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Health officials agree to provide the information requested by the media only through the press service, and some questions sent to communicators remain unanswered, say the journalists approached by Media Azi.
“Compared to other public institutions, the Ministry of Health is quite receptive to the journalists’ requests. However, they have only one communicator accessible to the media. Other ministry representatives do not answer the journalists’ calls, and all communication is done through one person. So it seems to me a road with certain barriers – when they are called, they answer from the start that there is a press service, without even listening to the question,” says Diana Popa of TV8 television station.
The reporter says that there is a joint Facebook group with journalists and representatives of the ministry, where journalists can ask questions, but they cannot always get an answer. “Half of the questions get an answer, and the other half does not, the ones that are, it seems to me, more difficult or uncomfortable,” the journalist says.
“WE WOULD LIKE MORE TRANSPARENCY”
TVR Moldova reporter Daniela Focșa does not find communication with MHLSP officials excellent, either: “I admit that not only at the Ministry of Health, but at all institutions, communication is sometimes simpler, and sometimes more difficult. Given the pandemic and the fact that they have many requests, I think communicators are coping, but we would definitely like more transparency.”
“Some information is hard to get,” the journalist adds, “News reporters need it in record time, but we get it either in a few hours, when the news is already on the air, or the next day. When we need more complex information, with permissions for filming at some institutions, there is again that bureaucratic process of writing a request, and it takes time until it is accepted and we receive the answer.”
CONFERENCES ON VACCINATION: USEFUL, “BUT WE HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS, TOO”
Diana Popa claims, among other things, that in the last three to four months, since the creation of a special communication group on vaccination, information has become more accessible. However, the weekly conferences of the National Agency for Public Health (NAPH) only address vaccination. “Journalists ask other questions, too, which remain unanswered because they are not related to the subject of vaccination. It’s very good that they are organized, they are helpful, but we also have other questions – related to Covid, treatment, and not only Covid. These topics are marginalized,” argues the TV8 newscaster.
Elena Cioina, media coordinator of the E-Sănătate platform, also says that NAPH has shown more openness lately, “but I suspect that this is because they are forced to give information more often about Covid and because some of their specialists have the mandate to talk to the press.”
URGENT ANSWER? “NO CHANCE”
Elena Cioina also says that she has not yet received answers to or confirmations of receipt of some of the latest requests she sent to the Ministry of Health. Other public institutions in the field, such as the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices or the Center for Centralized Public Procurement in Health, have a “much more difficult” problem, in her opinion. “If the people in charge answer the phone, they will definitely refer you to the press service, to which you must send requests. When you need an urgent answer from these institutions, you have no chance of getting it.
They always have justifications – they either are in meetings, or they don’t talk on the phone – anything to stall for time,” the journalist says.
MINISTRY COMMUNICATORS: “WE WORK DAY AND NIGHT”
The communication counselor within the ministry, Cristina Stratulat, claims that the staff responsible for information provide answers to all requests, and she reminds about the weekly press conferences on the subject of vaccination. “We are only two people and we work day and night, we respond to all requests for information. We do two conferences a week that we work on a lot, with numbers, and journalists don’t even open the weekly presentations on the website. Instead, they call and ask basic things, which are published on the site,” the communicator explains.
She insists that, even though the topics of the NAPH conferences are dedicated to the vaccination process, journalists address other issues. In this context, she also mentioned that media service providers were asked to broadcast free spots on vaccination, noting that some private televisions are ready to put them on the air only for a fee.
With the onset of the pandemic, direct communication between journalists and health officials, during press conferences, was stopped. Subsequently, several media organizations, under the auspices of the Independent Journalism Center, created a Journalists’ Crisis Cell, which requested organization of online press conferences with the possibility of asking questions directly to officials in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. For a long time, especially during the summer of last year, journalists participated in such conferences, which were attended by specialists in the field. In September, these events were halted. The representatives of the Journalists’ Crisis Cell again addressed the Ministry with the request to organize extended conferences and received assurances that they would be held “in an updated format,” which did not happen. The organization of press conferences with the physical presence of journalists was recently resumed, but only on the subject of vaccination.
