Ro
En
Рy23 July 2021
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From now on, the Ombudsman’s Service of Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) Company has an obligation to hold regular meetings with its public and to file activity reports to the Supervisory Board (SB) on a monthly basis, according to the new Regulations of the Ombudsman’s Activity approved by the SB in mid-July.
The provision on holding “regular” meetings with the public was required due to the fact that the previous document only stipulated that the ombudsman organized meetings, debates, and public consultations on issues of social interest, yet their regularity was not mentioned.
Last year, due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, no meetings with the audience were organized. According to the annual activity reports of the TRM’s ombudsman, in 2019, the Service had a meeting within the TV News Department and debates with media experts for discussing the new version of the Journalist’s Deontological Code with the staff. In the previous years, Radio Moldova journalists organized several meetings with the radio audience to discuss various topics, such as the quality of broadcasts and editorial policy improvements. Carmelia Albu, TRM Ombudsman, has specified for Media Azi that she took part in a number of meetings, but they were not organized by her. A schedule for audiences with the citizens, including persons dissatisfied with the content broadcast by the public media service provider, is to be drafted, Albu adds.
The draft regulation initially stipulated that the ombudsman was supposed to file half-yearly activity reports to the company’s Supervisory Board and the Management Committee. The SB member Alexandru Versinin suggested that such reports be presented to the Supervisory Board on a monthly basis. The idea was supported by most members, with five votes for and two against.
Ludmila Andronic, an expert from the Council of Europe and the co-author of the handbook on international good practice of complaints management by the Ombudsman’s Service, also took part in the meeting. The expert urged the SB members to reconsider their decision, explaining that, due to the specific nature of the ombudsman’s activity, the service may not have enough cases to report every month, therefore, at a certain point, these reports may become formal. The Council stated it could return to revising these provisions of the regulation if required.
The Ombudsman’s service was established at Teleradio-Moldova upon an initiative of media NGOs in 2013. The service has the status of an autonomous entity and is the institution’s self-regulatory structure.
The provision on holding “regular” meetings with the public was required due to the fact that the previous document only stipulated that the ombudsman organized meetings, debates, and public consultations on issues of social interest, yet their regularity was not mentioned.
Last year, due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, no meetings with the audience were organized. According to the annual activity reports of the TRM’s ombudsman, in 2019, the Service had a meeting within the TV News Department and debates with media experts for discussing the new version of the Journalist’s Deontological Code with the staff. In the previous years, Radio Moldova journalists organized several meetings with the radio audience to discuss various topics, such as the quality of broadcasts and editorial policy improvements. Carmelia Albu, TRM Ombudsman, has specified for Media Azi that she took part in a number of meetings, but they were not organized by her. A schedule for audiences with the citizens, including persons dissatisfied with the content broadcast by the public media service provider, is to be drafted, Albu adds.
The draft regulation initially stipulated that the ombudsman was supposed to file half-yearly activity reports to the company’s Supervisory Board and the Management Committee. The SB member Alexandru Versinin suggested that such reports be presented to the Supervisory Board on a monthly basis. The idea was supported by most members, with five votes for and two against.
Ludmila Andronic, an expert from the Council of Europe and the co-author of the handbook on international good practice of complaints management by the Ombudsman’s Service, also took part in the meeting. The expert urged the SB members to reconsider their decision, explaining that, due to the specific nature of the ombudsman’s activity, the service may not have enough cases to report every month, therefore, at a certain point, these reports may become formal. The Council stated it could return to revising these provisions of the regulation if required.
The Ombudsman’s service was established at Teleradio-Moldova upon an initiative of media NGOs in 2013. The service has the status of an autonomous entity and is the institution’s self-regulatory structure.
