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Monthly Bulletin, December 2020
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On December 7, nine media NGOs, including the Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press, and the Association of Electronic Press, sent an open letter addressed to the country's leadership, Ambassador Peter Michalko of the European Union, Ambassador Dereck Hogan of the United States, and Head of the Council of Europe Office in Moldova William Massolin. The media NGOs drew attention to the draft law on amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code registered by PSRM MPs Vasile Bolea, Bogdan Tirdea and Adrian Lebedinschi, which Parliament passed in the first reading on December 3. The signatories of the letter claim that these legal amendments would be dangerous for media development in line with democratic principles. Among other things, the amendments lower daily average quotas for local audiovisual programs, repeal the anti-propaganda law, and make it possible for court orders to force media services to disclose their sources. The letter’s signatories called on its recipients to help prevent the adoption of the draft law.
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According to Jurnal TV reporter Iulia Sarivan, while covering a protest in front of Parliament on December 16, she became the victim of aggression from masked law enforcement officers, who used tear gas on her. A Pro TV cameraman was also present and was gassed. In a joint statement, eight media NGOs, including the Independent Journalism Center, took a stand against the abusive actions of the employees of the General Inspectorate of Carabineers (GIC). The statement’s signatories condemned these abuses and reminded law enforcement officers that the use of tear gas against journalists carrying out their mission to inform citizens of matters of public interest, whose behavior did not in any way constitute a danger to public order and security, is an illegal practice which undermines freedom of the press. The signatories asked Minister of Internal Affairs Pavel Voicu to take action in response to this incident and publicize information on the measures taken. |
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The authorities announced a new deadline for switching from the analogue television signal to the digital system. According to the chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Media, Adrian Lebedinschi, the switch will now happen in September 2021. The deadline had previously been set to March 2020, but the transition has been going on since 2015, when Moldova first committed to switch to digital television. Lebedinschi explained the delay was because some areas of the country had no digital signal due to terrain and that a part of the population does not have yet the necessary set-top boxes. “During discussions with the Ministry of Economy, it was brought to our attention that the maximum ‘stalling’ time can be no later than September 2021. After that, we will no longer have this possibility, because the provisions of the Convention shall enter into force in September and the neighboring states of the Moldova will request their application,” mentioned the MP in an interview with Media Azi. Note that the regional agreement on planning the digital broadcasting service was signed by Moldova in 2006 at the Geneva Conference.
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The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection has recently put together a guide with recommendations for journalists reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, which could help them avoid the stigma associated with this disease. “Media institutions have a crucial role to play in filling the information vacuum, fighting myths and disseminating information that could save lives,” say the guide’s authors. Among other recommendations, they believe that the language used by journalists should be directed towards promoting equality and avoiding stigma (negative attitude, labelling and prejudice), stereotypes and discrimination. The language used by journalists should be neutral, emphasizing effective measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “Stop misinformation and do not increase the vulnerability to stigmatization and discrimination of individuals or groups of people,” warn the guide's authors. |
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On December 4, after the resignation of Broadcasting Council (BC) Chair Dragos Vicol at a closed meeting, BC member Ala Ursu-Antoci, was appointed to the position with eight votes for and one against. The new Chair was first appointed as BC member in July 2020, on the basis of a competition which the opposition said was flawed and biased in favor of the PDM-PSRM parliamentary majority. A teacher by training, Ursu-Antoci previously held the position of head of the cabinet of the Socialist Party’s faction in Parliament. From 2015 to 2019, she had been a councilor in the cabinet of the head of the PSRM faction, and in the 2019 parliamentary elections she was 43rd on the Socialist list.
Dragos Vicol's resignation was preceded by the announcement by PSRM MPs of a draft law that provided for the premature termination of the mandates of BC members who were appointed between January 20, 2016 and June 7, 2019, when Parliament was controlled by former Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc. For now, Dragos Vicol remains a BC member with the right to vote.
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At its December 23 meeting, the Broadcasting Council (BC) approved ‘Televiziunea Centrala’ channel’s request to change its name to TV6. Prior to that, the Council declared ‘Televiziunea Centrala’ the winner of the contest for filling in an available slot in digital Multiplex A. At present, according to ’Radiocomunicatii,’ 12 television channels broadcast using digital Multiplex A, and a slot in the multiplex costs around EUR 6,000 per month. Obtaining a slot in Multiplex A means the TV channel will be included in the BC’s list of national media service providers which are received by at least 2/3 of the country's population.
Monitoring reports show that ‘Televiziunea Centrala,’ through its editorial policy and the information that it broadcasts, favors the politician Ilan Sor, although he is not officially listed as the owner of the channel.
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The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) rejected two appeals filed by TV8 in court against decisions of the Broadcasting Council (BC). In the first case, TV8’s representatives challenged a MDL 5,000 fine levied by the BC for violating legal provisions requiring balanced coverage of the election campaign. The second case has to do with the BC’s public warning for airing discriminatory language about the LGBT community from a speech by presidential candidate Igor Dodon. TV8 appealed the BC decisions in the Chisinau Court of Appeal, which upheld the BC’s decisions. Afterwards, the channel’s appeals were also rejected by the Supreme Court of Justice. |
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TV8, Pro TV Chisinau and BTV TV channels successfully challenged a BC decision levying a MDL 15,000 fine on BTV and MDL 10,000 fines from other six TV channels for regulatory violations in the second round of the presidential election campaign. According to their arguments, the penalty applied by the BC was illegal because audiovisual legislation does not provide for any fines for violating the Electoral Code’s provisions.
In the case of TV8, the Court of Appeal initially upheld the BC decision, but their first-instance judgement was quashed by the Supreme Court of Justice (SJC), which ruled in favor of the television channel. At their December 8 hearing, SCJ judges concluded that the Court of Appeal did not examine the case properly and did not take into account the provisions of the law on freedom of expression.
ProTV Chisinau also obtained cancellation of the penalty in court, although in this case the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the broadcaster from the beginning. The BC filed an appeal with the SCJ, but it decided on December 9 not to take the case.
In the case of BTV, which also won cancellation of its fine, the SCJ stated that the BC’s decision did not contain full reasons for the decision and so the fine was imposed in violation of established procedure. |
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At its December 23 meeting, the Broadcasting Council declared six radio media service providers as the winners of ten available radio frequencies. Fifteen candidates participated in the contest, eight of which were existing providers requesting an extension of their coverage area, while seven were new outlets. Of these, the BC decided to grant broadcasting licenses to four new radio stations – ROCK's, which obtained two frequencies – one in Chisinau (94.9 MHz) and another in Varnita (94.7 MHz); Cryptobox, the winner of a frequency in Chisinau (107.9 MHz); Radio Sud, which will broadcast in Comrat (87.7 MHz); and Radio Dar, which will broadcast in Balti (90.0 MHz). The four new stations offer a wide choice of programming to listeners, including shows about rock music, IT, cryptocurrency, and diaspora issues, as well as some programs in the Gagauz language.
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The Draft law amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code, developed by the PSRM MPs Bogdan Tirdea, Vasile Bolea and Adrian Lebedinschi, continues to be at the center of attention of media experts, who believe that the law’s changes could have a negative impact on the media space in Moldova.
In the opinion of Ion Bunduchi, Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association (APEL), the provisions on decreasing the minimum mandatory percentage of local audiovisual programming, the decrease in the minimum share of programs in Romanian, and repealing the obligation that European content make up 50% of programs rebroadcast from abroad could discourage the development of local content production. “Reducing local content quotas maintains the harmful and reprehensible phenomenon of ‘information parasitism’ and creates unfair economic conditions for media service providers,” says Bunduchi. He believes that it is in the state's interest to support local media content production, and that the current 80% quota of Romanian-language programming fairly reflects “the 82% of Moldovans and Romanians living in Moldova, according to the 2014 census.”
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“Substantial risks for information security and for the local media” – this is how media researcher Victor Gotisan characterized the potential impact of the new draft law on amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code, which would return military and informative-analytical programs of the Russian Federation to the domestic information space. Gotisan describes the proposal as “dangerous” because the authors of the draft, in his opinion, want to bring “propaganda of the Kremlin administration” to Moldova. “It is a real risk for the local media which produces content, for the simple reason that it will be even more difficult for them to compete with Russian media content. This will have a direct impact on the audience and, by extension, on the volume of advertising,” argues Gotisan. In his opinion, this initiative will be beneficial “only for the media outlets controlled by PSRM, which parasitize such content, thus filling in their broadcasting grid.”
In this context, Romanian expert Nicolae Tibrigan, who works in the Informational Warfare and Strategic Communication Laboratory (LARICS), is of the opinion that an ‘anti-propaganda law’ in the Republic of Moldova is welcome and useful, especially in the conditions of “informational aggression coming from the East,” as “you cannot protect the information security of the state by retransmitting television and radio programs with military content from other countries.”
Previously, the British Ambassador in Chisinau, Steven Fisher, said in an interview for Media Azi that repealing the so-called ‘laws against propaganda’ could cause difficulties and that “such a development should be avoided.” |
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| Another provision from the draft law on amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code, developed by PSRM MPs Bogdan Tardea, Vasile Bolea and Adrian Lebedinschi – which aroused a wave of criticism from media NGOs and subject-matter specialists – would broaden public broadcasters’ ability to place paid advertising and obtain a license without an open competition. The socialists propose that public radio stations and TV channels should be able to place advertisements with “messages of public interest,” which is not currently allowed. In addition, per the proposal, public broadcasters could obtain a broadcasting license without an open contest.
Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association (APEL) Ion Bunduchi characterized both proposals as problematic and pointed out that they are not fair to private players in the audiovisual market, since public broadcasters are subsidized by the state. According to the researcher, messages of public interest or social advertising should be regulated using another approach, and one option is presented in the draft Law on Advertising, which has been awaiting adoption in the final reading since 2018.
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The law amending the Audiovisual Media Services Code and its enacting decree were published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on December 22. During the December 3 Parliament meeting, opposition MPs tried to prevent the adoption of this law by blocking Parliament’s lectern. However, the Parliamentary majority nevertheless managed to adopt this draft law in the first reading at that meeting, and on December 16 adopted it in the final reading with the support of the votes of MPs from PSRM and ‘Pentru Moldova’ Platform, which is comprised of MPs from the ‘Sor’ Party and unaffiliated MPs who had previously left the ‘Pro Moldova’ group.
The new law allows rebroadcasting programs from countries that have not ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television (such as Russia), reduces quotas for local audiovisual content, imposes the obligation for journalists to disclose their sources in certain cases, and makes a number of changes to the work of public media service providers.
This legislative initiative was harshly criticized by media NGOs. They pointed out that the document contained a series of “unjustified and even dangerous” measures and sent an open letter to the authorities and to embassies in Chisinau asking them to intervene in order to prevent the law’s passage. In the NGOs' opinion, it was necessary to consult external experts on the law’s proposals before adopting it.
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A study launched by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), which analyzed the Facebook pages of 5 media outlets and 15 journalists from October 29 - 4 November 4, found that the first round of presidential elections was a widely addressed topic on social networks: more than half of the total analyzed posts were about elections.
The TV channel Primul in Moldova published the highest number of posts (487) during the monitoring period, followed by Agora.md (456), the Prime TV’s Primele Stiri (441) page, followed by Ziarul de Garda (324) and, finally, Komsomolskaya Pravda in Moldova (185). In regards to journalists’ behavior on Facebook, the most active were journalists from Ziarul de Garda, followed by Agora.md, Primele Stiri, and Komsomolskaya Pravda in Moldova, while the journalists from Primul în Moldova did not share any posts on the eve of presidential elections.
The study recommends civil society organizations review the status of social media in the Journalist’s Code of Ethics, taking into account the opportunities and dangers of the online environment, such as manipulation, disinformation, or trolling. Journalists and media outlets are encouraged to follow ethical norms when covering the elections, including on social media.
The study was conducted under the “Monitoring Social Media in Elections” project, implemented by the IJC and financed by the U.S. Department of State. |
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Monitoring of the campaign for the November 1 presidential elections showed that the role of social media in promoting electoral messages should not be ignored, because this communication tool allows information that favors or denigrates certain candidates to be quickly and broadly transmitted. This topic was addressed by the participants in the “Social Media’s Role in the Election Campaign” discussion panel conducted on December 18. The discussions were followed by the launching of the Final Report on monitoring the presidential elections on social networks, carried out by the Mediapoint organization from Moldova and MEMO 98 from Slovakia.
According to Mediapoint President Livia Turcanu, fewer fake news articles were shared on Facebook during the autumn election campaign due to the company’s restrictive policy on sponsored posts. Instead, the level of disinformation on Youtube increased, especially before the second round.
Lilia Zaharia from the Association of Independent Press, an organization specialized in combating fake news as part of Stop False project, explained that election-related fake narratives were usually launched by politicians at briefings or shows, after which they spread to social networks.
Victoria Dodon of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) discussed two IJC studies monitoring the activity of several media outlets and journalists on Facebook. She explained that the Facebook pages of some journalists were monitored because they are considered public people.
According to the latest statistics analyzed by Mediapoint, Facebook is the most popular social network in Moldova, with over 1.3 million registered users. |
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TV channels in the Republic of Moldova will now be able to rebroadcast military, informational, and analytical shows, as well as newscasts, from the Russian Federation, following the adoption of the amendments to the Media Services Code a few days ago. What solutions are there, under such circumstances, to fight propaganda? The subject was analyzed at Media Azi show by journalist Anastasia Nani and Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association Ion Bunduchi.
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For more than ten years, the Moldova has not fully implemented several judgements of the European Court of Human Rights for violations of the right to freedom of expression. While some experts talk about the lack of political will, authorities promise to reveal the jurists’ arguments and the response of the Government next year. Find out more in the Media Azi show.
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On December 23, the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) and the Press Freedom Committee awarded the Journalists of the Year 2020 at the 26th edition of the Annual Press Club Gala. The event, conducted with representatives of the journalism guild and plenty of guests, was held online this year due to the pandemic. This edition of the Gala offered 11 awards in 8 categories:
In the category of Broad Coverage of COVID-19, the IJC Apple went to the journalist Violeta Colesnic of Report.md and Sanatateinfo.md. Together with Natalia Sergheev, Victoria Colesnic also won the award in the Podcast/Audio Reporting category, for the ‘I’m fine’ podcast. The Online Reporting category was won by Moldova.org, and the winners of the Video Reporting were: Felicia Cretu from CU SENS as well as Viorica Tataru and Andrei Captarenco from TV8. The Longread award went to Alexandra Batanova from NewsMaker, and the Opinion - Editorial category was won by her colleague, Stela Untila.
The Photography category was won by Nadejda Roscovanu, from Jurnal.md. Two winners were nominated in the Investigation category – RISE Moldova and Victor Moșneag from Ziarul de Garda.
Traditionally, special prizes were awarded too. The best blog was declared that of Vlada Ciobanu, and the Award of Excellence went to photographer Nicolae Pojoga.
The 26th edition of the Annual Press Club Gala was held with the financial support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.
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The Independent Journalism Center in Moldova (IJC), in partnership with World Press Photo Foundation in Netherlands, organized the World Press Photo International Exhibition at Chisinau between November 18 and December 9. The event was hosted by the National Museum of History of Moldova and gathered 1,350 visitors – teachers, students, pupils, and others. During this period, the IJC organized three visits to the museum for young people interested in photography. Nicolae Pojoga, master of the genre, discussed the value and secrets of photography, encouraging them to get to know this art better. Also, during the World Press Photo Exhibition in Chisinau, the IJC organized a training on photography for 12 Moldovan photojournalists.
The 2020 edition of the World Press Photo was conducted under the title ‘Stories That Matter’ and included photos on the most important topics of the 2019 from all around the world – protests and youth’s role in promoting changes, environmental issues, and so on. The visitors have seen the works of 44 photographers from 24 countries – Algeria, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Peru, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the USA.
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The Independent Journalism Center selected two winners in the fourth grant contest for campaigns against misinformation and propaganda in the media. They are: TARSMI NGO (Tuk.md), with the “Increasing the critical thinking among the Russian speakers from Taraclia by debunking fakes, manipulation and propaganda – ‘Think What Information You Consume’” project and Deleu-Delev II, with the “#FAKENEWS: Small Manual on Election Campaign” project. Nine proposals were submitted to the contest. The projects were assessed on six criteria: implementation plan, practical offer, well-established deadlines for each phase, appropriate target audience, promotion, and viability plans. The grants were awarded as part of the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)” project, funded by USAID and implemented by Internews.
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On December 7, a draft law to improve access to information was registered in Parliament by deputies Vasile Năstase, Maria Ciobanu and Chiril Moțpan. The law was drafted by a working group of civil society and NGO media experts including Freedom House Moldova representative Tatiana Puiu. The draft would bring long-awaited improvements to Moldova’s legal framework on access to information, including by clarifying the legal definition of “information of public interest,” defining categories of information which must be proactively published on the Internet, and regulating the proper use of personal data of public interest for journalism.
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On December 2, Freedom House facilitated a public launch presentation for Patricia Zghibarta’s new Media Forward policy brief “Privacy and Freedom of Expression in Moldova: A Dangerous Imbalance for Journalists.” At the online event, Zghibarta provided an overview of the report’s findings and recommendations for stakeholders from local civil society, government and the international community. Following Zghibarta’s presentation, Freedom House’s Local Representative in Moldova Tatiana Puiu expanded on Zghibarta’s analysis and recommendations by providing a short overview of the status of proposed amendments to Moldova’s legal framework for media and free expression, including to the Law on Access to Information. Diana Butnaru from Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) also shared practical information on the use of the Vreauinfo.md platform developed under MEDIA-M, an online tool for citizens that streamlines the process of creating and submitting FOIA requests.
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The call for proposals for the next policy brief in Freedom House’s ‘Media Forward’ series is now open. This brief will examine the theme of regulation and self-regulation in Moldova’s media landscape, and consider how current regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks in Moldova influence the health of the media sector, with a focus on the role of the Broadcasting Council.
Interested researchers should submit concept proposals to eurasia@freedomhouse.org by January 25, 2021, with “Moldova Policy Briefs” in the subject line. The concept proposal should consist of an abstract of no more than 200 words, an outline of the argument and recommendations to be presented, and a CV of the principal researcher or researchers.
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