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April 2019

Monthly Bulletin, April 2019

Media News

RSF: Moldova Falls 36 Spots in Press Freedom Index in the Past Six Years

The Press Freedom Index Report 2019 by the “Reporters without Borders” ranked Moldova 91st out of 180 monitored countries. Since 2013, Moldova has been downgraded 36 positions in terms of freedom of the press: in 2017, the country ranked 80th, in 2016 - 76th, in 2015 - 72nd, in 2014 - 56th, and in 2013 - 55th. According to the RSF report, this was caused by political interference with the editorial policy of the Moldovan media, lack of journalistic independence, and concentration of media ownership. The report describes the media landscape in Moldova as diverse, but extremely polarized.

Photojournalist Grigoriţă Emigrated to Avoid a “Fabricated” Case in Moldova

Photojournalist Constantin Grigorita decided to leave Moldova following a conflict he had with the Border Police at Giurgiulesti Customs on March 20. He was returning from treatment in Romania, along with a group of combatants who participated in the Transnistria War of 1992. At Giurgiulesti Customs he was told that his vehicle was banned from crossing the border. Left without a vehicle, the passengers blocked the bridge across the Prut River for two hours as a sign of protest. The Border Police opened an investigation and the protesters, including Constantin Grigorita, were summoned to police headquarters to provide information on the protests. Following these events, the photojournalist wrote on his FB page on April 12 that he had emigrated to France: “The Border Police has started to terrorize me with letters and threats. I am sorry, but I can’t tolerate this, I don’t want to go to prison on fabricated charges,” wrote Grigorita, attaching the letter from the Police.

Media NGOs on Assaults Against the PRO TV Team

On April 8, while working on the site of a car accident, the camera crew of PRO TV was assaulted by a group of intoxicated young people who were unhappy with being filmed. In a joint statement, NGOs condemned such aggressive behavior against media representatives and pointed out that journalists have the right to film, make audiovisual recordings and take pictures in public places. Declaration signatories — Independent Journalism Center, Association of Independent Press, Association of Electronic Press, Center for Investigative Journalism, Press Freedom Committee, Association of Independent TV Journalists, ‘Access-info’ Center and RISE Moldova — urged law enforcement bodies to investigate the case and to take necessary measures against the assailants.

 
 

Media Outlets Sued by Former Judge Vasilevici: SCJ Calls for Retrial

 

In 2015, former magistrate Lilia Vasilevici sued several media outlets and former prosecutor Ivan Diacov for allegedly spreading false information about her. Several media institutions broadcasted statements by former prosecutor Ivan Diacov that Vasilevici had allegedly received tens of thousands of euros to acquit a drug dealer. The judge claimed damages amounting to MDL 240,000 (about EUR 12,000) and demanded public retraction of the statement and an apology. Vasilevici lost the case in the first instance court and in the Court of Appeals due to lack of evidence. The case reached the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), which on March 27 overturned the decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal and sent the case back to the lower court for retrial. The lower court will decide on the case with a new panel of judges.

No Criminal Elements Found in the Activities of Journalist Victor Sofroni 

 
 

On March 18, the Rezina Prosecutor’s Office ordered the termination of the criminal prosecution of journalist Victor Sofroni, as no criminal activities were found. On March 20, the Orhei Court closed the contravention proceedings against Sofroni. Although the Rezina Prosecutor’s Office terminated the criminal prosecution, the journalist had to bear the court expenses. However, following a complaint by Sofroni, the Rezina Prosecutor’s Office decided that the state should cover the legal expenses. This case began in late 2017, when an anonymous person sent pictures of a corpse to Sofroni, with a note stating that the images were taken in a forested area at the border between the Rezina and Orhei districts. When the journalist contacted the police to verify the information, the police determined that the images had been taken from an online source and accused the journalist of intentionally filing a false police report, ultimately starting a criminal case against him.

Supervisory Board of Teleradio-Moldova Has Three New Members

The Broadcasting Council (BC) appointed three new members of the Supervisory Board (SB) of Teleradio-Moldova during its meeting on April 9. Two new members are from academia  – Violeta Cojocaru teaches law at the State University and Tatiana Munteanu teaches economics at the Technical University of Moldova. The third new member of the SB will be Daniela Mitilea, who has been a radio entertainer for many years. The work of the BC resumed with these new appointments, after a brief hiatus when the mandate of four members expired on March 4. The SB is made up of nine members, and the BC must appoint one more member for the board to be fully functional.

BC Chairman Accused of Using Sexist Language

Dragos Vicol, Chairman of the BC, is accused of sexism by the Women’s Organization of Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). At an April 9 meeting, Vicol made a “joke” to “ease the tension,” saying “television, like women, is female. Both women and TV stations want to be financially independent. And if not all women manage to achieve this, we want TV stations to at least strive for it.” In response to these statements, some representatives of civil society called for the Chairman’s resignation. Several public figures and PAS also demanded that Vicol apologize publicly, or else resign from his position. Dragos Vicol denied the accusations, saying that his statement was misunderstood.

Discussion of Proposed Changes to the Code of Ethics of Journalism

On April 16 – 24, the Press Council organized three public meetings to provide consultation on the amendments to the Code of Ethics for Moldovan journalists. The meetings were attended by journalists, press managers and representatives of civil society. The new provisions regulate a number of issues, such as the relationship between the journalists and their employers, as well as conflicts of interest. It also tackles phenomena such as discrimination, fake news, misinformation and manipulation. The proposals to supplement the Code of Ethics were developed by a group of national and international experts, including from the organization “Freedom House.” The Press Council is to present the updated Code at a round table on May 10, in an event marking World Press Freedom Day.

First Media Hub Opened in Chisinau

The IJC opened the first co-working space for journalists in Moldova on April 2. Journalists employed with media outlets, freelancers and students interested in the media will be able to benefit from the Media Hub services. They will be able to work on their projects and materials individually or in teams. IJC also plans to organize events around the Media Hub, contributing to the development of a community based on interaction and the exchange of ideas. 

Media Monitoring

Manipulation Techniques Increased in the First Months of 2019

On April 16 the IJC launched its monitoring report “Elements of Propaganda, Information Manipulation, and Violations of Journalism Ethics in the Local Media,” covering the period from January 1 to March 31.  The report focused on five subjects of public interest that were covered in the press – political leaders’ property declarations, the start of the parliamentary election campaign, the preliminary results of the elections, pension indexation other economic promises made by Vlad Plahotniuc, and the first meeting of the newly elected Parliament. Failure to separate facts and opinions, as well as the lack of the right to reply were among most frequent violations of the Journalist Code of Ethics found in the report. It also noted that the number of violations of ethical norms and information manipulation techniques increased during the election campaigns in the first three months of the year.

RTR Moldova Publicly Warned for Violating the Minimum Romanian Content Rules

At an April 9 meeting, the BC issued a public warning to RTR Moldova for insufficient content in Romanian in its local audiovisual programs. The channel was sanctioned based on monitoring carried out by the BC, which was  initiated after a complaint from viewers. One viewer complained that RTR Moldova did not broadcast content in the official language of the state and that the movie subtitles were of a poor quality. The second viewer issued a complaint on the basis that that the channels RTR Moldova and NTV Moldova “promote the official position of the Russian Federation by broadcasting Russian news.” During the monitoring period of February 26 - March 4, RTR Moldova broadcasted only approximately 10% of its content in Romanian on two of the days monitored, while the other monitored days featured no coverage in Romanian at all.  Consequently, the BC found the broadcaster in violation of Article 4(7) of the Audiovisual Media Services Code and issued a public warning. A repeated monitoring of RTR Moldova will be carried out.

Vocea Basarabiei TV Publicly Warned for Lack of Impartiality

At an April 3 meeting, the BC issued a public warning to the TV broadcaster Vocea Basarabiei for violating broadcasting legislation on ensuring impartiality in TV coverage. The sanction was applied following the monitoring of a March 14 broadcast on a local gymnast. The BC Monitoring Department found that the broadcaster had violated Article 13(6)(a) of the Audiovisual Media Services Code by not requesting and representing the opinion of the person discussed in the show. Eight of the nine members of the BC voted in favor of the sanctioning.

Media-M Project Updates

Moldovan Reporters Trained by Recorder.ro

Over 20 Moldovan journalists participated in a two-day training course led by the two authors of the Romanian project Recorder.ro. The course was part of the training “Video-Journalism: How to Create Quality Video Content,” organized by the IJC. Journalists Cristian Delcea and Alex Nedea gave a presentation on their platform, which in less than two years became one of the most popular and profitable in Romania with 250,000 Facebook followers. Training participants learned about working in a team, how to structure their activities, where and how to get information before going to the field, etc. Divided into two teams, participants edited and put together unprocessed videos shot by Recorder.ro in Chisinau. Under the trainers’ guidance, they also produced feature reports, each with a different approach. This training was part of the “Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)” project, funded by USAID, UK aid and implemented by Internews in Moldova.

Local and National Journalists Learned to Diversify their Content with Media Tools

In a three-day training session organized by the IJC, journalists learned about the most effective multimedia tools and content formats to make their journalistic material more attractive to readers. National and local partners of the project “Strengthening Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia” attended the event. The first two days of the training were carried out by Russian experts Andrei Misiurev and Olga Kuzina. Participants also had the opportunity to learn details about the platform Семь на семь [7x7] by speaking via a Skype with the platform’s publisher, Maxim Poleakov. During the third day of the training, local partners worked with Ana Gherciu, Editor-in-Chief of Moldova.org. She spoke to them about how to structure information on a website in order to maintain a faithful audience and following. The journalist recommended several plug-ins, as well as user-friendly, free tools to create diverse and interactive multimedia content. The project “Strengthening Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia” is implemented by IJC and Internews from October 2018 to September 2020.

Minibus Information Campaign

To support media literacy efforts outside Chisinau and to reach under-informed communities around the country, Internews is using public transportation network and messages designed by its partners (IJC, Association of Independent Press, Press Council, etc.) depicting infographics to illustrate media literacy concepts and themes. The posters are placed on the backs of seats in minibuses and buses, and provide information in both Romanian and Russian languages. Many Moldovans commute between the cities and villages where they study, work or have relatives. By putting posters with information on media literacy in minibuses, passengers can use the time spent on the road to read and digest the information. That in turn contributes towards their understanding of concepts of media and disinformation. To evaluate the effect of this campaign, the posters include a relevant web link and a QR code to a test on Mediacritica.md. This will make it possible to monitor online traffic generated specifically by the posters. The campaign involves 111 transportation units on 41 destinations around Moldova.

Media Policy Forum: Media, Elections, and Participatory Democracy

On May 14, Freedom House, in partnership with Internews, the Black Sea Trust (BST), the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNST), and the Government of Canada will hold the second annual Media Policy Forum in Chisinau. The Forum will address challenges and regional trends in Europe and Eurasia facing freedom of expression during elections, with particular attention to digital media, objective news coverage, and journalists’ rights and freedoms. Registration is available on the event website and is open to everyone. This Forum comes as part of a broader programmatic effort, funded by USAID and UK aid and implemented by Internews in partnership with Freedom House and local organizations, to strengthen the legal and regulatory environment for media freedom in Moldova.

New Media Forward Policy Brief Published

Freedom House published the latest media policy brief in the Media Forward series.  Olga Gututui, a member of the Audiovisual Council of the Republic of Moldova, writes on audiovisual media coverage during the 2019 parliamentary electoral cycle, analyzing the extent to which the government and media observed and implemented de jure obligations under the new mixed electoral system. The Media Forward policy brief series is supported under the Media-M project, funded by USAID and UK Aid and implemented by Internews in partnership with Freedom House.

Media-M Partner Updates

How to Increase Online Audience and Strengthen Financial Independence?

Representatives of the six media outlets, who reached stage II of the small grants competition under the ‘Understanding Audience Through Digital Assistance’ project, learned how they could develop their online audience and strengthen their financial independence. The training was organized by the Center for Independent Journalism during 23-24 April 2019, with the support of the Internews consultant Evgheni Gladin. The project is implemented by the IJC with the support of Internews and it is financed by Sweden.

Study: Ten Trends in Moldovan, Georgian and Russian Media

 

A comparative study, carried out by experts of FOJO Media Institute of Sweden, examines several issues that characterize media of three countries - Georgia, Russia and Moldova - emphasizing the role of media in eliminating stereotypes in the society and gender-based discrimination. The authors noticed the following main trends about the three countries: feminization of media professions, inflow of young people working in the sector, lower prestige of journalist education and stereotypes about a woman’s career in journalism. Social insecurity effecting women in particular, hostility towards journalists, and gender discrimination were noted as well. The study was conducted by the Institute of Social and Economic Studies of Population at the Russian Academy of Sciences on behalf of FOJO Media Institute (Sweden), Linnaeus University with organizational support from ANRI-Media (Russia), Media Development Foundation (Georgia) and Association of Independent Press (AIP) of Moldova.

The Media Azi Show

In Media Azi Show, moderator Anastasia Nani discussed new amendments to the Journalist Code of Ethics of the Republic of Moldova with Press Council Chairwoman Viorica Zaharia. The document will be made public on May 10 in an event marking World Press Freedom Day.
Why have journalists’ security and the economic context of the mass-media declined over the last two years? In the new Media Azi episode, which renewed its format, the researcher Aneta Gonta explains the Moldovan Press Status Index, developed by the Independent Journalism Center.

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