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Significant changes in BC and SB activity are required
Petru Macovei, Executive Director of the Association of Independent Press (AIP) and Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association (APEL) Ion Bunduchi, mentioned the need to depoliticize the appointment of BC members. Bunduchi proposed to develop a new regulation for the appointment of candidates for vacant positions at the BC. The document should include clear rules and measurable criteria for candidates’ assessment, so that independent and professional persons become Council members.
Regarding the appointment of BC members, AIP Executive Director advocated that this Regulation should include a mechanism to recall members if necessary. In his opinion, most BC members should come from the civil society and not necessarily from the journalistic area.
To put it differently, Corneliu Popovici, Adviser to the President on Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Issues, referred to the way in which Moldovan televisions covered the political events of 7-9 June in Chisinau. Popovici asked why there was no strong reaction from the BC and Supervisory Board of Teleradio-Moldova on this issue. In this context, BC member Olga Gututui said that she took note regarding the public broadcaster.
Also present at the meeting, SB President Nicolae Spataru informed that the Supervisory Board will monitor the way events from 11 to 18 June were covered, and not from 7 to 9 June, arguing that nobody asked SB members to assess the behavior of the public broadcaster on 7-9 June. Spataru’s answer sparked the amusement of those present.
Draft media laws must be taken out of the Parliament’s drawers
Lawyer Eugeniu Ribca reminded about the draft Law on Advertising, passed in the first reading only by the previous Parliament. He underlined that this draft law had been developed by civil society and that MPs had allegedly ‘stopped’ it, because it stipulated certain clarity and delimitation between the political and commercial advertising, and MPs saw a danger in it.
In his turn, Petru Macovei referred to the need to relaunch the work of Parliamentary Working Group on Improving the Media Legislation.
The fairness of selecting the TV audience measurement company is very questionable
The issue regarding selecting the TV audience measurement company, remaining the same in the Republic of Moldova for many years, was brought to MPs’ attention. The director of Pro TV Chisinau Catalin Giosan, said that the selection contest was, in fact, a farce. His rationales were that he was contacted by other foreign companies, who were interested to come to the Moldovan market. According to Giosan, creating the Terms of Reference for this measurement company is a very difficult task, and in Romania, where the advertising market is large, such a document is developed for several months. The PRO TV Chisinau Director claims that the broadcaster’s management asked the committee for selecting TV audience measurement company to provide support in this respect, but the representatives of the committee reportedly refused the proposal and developed the Terms of Reference in a week.
Giosan said that other foreign companies interested in reaching the Moldovan market gave up this contest because they understood that they would not manage to prepare for it, especially since the contest was announced after the Christmas, when in these countries there is the day off.
Giosan advocated for reviewing this tender.
BC member Veronica Cojocaru, who was an observer in the Tender Committee, said that other TV audience measurement companies that wanted to reach the Moldovan market were not ready to open a dedicated office in the Republic of Moldova, as provided for in above Regulation. According to Veronica Cojocaru, another argument was the refusal of advertising market representatives to provide financial guarantees for their activity.
The Chairman of Parliamentary Committee for Mass-Media Adrian Lebedinschi underlined that MPs plan to collaborate with the journalistic community to identify the challenges and amend the media law in order to improve the media situation.
Lebedinschi informed that the Broadcasting Council would present its activity report on the first quarter of this year on 3 July. Representatives of civil society may also participate.
Photo source: Zinaida Gheata
