|
|
|
|
|
Moldova has obtained an overall score of 4.93 in the Freedom House “Nations in Transit” report for the year 2017, which was published on April 5, 2017. Thus, our country accumulated a lesser score than in the previous year (4.89), falling behind Ukraine and Georgia, which have a rating of 4.61 points each, but beating other ex-Soviet countries, such as Russia (6.67 points), Belarus (6.61 points), or Armenia (5.39 points). The study examines the situation in 29 post-Communist countries from Central Europe to Central Asia according to seven main indicators – National Democratic Governance, Electoral Process, Civil Society, Independent Media, Local Democratic Governance, Judicial Framework and Independence, and Corruption – awarding them a score on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 means the best situation, and 7 – the worst.
More |
|
|
Our country ranks 80 out of 180 in the Press Freedom Index 2017, released on April 26 by Journalists Without Borders. Top positions have been taken by Norway, Sweden and Finland, while Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea ranked the last. Thus, compared to 2016, our country lost four positions in the ranking. The study found that the editorial policy of media outlets in Moldova is influenced by the political interests of the owners, and major challenges are “journalistic independence and transparency of media ownership.”
More |
|
|
The Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press, the “Acces-Info” Center, the Electronic Press Association, the Journalistic Investigations Center, and the Association of Independent TV Journalists have signed a joint declaration, expressing their concern about the statements of journalist Vladimir Soloviov in his editorial “How Moldovan Journalists are Spied On”, which appeared on April 5 on Russian-language portal Newsmaker.md, whose editor-in-chief he is. Soloviov argues that he had been spied on by an unknown car for a while, when he was in a coffee shop or when he traveled by public transport, and he believes that this spying has direct connection with his work as a journalist. The signing organizations qualified this case as an act of persecution and serious infringement of the right of journalists to exercise their profession freely. They demanded the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor General’s Office to quickly investigate the case and the Government to monitor the course of investigation.
More |
|
|
The holders of several broadcasting licenses will have to keep only two of them in one territorial-administrative unit once Law no. 218 on modifying and supplementing the Broadcasting Code of Moldova enters into force on April 14, 2017. According to the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) chairman Dinu Ciocan, the BCC was to send an official letter to broadcasters to inform them that they must comply with the legislation in force within 30 days. According to the ownership transparency declarations posted at the BCC website, the only holder of more than two licenses is politician Vladimir Plahotniuc, with a total of six licenses, namely for television channels Prime, Canal 2, Canal 3, Publika TV and for radio stations Publika FM and Muz FM.
More |
|
|
The third meeting of the Association Council, which took place on March 31 in Brussels, analyzed the progress in implementation of the Association Agreement between Moldova and the European Union. Referring to the problems faced by the media in Moldova, in the joint declaration the EU expressed concern in particular about the concentration of media ownership and its polarization. In the context of harmonizing the media legislation with the standards of the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Moldovan authorities were recommended to take into account the expert opinion of the Council of Europe and the OSCE when performing amendments to the Broadcasting Code, to protect media pluralism and independent media.
More |
|
|
The managers of periodicals claim they face significant difficulties in their relations with “Posta Moldovei” State Enterprise, such as inflexible contractual provisions regarding the distribution of periodicals; delayed transfer to outlets of money paid by subscribers; additional unjustified charges for packaging periodicals at every post center (15 bani per a newspaper copy); deficiencies in the work of post officials and nontransparent reorganization of work at district post centers belonging to “Posta Moldovei”. The Association of Independent Press (AIP), on behalf of several publishers, asked the Government to get involved in settling these issues. The Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MITC), “Posta Moldovei” and National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) consider publishers’ objections unjustified.
More |
|
|
The managers of local TV channels believe that after December 31, 2017, with transition to digital television, they will lose more than half of their target audience or will even disappear because of lack of money. A solution, in their opinion, might be for the State to build a regional multiplex for local channels. According to some estimates, the creation of a regional multiplex, depending on the complexity of the landscape, would require about 2.5-3.0 million lei, an investment that no local broadcaster can afford by themselves. Beyond the technical aspects of transition to digital television, representatives of media NGOs draw the attention of authorities to the fact that other important aspects, such as diversity in the media content, which is currently ensured by local media, should also be taken into consideration in this process.
More |
|
|
In the period of February to April 2017, new and more severe forms of information manipulation – truncation of statements, distortion of the message and quoting out of context – and propaganda have been found, which is usually characteristic of election periods. In addition, journalists are engaged in propaganda campaigns, showing a selective approach to facts and opinions, thus protecting the image of some politicians rather than objectively covering reality. These are some of the findings of the fifth monitoring report “Elements of Propaganda, Information Manipulation and Violation of Journalistic Ethics in the Local Media Space” (February 1 – April 1, 2017), released by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on April 27, 2017.
More |
|
|
The Association of Independent Press (AIP) presented on April 28 the first report on monitoring Russian televisions that are retransmitted on the territory of Moldova. The monitoring was conducted between March 27 and April 26, 2017; overall, five TV channels were monitored: Perviy Kanal, RTR, NTV, REN TV and CTC. According to Petru Macovei, executive director of the AIP, and Nadine Gogu, executive director of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), who coordinated the monitoring and worked on the report, several manipulation and propaganda techniques have been found. The newscasts and information-and-analysis shows of the five outlets delivered and promoted pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian, anti-European and anti-Occidental messages.
More |
|
|
The Broadcasting Coordinating Council (BCC) at its meeting on April 27 applied public warnings to several televisions for failure to abide by article 11 paragraph (3) of the Broadcasting Code of Moldova, which stipulates that own and domestic information and analysis products aired by a broadcaster shall constitute not less than 80%. The BCC monitored for one week 16 TV channels – Moldova 1, Publika TV, Canal 3, TV 7, Prime, CTC Mega, Euro TV, Realitatea TV, N4, TVC 21, Accent TV, ITV, NTV Moldova, Noroc, RTR Moldova, and Ren Moldova – and found violations of law at eight of them. According to the BCC, the worst situation was found at Euro TV and Ren Moldova, where the share of own and domestic products intended for information and analysis in Romanian language is 0%, and at RTR Moldova – 20%.
More |
|
International Competitions
|
|
|
The #PanamaPapers investigation, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), where journalists from RISE Moldova participated, too, won the Pulitzer Prize for 2017 in the “Explanatory Reporting” category. The awards ceremony was held on April 10 at Columbia University in New York. Moldovan journalists say that it is the best appreciation of the work of more than 300 reporters from around the world. In Moldova, the investigations carried out by RISE Moldova have exposed “the offshore relations between Plahotniuc and Voronin; links of ex-Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Sturza with former Romanian billionaire Dinu Patriciu in the British Virgin Islands; over 50 offshore companies the Stati family had juggled with in the international oil industry; real beneficiaries of the largest distributor of cable TV and an important Internet service provider in Moldova; the offshore winery through which two Russian businessmen used a BVI company to lend over 5 million euros to a wine factory in Chisinau, which is their property, too.”
More |
|
|
The European Press Prize was awarded on April 21, 2017 in Holland, and our country was represented at the event by journalist Mariana Rata from Anticoruptie.md. She has been nominated to the category of investigative reporting for the article “Anabolics Mafia. The Clandestine Road of Steroids from Moldova to Foreign Athletes.” The Moldovan journalist’s investigation was one of the three candidates for the grand prize of the contest. In the end, the winner in the Investigative Reporting category was named the Center for Journalistic Investigations from Serbia. We shall remind that the material that entered the competition was published in October 2016 and it reports about the production of anabolics in Moldova and their road to the black markets in European countries.
More |
|
|
An informed person is a strong person – this was the leitmotif of the two media literacy lessons organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on April 4 in the villages of Todiresti and Mereni in Anenii Noi district. These activities were attended by over 50 young people and were moderated by journalist and head of the Press Council Viorica Zaharia. Young people were informed how to differentiate true news from false news, how to resist information manipulation via television, but also how to protect themselves from Russian propaganda. The journalist drew their attention to the manipulation techniques that the media use most often. The purpose of the media literacy lessons is to cultivate the critical thinking of young media consumers so that they be able to see when information is manipulating and to diversify their sources of information.
More |
|
|
The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) launched the “Media for Gender Balance” campaign with the aim to promote positive patterns of equal involvement of women and men and to combat gender stereotyping through the media. Several activities will be organized within the campaign, including a series of shows about various gender issues, which will be available both online and through local and national televisions. Another activity planned involves monitoring of TV channels in terms of their observing the gender balance and identifying existing gaps. To increase the media interest in this topic, journalists will be encouraged to address gender equality in a competition of materials announced by the IJC.
More |
|
|
The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) has released the first show of a new series, “Split in Two”, within the “Media for Gender Balance” campaign. Under the title of “Gender Prejudices and Stereotypes in Moldova”, the show discusses gender stereotypes: what they are and how they can be overcome, what experts recommend, and how men and women perceive gender equality. In the period of April 2017 – February 2018, 20 such media products will be released and posted on moldova-azi.md portal. At the same time, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council recommended TV channels to broadcast the IJC’s “Split in Two” series free of charge in order to promote positive patterns of involvement of women and men and to fight gender stereotypes through the media.
More |
|
| In the three editions of the Media Azi show released in April, participants discussed issues of current interest that concern the journalistic community of Moldova. Thus, in the 36th edition, journalist Nicolae Negru and the acting president of the Union of Journalists of Moldova Valeriu Saharneanu addressed the issue of solidarity in the journalistic community, referring to the journalists’ ability to unite and act together in order to defend their rights and to support freedom of expression and the values of free press. The 37th edition was dedicated to the new Air Code, which had been voted in first reading in the Parliament. Journalist Anastasia Nani and her guests, lawyer Tatiana Puiu and Oleg Tofilat, State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure, analyzed the provisions of the Air Code that leave room for interpretation and might limit the journalists’ access to information. The protagonists of the 38th edition, journalist Nicolae Negru and his guest Dumitru Tira, general director of the “Realitatea” Media Group, wonder: How necessary are foreign investments in our media? Are economic conditions favorable for such investments? And, generally, is there any profit from the media in Moldova? |
|
|
|
Ro
En
Рy
