arena designed was made in Chisinau. ZdG went ahead with the investigation and reached the representatives of the French company that owns the design. They told the ZdG that the video presented by the Speaker was theirs and that they had not been not consulted on the use of this spot.
After the material was published, the Speaker of the Parliament, Andrian Candu, accused the Ziarul de Garda journalists of manipulation, in a post on his Facebook page on 20 March. ‘During the press conference, I said very clearly that the video was an example taken from the public space so that citizens could see and understand how a multifunctional arena worked: what a telescopic stage meant, how an arena for sports events could turn in few hours into a space for concerts, exhibitions, etc. I have never said that this is the architectural project or design of the arena, as the alleged discussions of those form Ziarul de Garda with French architects want to prove’, wrote Candu.
Subsequently, during another press conference, when answering the questions of a ZdG reporter, Andrian Candu said that politicians would punish journalists for manipulating data.
When asked by Media-Azi.md to give her opinion on this case, Viorica Zaharia, Chairperson of the Press Council (PC), described the situation as an ‘an attempt to undermine the credibility and authority of a newspaper’.
‘ZdG proved that Mr. Candu had presented a design taken from a French company without its permission. The evidence provided – the full response of the company. Andrian Candu ignores this fact and says in a mocking way that ZdG had an ‘alleged discussion’ with ‘some French architects’. Until evidence is provided this discussion is only an “alleged” one and it did not actually took place, his statement is unfounded, manipulative, and unworthy of a self-respecting man. The fact that during the press conference he said that: “The information you will see comes from public sources” does not absolve him of the responsibility to answer the following question: “How did you get the pictures and do you have the right/permission to show them?” Andrian Candu ignores this question. Otherwise, he would have to recognize that PDM used without authorization, some very expensive images, designed by other people, to impress with the promise of building the arena’, said Viorica Zaharia.
In the opinion of PC Chairperson, the Speaker’s statement that politicians will punish journalist for manipulating data, is a threatening one. ‘As for “We will penalise you”, ... of course, it sounds threatening and does not fit into the model of normal relations of politicians, including those from the Government, with the media. However, in the current conditions of the Republic of Moldova, we can expect that this “penalisation” may take real and concrete forms – lawsuits, impediments to distribute the newspaper or denigration attacks. I hope that none of this will happen and that this “penalisation” will not be implemented, like many other unachieved promises of our politicians’, underlined Viorica Zaharia.
The Chairperson of the Press Council added for Media-azi.md that ZdG tackled this issue in line with all ethical norms. ‘The ZdG article does not contain any manipulating elements. The team quoted the statement of Andrian Candu “The information you will see comes from public sources” and later published the position of the French company. I do not see any truncated, misplaced or out-of-context information. But I can clearly see the irritation of a person who is disturbed by the published information’, said Zaharia.
