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New Edition of the Mass Media in Moldova Magazine: On Concentration in the Audiovisual, lack of Protection of Journalists and the Hegemony of the Male Model in Communication

20 January 2020
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The December edition of Mass Media in Moldova magazine made a review of hot events that marked the domestic journalism during the second half of the previous year. The weakening of Vladimir Plahotniuc’s media holding after he left the country and the leadership of the Democratic Party, and the strengthening of the new media holding affiliated with PSRM and with the President Igor Dodon; the biased behaviour of the media during the local elections, the wiretaps or the dismissals from Moldpres that shook the journalistic guild; the crisis of the print media, which resulted into the closure of certain prestigious publications – these are the main topics you will find in the new edition of the magazine.
 
Speaking about the concentration in the audiovisual field, journalist Vitalie Calugareanu claims that it was a mistake not to restructure the Broadcasting Council after the fall of the former regime in June, 2019. In the author’s opinion, this „lethal weapon”, which shapes the minds of people in the long run, was left in the hands of Igor Dodon and now this „guarantor of sovereignty”, with the help of the „representative and guarantor of the public interest in the broadcasting field” is beginning to build „the infrastructure” that is necessary to maintain the power in the long run.
 
Another author, journalist Gheorghe Budeanu, draws attention to the fact that Moldovan journalists are not protected against different abuses and believes that a trade union needs to be set up for the guild. The idea was launched during the Media Forum in Moldova, and the journalists were urged to think about establishing a trade union for them, which would deal with social protection issues. The heading „The Letter of the Law” contains a comment signed by Tatiana Puiu. According to the author, the legal framework of domestic media is not in line with international standards and for this reason the media in the Republic of Moldova continues to be rated as „partially free” in the international rankings. 
 
Read in the new edition an interview made by journalist Irina Gotisan with the PhD Loretta Handrabura and you will find out why it is important to use feminine forms in journalistic materials, besides the masculine ones. In this regard, Loretta Handrabura refers to a recommendation of the European institutions according to which the language and the communication „must not enshrine the hegemony of the male model”. While people from France, Spain, Italy and recently from Ukraine decided to „emasculate” their languages, the Academy of Science of Moldova did not issue a statement, mentions Loretta Handrabura who recommends the journalists to include on the public agenda gender equality topics.
 
You can find some useful information, particularly for media managers in the book entitled „Saving the Media: Capitalism, Crowdfunding, and Democracy”, published by the printing house Comunicare.ro and included in the heading Reviews by PhD Ludmila Lazar. Note that the author of the study, Julia Cagé, is a doctoral graduate of Harvard. The book was published in 11 languages of international circulation and won the special prize of the jury awarded by the French association „Journalism and Citizenship” at „Prix des Assises”. Alina Radu, Aneta Gonta, Lucia Bacalu, Cristian Jardan, Stela Jemna were the authors who helped publishing this edition by providing information of great interest.

The English version of Mass Media in Moldova Magazine is available here.