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The TV channels were sanctioned for not ‘ensuring impartiality, balance and promotion of the free formation of opinions by presenting the main points of view in opposition, during a public debate about certain issues’.
According to the BC report, NTV Moldova did not cover the opinion of the person concerned in a material about a conflict. That piece of news was about the accusations of the candidate of the Party of National Unity (PUN), Octavia Ticu, for the position of Mayor of Chisinau municipality against the election candidate of Liberal Party, Dorin Chirtoaca, according to which the latter would be guilty for the chaotic development of the town and for increasing the possibilities of the ‘real estate mafia’. The material did not contain the reaction of Chirtoaca to the accusations of Ticu. NTV Moldova explained in a letter send to the BC that Dorin Chirtoaca did not answer the phone and that the author of the piece of news also analysed his account on social networks, but he did not find any answer to this topic.
Accent TV committed a similar violation – the position of the candidate from ‘Partidul Nostru’ (PN) for the position of Mayor of Balti town, Renato Usatii, who was attacked by the PSRM MP, Bogdan Tirdea, was not included in a material about the conflict between these two. In this case, the TV channel only mentioned that Usatii did not claim his right to reply. Stanislav Vijga, the channel’s manager, explained during the meeting that they did not request the opinion of Usatii because the piece of news was about a replay of Usatii to certain statements that he previously made.
In the case of Publika TV, the post was sanctioned because, in a material, it did not ensure the right to reply of the Prime Minister Maia Sandu and of the representatives of the ACUM bloc. In the material containing the opinions of an economic analyst about the cancellation of the concession agreement of Chisinau Airport. The analyst claimed that the President Igor Dodon, promised the Chisinau Airport to a Russian businessman and that the Prime Minister, Maia Sandu wants to keep the position of prime minister, regardless of what promises PSRM made to Russia, and that ACUM bloc will be remembered as a conventionally pro-European formation, which ceded Moldova to Moscow. The Presidency, at the request of Publika TV, refused to comment the accusations, but the channel also did not present the opinion of the Prime Minister or of the ACUM bloc.
During the same meeting, Publika TV was publicly warned for violating the principle ‘inform correctly about a fact or an event, and the information should be accurate and presented in an impartial way and in good faith’.
The editor-in-chief of Publika TV, George Iosip, attended the meeting and mentioned that the Government representatives did not answer the phone calls of the editorial representatives. Also, Iosip asked the members of the BC about their alleged desire to liquidate the post, and stated that the BC would wage a war against Publika TV.
Five members voted to sanction those three channels and one member (Corneliu Mihalache) voted against.
During the meeting, the BC also examined the self-initiatives of the members of the BC, Veronica Cojocaru and Olga Gututui, who said that the CA should monitor the main newscasts of 13 TV channels during seven days. The rapporteur on this subject, Lia Gutu, mentioned that the self-initiatives and requests of the members Cojocaru and Gututui are considered proposals of thematic monitoring, and the Council, according to the Electoral Code, is obliged to monitor the national channels during the election campaign. In this context, Corneliu Mihalache pleaded for the partial admission of self-initiatives and monitoring requests submitted by Cojocaru and Gututui. The proposal was not supported as it obtained only three votes.
