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August 2019

Monthly Bulletin, August 2019

Media News

MPs May Amend the Law to Dismiss BC Members: Media Experts Criticize This Legislative Initiative

ACUM MP and Chairperson of the Legal Committee for Appointments and Immunities, Sergiu Litvinenco, registered a draft law together with other MPs from his faction, proposing legal amendments that would allow the dismissal of the current members of the Broadcasting Council (BC) and Supervisory Board (SB) of the Teleradio-Moldova Public Company. Interim management would be established in the two institutions until the appointment of new members. The MP made an announcement about this draft law on his Facebook page. The Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association (APEL), Ion Bunduchi, strongly criticized this legislative initiative and stated that it would create a dangerous precedent: “If a government changes the law to dismiss people from the BC and from Teleradio-Moldova, another government will not even need to change the law – it will start dismissing people immediately.” Instead of amending the legislation, the expert suggested that certain regulations should be developed with respect to the dismissal and appointment of new members of the BC and SB.

Democratic Party-Affiliated Canal 2 Studio Shut Down

Local television station Canal 2 Nisporeni, launched approximately 10 months before the February 2019 parliamentary elections, has shut down. The station published its last news materials on its website and Facebook page on July 10. Lilian Zbirnea, Head of the Culture and Tourism Unit of Nisporeni District Council (DC) which is located on the same premises as Canal 2 Nisporeni’s broadcasting studio, confirmed for Media-azi.md that the editorial team had left the building. When the station appeared in 2018, the Executive Director of the Association of Independent Press, Petru Macovei, stated that the local station of Canal 2 Nisporeni was opened to promote the Democrat-nominated candidates for the parliamentary elections (which resulted in 51 MPs elected in single-member constituencies). Leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc, was the biggest winner in this constituency.

Another TV Broadcaster Shut Down

Televiziunea Nordului (Northern Television) from Balti will cease broadcasting at the end of August. According to the Director Viorica Bugulean, this was the decision of the station’s founder and sole shareholder Eugeniu Muntean. Bugulean will announce the termination of the channel’s activity to the Broadcasting Council. TVN obtained the license on April 24, 2018 and established itself as a general television channel, covering news in Moldova’s 11 northern districts. NORD TV company holds the economic operator license for TVN.

 
 

Accent TV Wants to Take Over Re-Broadcasting of Russia’s ‘Pervyi Kanal’ From Prime TV

 

Sources within the Broadcasting Council (BC) confirmed to IJC’s Media Azi platform that the Accent TV channel intends to re-broadcast programs from the Russian channel ‘Pervyi Kanal’ and even to change its name to ‘Primul Canal Moldova.’ Currently, ‘Pervyi Kanal’ programs are re-broadcast by PRIME TV channel, owned by the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc. According to BC member Lidia Viziru, on July 24 Telesistem SRL, the holder of Accent TV, officially requested the BC update the conditions of Accent TV’s broadcasting license to change its name from Accent TV to ‘Primul Canal Moldova’ and to approve the new structure of the station. In turn, the BC requested additional paperwork from the channel, such as the re-broadcasting agreement between AO Pervyi Kanal Vsemirnaya Set and Telesistem SRL. The BC’s final decision will be taken after Accent TV complies with these requirements. Accent TV channel’s beneficiary is Vadim Ciubara, owner of Media Invest Service (Медиа Инвест Сервис OOO – 100%), who was the subject of a RISE Moldova investigation about his role as a “shadow adviser” to President Igor Dodon.

New TV Broadcaster “TV Look” Obtained Broadcast License

A new TV broadcaster could appear on the media market – TV Look. The Broadcasting Council (BC) approved the application for broadcast license on August 1 by a vote of five votes in favor and three votes against. TV Look belongs to the company Media Production TV. Ella Gritenco, the founder and administrator of TV Look, told Media-azi.md that the new channel intends to broadcast mainly positive news. She also said that the editorial policy would be balanced.

BC Voted to Dismiss All Members of the SB of Teleradio-Moldova

With five votes in favour and one against, the Broadcasting Council (BC) voted in favor of the proposal to dismiss all members of the Supervisory Board (SB) of Teleradio-Moldova NPAI. The decision was adopted after examining a notification made by a SB member and a request filed by the Parliamentary Committee for Mass Media to the BC asking to review the SB’s work and comment on the violations found. 
After investigating the situation, the BC found multiple irregularities in the work of the SB. For instance, the SB did not comply with the legal requirements to organize a competition to appoint the Executive Director of NPAI Teleradio-Moldova within six months from the date that the Broadcasting Code went into force. The SB also failed to ensure transparency of the decisions it adopted by not posting this information on its website. At the same time, the BC filed a notification to the Court of Accounts, requesting information on the channel’s economic and financial problems during 2016-2017 and how SB members were paid during this extended period. BC member Olga Gututui refrained from voting, on the grounds of her belief that the BC’s dismissal of SB members was not fully justified legally.

Decisions Taken in PAG in Comrat: Members of the SB of GRT Were Dismissed

According to Gagauzinfo.md, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG) by majority vote dismissed five of the nine members of the Supervisory Board (SB) of Comrat Public TV and Radio Company (GRT). Thus, the Board became inoperative. Bashkan Irina Vlah welcomed the MPs’ decision and urged them to organize a new competition to select SB members on professional, not political criteria. As reported previously by experts from the region, GRT has constantly been the target of local politicians, who seek to control the regional public TV channel, which is one of the best rated in Gagauzia.

Competition Open for the Appointment of New Members of the SB of GRT

After the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG) dismissed most of the Supervisory Board (SB) members of the regional television and radio public broadcaster GRT, local MPs announced a new competition for the open positions. Applications for open positions may be submitted until September 11. The candidates must hold Moldovan citizenship, have permanent residence on the territory of Gagauzia during the last five years, and have both higher education and a clean legal record. Members of the SB of GRT may not be a MP of the PAG, a member of the Executive Board of Gagauzia, a councilor to local public authorities or a state official. Employees of the PAG office and the Executive Board, employees of GRT Company or of other media institutions are also not eligible to serve as a SB member. SB members may not be members of a political party, public political organizations, nor hold shares or a stake in commercial organizations in the field.

PC Repeats its Call to the BC on the Violation of Child Rights on the ‘Vorbeste Moldova – Parinte Te Iubesc’ Show

The Press Council (PC) sent a new call to the Broadcasting Council (BC), asking to revise its analysis of the content of the ‘Vorbeste Moldova – Parinte te iubesc!’ (‘Moldova Speaks – Parent, I love You!’) show broadcast on April 15-16, 2019 by Prime TV, about an adolescent girl who was sexually abused by her stepfather. The PC members believe that, when reviewing the issue at a meeting on May 17, the BC members did not pay due consideration to how producers of the show failed to take into account the best interests of the child. According to the PC, editors committed serious deviations from ethical and legal norms in the two editions of ‘Vorbeste Moldova’ show, entitled ‘Parinte, te iubesc’! After monitoring the show, on May 17 the BC found no ethical or legal violations and only took note of the call received from the PC. Maia Banarescu, Children’s Ombudsperson, expressed her opinion on this topic and described BC’s decision as ‘contradictory.’

Media Monitoring

IJC Monitoring Report: Reflecting Minorities and Diversity in the Media

The media in the Republic of Moldova does not pay enough attention to topics concerning minorities and diversity. As a rule, reports on this subject appear in the news, but they are not addressed in a thorough way that would help the representatives of the majority to be better informed on minority groups. This is one of the conclusions of the ‘Reflecting Minorities and Diversity in the Media’ Monitoring Report, published by the IJC. The goal of the monitoring conducted from May 7 - June 7 was to determine how the media in the Republic of Moldova reflect issues related to ethnic minorities and other groups vulnerable to hate speech by analyzing media content and comments by users on news portals. In total, ten media outlets were monitored: three TV channels (Moldova 1, Pro TV, Publika TV - the main newscasts) and seven online portals (Unimedia.info, Jurnal.md, Deschide.md, Noi.md, Newsmaker.md, KP.md, Sputnik.md).  The report was developed with the OSCE Mission’s financial support.

BC Acted on IJC’s Request to Monitor and Sanction TV Channels that Broadcast Manipulative Information

The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) asked the Broadcasting Council (BC) to monitor TV channels that broadcast manipulative information and impose sanctions if legal violations are found. As a result of this request, the BC monitored the main newscasts of the TV channels Moldova 1, NTV Moldova, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, PRO TV Chisinau, TV8, Jurnal TV, Orhei TV and Central Television, particularly in regards to coverage of the social-political events during June 7-14. The results confirmed that most of the broadcasters do not comply with Article 13 of Audiovisual Media Services Code, which dictates that impartiality and balance should be ensured and that free formation of opinions should be promoted. Thus, the BC fined Moldova 1 in the amount of MDL 5.000 (EUR 250) and NTV Moldova, Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3, Orhei TV and Central Television in the amount of MDL 10.000 (EUR 500) each. BC members issued a public warning to Pro TV Chisinau and TV8.

MEDIA-M Project Updates

High School Students to Study ‘Education for Media’ Curriculum, Approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research

On August 20, the National Curriculum Council of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research approved the curriculum for the optional subject ‘Education for Media’ for high school level (grades X-XI). With this course, students from Moldova will learn to understand the role and the power of media in a democratic society, critically analyze media content, and be aware of the dangers of the online environment. Based on the approved curriculum, IJC will develop an ‘Education for Media’ textbook for X-XI grades and will organize trainings for teachers who will want to teach the course in high school. The ‘Education for Media’ high school curriculum was developed by IJC under the project ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)’ funded by USAID and UK Aid, and implemented by Internews in Moldova.

MEDIA-M Partner Updates

Freedom House Analysis on Moldova’s Constitutional Crisis

Marc Behrendt and Gina Lentine of the Freedom House Europe & Eurasia Team published an op-ed on Balkan Insight analyzing the tumultuous political events of June and July in Moldova, with particular attention to the constitutional crisis and its implications moving forward.  Behrendt and Lentine argue that the crisis provides an opportunity to introduce genuine democratic reforms to a post-Soviet state whose institutions have been held captive by oligarch rule.

Freedom House Blog on Online Disinformation in Moldova

Freedom House Media Policy Fellow Lolita Berzina published a blog piece on the role of social media companies in fighting disinformation in the Eurasian region.  Berzina delves into the case study of social media’s impact in the Moldovan parliamentary elections back in February 2019, when Facebook worked with local NGO Trolless.com to expose and remove over 100 fake accounts and pages on the social media platform.  Moving forward, Berzina calls on social media companies to cooperate more closely with local civil society to fight disinformation, particularly around elections.

Internet Freedoms Brief Call for Proposals Opening Soon!

In September, Freedom House will be launching a call for proposals for a special policy brief that will focus on hate speech and information security risks in Moldova. This brief will explore the trends and proliferation of freedom of expression online in Moldova, as well as the most acute challenges and threats, with an emphasis on hate speech. Check our landing page regularly for updates!

IJC Trained 40 Primary and Secondary School Teachers on How to Guide their Pupils on Interacting with New Media

In early August, the IJC trained two groups of teachers from the Republic of Moldova in media education. Over three days, 20 primary school teachers (August 5-7) and 23 secondary school teachers (August 8-10) were introduced to the contents of the ‘Media Education’ textbook for grades III-IV and VII-VIII respectively. The teachers developed their teaching skills for this elective course and tested various teaching methods to make the teaching process interactive and attractive to pupils. Anastasia Nani, IJC Deputy Director, emphasized the importance of teaching the new elective course in schools in the Republic of Moldova, encouraging teachers to take this course in the new 2019-2020 school year. The course trainers, Loretta Handrabura, PhD in Philology, and Natalia Griu, Chief Consultant at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, helped the participants to explore the topics included in the textbook and curriculum, emphasizing that “the main mission of teachers and parents is not to abandon the children in front of a phone or a computer.” Media expert Viorica Zaharia offered the teachers practical tips on how to distinguish between factual news and manipulative misinformation and encouraged them to be vigilant when sharing articles with sensational headlines or news from one source. The training was organized by the Independent Journalism Center as part of the ‘Strengthening Freedom of Expression in the Republic of Moldova’ project, implemented by IJC with the support of Deutsche Welle Akademie and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Media Azi Show

The 2019-2020 Government’s Action Plan includes several amendment proposals related to media legislation. For example, the new government announced its intention to make amendments to the Audiovisual Media Services Code, which was approved last year. Ion Bunduchi, Executive Director of the Electronic Press Association and one of the experts that participated in the development of the Code, expressed his opinion about revising this law in the Media Azi Show, moderated by the journalist Anastasia Nani.

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